bring back 182

..LATEST NEWS..
Anything to do with blink-182, AVA or (+44)

..12/09/06.. - blink-182 RUMOR UPDATE: Reuniting for one last album.



It's just a rumor everyone. Believe me we'd like it to be true but as of right now it's a rumor. That is what was said about it recently on b182.com. The rumor of the boys reuniting for one last "One For The Kids" album appears to be false. Also Mark recently posted a new podcast and blog on his website and made no mention of the rumor. Please go and check out the rest of Mark's blog at his website www.himynameismark.com.

To read the rest of Mark's message check out his blog HERE.

credit: b182.com

..11/01/06.. - (+44) TOUR UPDATE: Mark updates tour dates.



Mark posted a new blog on his myspace page. In it he let everyone know what he's been up to lately and also the updated tour dates including the rescheduled dates due to Travis's arm injury. Here are the updated tour dates. Please go and check out the rest of Mark's blog at his myspace page MYSPACE.COM/ROLLERPIG.

11/08/06 Tampa, FL Jannus Landing
11/09/06 Orlando, FL House of Blues
11/10/06 Atlanta, GA Roxy Theater
11/12/06 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
11/13/06 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
11/14/06 New York City, NY Bowery Ballroom
11/15/06 New York City, NY Late Show w/ David Letterman
11/17/06 New York City, NY Webster Hall
11/19/06 Boston, MA Avalon
11/21/06 Toronto, ON Phoenix
11/22/06 Detroit, MI St. Andrews
11/28/06 Chicago, IL Metro
11/29/06 Cincinatti, OH Bogart's
11/30/06 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live
12/02/06 Milwaukee, WI Rave
12/03/06 St. Louis, MO Mississippi Nights
12/04/06 Minneapolis, MN First Ave
12/06/06 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
12/07/06 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue
12/11/06 San Diego, CA Soma
12/12/06 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
12/14/06 Seattle, WA The Fenix
12/15/06 Portland, OR Roseland Theatre
12/17/06 Sacramento, CA The Boardwalk

To read the rest of Mark's message check out his myspace blog HERE.

credit: Mark Hoppus's Official Myspace

..10/28/06.. - TRAVIS BARKER UPDATE: Travis updates everyone on what's been going on.



Travis posted a new blog on his myspace page updating what he's been up to and what's going on with the (+44) tour. For the rest of his statement please visit his myspace page HERE.

"I’M BACK... SO I POSTED A NEW VIDEO OF +44 @ PRACTICE WITH ME PLAYING ONE HANDED, THIS WAS OUR THIRD PRACTICE AND IT’S BEEN A CHALLENGE BUT I’M GETTING COMFORTABLE:) WE LEAVE ON TOUR THE 7TH OF NOVEMBER AND OUR ALBUM HITS THE 14TH….CAN’T WAIT..."

To read the rest of Travis's message check out his myspace blog HERE.

credit: Travis Barker's Official Myspace

..10/27/06.. - TRAVIS BARKER IN A VIDEO GAME: Check out the familiar face in Tony Hawk's new game.





Apparently in the new Tony Hawk game, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Travis is gonna' be a playable character. How cool is that? I might actually go out and get this one. Other characters include Bam Margera, Mike Valley, Bob Burnquist, Paul Rodriguez and ofcourse... Tony Hawk.

To find out more about Tony Hawk's Project 8 check out the official website HERE.

credit: b182.com

..10/06/06.. - Travis Barker broken arm update: Travis speaks about his injury on his myspace page.



Travis posted a new blog on his myspace page letting the fans know about his arm. Here's a little part of it where Travis details his injury. For the rest of his statement please visit his myspace page HERE.

"...WHEN I GOT BACK TO LA I SAW ANOTHER DOCTOR AND HAD EVERY TEST POSSIBLE TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON IN MY ARM. THE MRI/X-RAY SHOWED I'D BEEN PLAYING WITH A BROKEN ARM FOR 3 WEEKS AND OR POSSIBLE TUMOR IN MY ARM. IM AT A LOSS OF WORDS, JUST TAKING EVERYTHING ONE DAY AT A TIME."

To read the rest of Travis's message check out his myspace blog HERE.

credit: Travis Barker's Official Myspace

..10/05/06.. - Travis Barker breaks his arm.



Travis Barker, the apparent cause of a nightclub brawl between Paris Hilton and estranged wife Shanna Moakler, has a broken arm. The tattooed drummer of the rock band (+44) pronounced "plus forty-four" broke his right arm Sept. 9 while shooting a music video for the title track from the band's upcoming album "When Your Heart Stops Beating," publicist Dvora Vener said Thursday. She declined to say exactly how he fractured it.

