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Blink-182‘s Mark Hoppus has spoken to NME about his band’s past rivalry with Green Day, dating back to their shared 2002 ‘Pop Disaster Tour’.
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The singer and bassist recently released his new memoir Fahrenheit-182 via Dey Street Books, in which he explores his impact on pop culture as well as his run-ins with many of his contemporaries and his battle with cancer.
He also discusses the friction that existed between Blink and Green Day during their co-headline Pop Disaster Tour in the summer of 2002, which saw the two generations of pop-punk bands come together under one banner.
Speaking to NME about the strange competitiveness that the two bands felt towards each other during the tour, Hoppus said: “That was very strange because I grew up listening to Green Day. I literally waited for the day that ‘Dookie’ [1994] came out, and I was in line waiting to buy it.”
“I was a huge fan, then we’re touring with them, but it was a weird thing where Green Day were dipping at the time and Blink were ascendent. We were billed as co-headliners, but Blink were closing every night, and that was a strange sensation for us. Headlining over your idols is a little strange.”
At the time, Blink-182 had released their breakthrough album ‘Enema Of The State’ (1999) and its chart-topping follow-up ‘Take Off Your Pants And Jacket’ (2001). Green Day, meanwhile, were in the gap between 2000’s ‘Warning’, their worst-performing major label effort up to that point, and the resurgent popularity that would come their way with the huge ‘American Idiot’ album in 2004.
“We showed up, we thought we were cool, we had a Number One record [‘Take Off Your Pants And Jacket’], we were the first punk band to ever have a Number One record, Green Day were on their way down for a little bit,” Hoppus added. “We walked in thinking we were hot shit and Green Day walked in ready to fight – musically of course, they were super cool to us the whole time.”
“My wife and Billie [Joe Armstrong]’s wife were great friends. Billie was super nice to us. Then, when it came time to get on stage… It’s like athletes: we could be on different teams, but when we get on the field we’re going to try and kick your ass.”
“We didn’t come with that attitude, but they did. They blew us off the stage the first few nights and we were like, ‘Oh shit, we have to up our game’. Then it was this battle back-and-forth about who could put on the better show and who could win people over. It definitely made us a better band. I think I inspired them so much they were like, ‘We have to kill Blink-182 with an awesome album called ‘American Idiot’.”
In the same interview, Hoppus also opened up about his role in “saving the world from Saddam Hussein” and the chance he once had to “make out” with The Cure’s Robert Smith.
Blink-182 are heading on a massive US tour with Alkaline Trio this autumn, kicking off in Hollywood, Florida on August 28. See the full list of dates here and find any remaining tickets here.
The post Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus speaks out on past rivalry with Green Day appeared first on NME.