She said no dates had been canceled yet even though the band which Barker formed last year with former Blink-182 bandmate Mark Hoppus is scheduled to begin a tour Oct. 13 in San Diego.

Barker has yet to offer a reaction to Moakler's encounter with Hilton at a Hollywood nightclub Wednesday. Both women filed police reports alleging battery.

credit: abc news

..10/04/06.. - Shanna Moakler vs. Paris Hilton.



LOS ANGELES - Can Travis Barker really make women go this crazy? His soon-to-be-ex-wife, Shanna Moakler, was involved in a nightclub fracas with Paris Hilton early Wednesday morning.

Barker, the drummer for Blink-182, filed for divorce in August from Moakler, a former beauty queen who recently appeared on “Dancing With the Stars.” In September, Barker was apparently videotaped kissing Hilton, who needs no introduction.

Then Hilton encountered Moakler at the Hyde club in Hollywood last night. The following reenactment is based on reports by police, publicists for both women, but unfortunately no pugilistic experts:

Hilton says Moakler walked up to her, “used the most vile of language” and then punched her in her jaw.

Moakler contends she exchanged mere profanities with Hilton, at which point Hilton’s ex-boyfriend Stavros Niarchos emerged from the entourage, bent Moakler’s wrists, poured a drink on her and shoved her down some stairs.

Hilton, 25, and Moakler, 31, both filed police reports alleging battery. Officer Karen Smith said police took pictures of Moakler and Hilton at the station, and that police planned to speak with witnesses at the club as part of their investigation.

Moakler and the tattooed punk rocker Barker were an unlikely pair when they married in 2004, documenting their lavish wedding and life on the MTV reality show “Meet the Barkers.” They had two children. Moakler also has a 7-year-old daughter with boxer Oscar De La Hoya.

TMZ.com posted what it said was video of Barker and Hilton making out in a New York nightclub last month. But Hilton’s publicist, Elliot Mintz, said the two are “just friends.”

credit: www.msnbc.com

..10/02/06.. - (+44) debut their 1st video "When Your Heart Stops Beating" on TRL today.

..
Here's the message on (+44)'s myspace page.

Mark & Travis on MTV! Hi All, We will be premiering our 1st video for 'When Your Heart Stops Beating' on TRL Monday, Oct. 2nd at 3:30pm. You can check out the new video on MTV.com, too.
..

credit: www.myspace.com/plus44

..HISTORY:..
EARLY 90'S - PRESENT

The earliest incarnation of the band can be traced back to the early '90s when DeLonge was reportedly expelled from Poway High School during junior year after being caught drunk at a school basketball game. After he transferred to another school, he met Anne Hoppus, sister of Mark Hoppus, who introduced DeLonge to her brother. The day the two future bandmates met they were skateboarding with friends in a plaza parking lot and to impress DeLonge, Hoppus climbed a lamp pole and jumped from the top, cracking both heels. The two hit it off and eventually came up with the name "Duck Tape" for the name of new band. Duck Tape soon transformed into Blink. In need of a drummer, DeLonge tapped 14-year-old Scott Raynor, whom he had known from a party.



In May 1993, Blink released a demo tape entitled Flyswatter, recorded in drummer Scott Raynor's bedroom. It was their first album and a 4-track was used to record the material, resulting in poor sound quality and according to Hoppus, only around fifty copies were produced. Their first real show took place at a bar and since they were underage, they were only allowed to enter when it was time for their set. They bought 50 tickets to sell, but no one came to see them. After only one song Blink was kicked off the stage and out of the bar. Before the end of the year, the band released another demo tape known as Buddha. Around 1,000 copies were produced.



In early 1994, Blink released their debut full-length album, Cheshire Cat. The album contained many new versions of songs that had appeared on the Buddha demo.

Shortly after the release of Cheshire Cat, Blink was threatened with legal action by a techno band in Ireland of the same name. In order to avoid a lengthy lawsuit, Blink appended "-182" to the end of their name. There are several rumours as to why these numbers were ultimately chosen, such as their correspondence to the number of times Al Pacino utters the word "fuck" in Scarface (this was stated by Mark Hoppus as being the reasoning behind the numbers in an interview with Australian Cable TV channel, Channel [V]), the 1985 Timothy Hutton film, Turk 182!, their representation of Hoppus's ideal weight, or that they represent the position in the alphabet of the letters 'R' and 'B,' referring to the northern San Diego suburb of Rancho Bernardo. However, the band members have dismissed such claims and maintain that the numbers were picked at random. However, in one interview, Barker stated that the "182" was the U.S. radio code meaning 'homicide' (apparently confusing "182," the radio code for conspiracy, with "187").

After moving to Encinitas, California, the band recorded the album Dude Ranch in 1996. The album was released in 1997 and was commercially successful. The singles, "Josie" and "Dammit (Growing Up)" rose to the top of the U.S. airplay charts. However, in 1998 the band experienced a setback. Raynor, who had a serious drinking problem at the time, was reportedly asked to leave the band or go into rehab. However, there are also reports that he departed in order to attend college. Raynor claims he agreed, but that the remaining band members fired him over the phone despite his acquiescence, citing that they were doubtful of Raynor's sincerity. His expulsion occurred midway through blink-182's U.S. tour. He was replaced by Travis Barker, the drummer of blink-182's support band The Aquabats.



The 1998 album Enema of the State was largely successful, propelling the band to pop punk fame and gaining a significant amount of airtime on MTV and Total Request Live (TRL). This was largely due to the commercial success of the songs "What's My Age Again?", "Adam's Song" and "All the Small Things"; and particularly due to an infamous music video for "What's My Age Again?" which featured the band streaking. Enema of the State sold 7.7 million copies worldwide, which made it their bestselling album to that point. The sound on the album was rooted in the same genre as earlier punk-rock bands such as NOFX, Green Day and The Offspring, but it was recorded and mixed cleaner and with less distortion, allowing it to be more accessible to the mainstream. Because of this, many fans felt the band had strayed from its punk rock roots.

blink-182's only live album, The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show: The Enema Strikes Back was released the following year in 2000. The songs featured are from the group's first three albums: Cheshire Cat, Dude Ranch and Enema of the State. The album also includes one new studio song, "Man Overboard," among the live renditions. Because it is no longer in print the album is strongly sought after by collectors.

2001 saw blink-182 continuing their commercial success, recording Take off Your Pants and Jacket, which followed the same basic formula of "Enema of the State". When the album was first released, there were several versions with different bonus tracks. These were titled "Take off," "Pants," and "Jacket," each of which were signified by a different sticker on the CD. Each version had two different bonus tracks. The tracks were "Fuck a Dog", "Mothers Day" and "When You Fucked Grandpa", all considered to be joke songs. The more serious numbers were "Time to Break Up", "Don't Tell Me That It's Over" and "What Went Wrong". Because of the different combinations, some long-term fans wanted to collect them all. However, the bonus tracks were only available for a limited time. A European tour (in the winter 2001) in support of the live album was cancelled in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. Rescheduled dates in early 2002 were also cancelled due to Delonge's back problems.

In the Summer of 2002, blink-182 and Green Day co-headlined the "Pop Disaster" tour, with support coming from Jimmy Eat World, Saves The Day and a relatively unknown band called Kut u up. Leading up to the tour, DeLonge began writing solo material. This was mostly due to the way he felt in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, feelings which were exacerbated by recent medical problems involving his back.



DeLonge slowly started to gather more and more material for a side project and it wasn't until he recruited Barker on drums and long time friend David Kennedy on guitar that his idea came to fruition. Bass would be played by DeLonge and Anthony Celestino on subsequent tours and videos. The project became known as Box Car Racer. The two singles from the self-titled album were "I Feel So", and "There Is". The record also included guest singers Tim Armstrong (Rancid, Operation Ivy, Transplants) and Jordan Pundik (New Found Glory) on "Cat Like Thief" and Mark Hoppus on "Elevator". However, according to recent interviews with DeLonge, the formation of Boxcar Racer caused much friction between himself and Hoppus. This was one of the main reasons blink-182 abruptly went on an indefinite hiatus in 2005, as this project made Hoppus feel alienated from DeLonge and Barker. In a recent interview, DeLonge stated that he wished he had enlisted friend Atom Willard for drum duties instead, which could have potentially prevented blink-182's disbandment, or at the very least, could have made the separation more amiable. However, he would go on to enlist Willard for the band he formed during blink-182's hiatus.

After Boxcar Racer, Barker was invited to work on a second side project known as Transplants. This band started with Tim Armstrong (Rancid and Operation Ivy) and Skinhead Rob dabbling with musical ideas in Armstrong's basement recording studio. Having already known Barker from Boxcar Racer, Armstrong asked him to assist in the side project. Not long after their formation, Transplants debuted their first self-titled CD on Armstrong's record label Hellcat Records. After playing the Warped Tour, Transplants decided to part ways for the time being.

After taking some time off in 2002, recording of the next record began in early 2003. A more laid back approach to song writing was taken. The result was a more mature sounding record than anything blink-182 had attempted before. The band released its fifth studio album on November 18, 2003. Described as "a self-meditation on romantic decay", the album featured the hit singles "Feeling This", "I Miss You", "Down", and the 1980s-ish "Always". Travis Barker has confirmed that the band left the album untitled (rather than self-titled) to represent a new blink-182. It showcased a style of music deeper than anything blink-182 had done previously, but still managed to receive significant airplay on radio stations and Fuse. Critics have deemed their sound similar to that of The Police and U2, although members of the band claim they took most of their influence from The Cure, whose front man Robert Smith had appeared on "All of This". Listeners called the riffs heavier and the lyrics more profound. During late 2003, the band embarked on what came to be known as the "Dolla Bill" tour. The name stemmed from the inexpensive ticket costs for attendance. The tour was largely popular with fans as the band played more intimate venues and ticket sales were heavily controlled to prevent touting. Also, special "meet and greets" were arranged before some of the shows. The tour would also visit The SOMA in San Diego, a venue where blink-182 would go to watch and play gigs during their early years. A tour with No Doubt in the summer of 2004 was also very successful. Coming up to 3 years after its release, the successful album has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

On February 22, 2005, many fans were shocked when blink-182 announced they were going on an "indefinite hiatus". Expectedly, rumors soon began to accumulate regarding the band's break up. The only band member to speak outright was Barker. He eventually stated that he was not the only person in the band and indicated that there were two other band members reporters could question. DeLonge did not give an interview until September of the same year, while Hoppus refused to officially provide an explanation and has still yet to give any in-depth response on the situation. Fans soon began to suspect that there was a disagreement that alienated DeLonge and Hoppus. Kerrang! printed an article that seemed to confirm the suspicion, but Delonge immediately denounced it on his "In-studio journal" on his "Macbeth" podcast, saying not to believe anything unless it comes straight from any of the band-members.



In the wake of the "hiatus", Geffen Records released a career long "Greatest Hits" compilation in November 2005. The album immediately reached No. 6 on The Billboard 200.

As the reason for the "indefinite hiatus", the band mainly suggests the mounting tension between DeLonge and Hoppus, ultimately caused by DeLonge's desire for a break with his family and Hoppus' feelings of betrayal from the formation of Boxcar Racer. Today each of the band members has his own musical agenda. DeLonge is currently touring with his outfit Angels and Airwaves, whose debut album We Don't Need to Whisper was leaked in April 2006 and was released on May 23rd, 2006. Transplants broke up after the Warped Tour, however Barker and Skinhead Rob emerged immediately with a new project, called Expensive Taste with rap superstar Paul Wall. Hoppus and Barker are finishing work on their (+44) debut album, "Little Death." Earlier in 2006, Barker played a couple of shows with DJ AM and has trademarked the name The Phenomenons for a new band.

credit: Wikipedia.com

..THE MARK HOPPUS INTERVIEW..
Mark Hoppus Tells All To B182.com - 8/14/06

Recently, at B182.com, Mark Hoppus answered 20 questions submitted by fans. The topics ranged from the formation of +44, Mark's podcast and also the break up of blink-182 as well as Tom's new band Angels and Airwaves. Here is Mark explaining the events leading up to the break up of the band. Go to www.b182.com to read the rest of the interview.

QUESTION: The circumstances of Blink's "indefinite hiatus" are still steeped in rumors. Tom has addressed the issue vaguely in some interviews. Could you give us your side of the story and explain exactly what happened, how it happened, and why? It must have been a pretty big deal for the band to have skipped out last minute at the Tsunami Benefit show.

ANSWER: The whole thing started a few months before the last European tour. We had been talking about and planning a final North American tour on the self-titled album in the spring. Our manager had encouraged it, and pushed us to do it, saying it was a great idea, that it would support the fourth single (Always). We had all agreed. Everyone wanted to tour. The touring we were doing was the most fun I think I have ever had on the road. The shows were awesome, we loved the songs we were playing, the reaction was amazing. The plan was for blink to finish the European tour, have January and February off, then tour in March and April or something like that. We have a fairly large crew (sound guys, guitar techs, tour manager, production crew, lighting crew, etc) that were put on retainer and told they would be working on blink tours at LEAST until the late spring, and possibly beyond. Everyone agreed on it all, and the tour was put together.

Later on, Tom started saying he DIDN'T want to tour, that he was burned out and wanted to stay home. He wanted to cancel the tour. Immediately our manager changed his mind as well. I was at an airport in Singapore, on my way to Nepal, and he called to tell me that he now thought we shouldn't tour. This is a good indication of the relationship between our old manager and blink-182 at that time. By that point, he was basically managing tom. Tom changed his mind on touring, and then our manager changed his too. Strange, right? Angry, I got on the plane and flew to Nepal and Bhutan, later meeting Travis and tom in London to begin the tour.

At the first show, our old manager flew out and sat us all down in the dressing room before the show. He needed to have a meeting about the spring tour. He and tom sat on one side of the room and Travis and I sat at the other. Our old manager did all the talking. He announced that tom was done touring. He needed a break. He was "over playing music" and wanted to be with his family. The spring tour was going to be canceled. Travis and I were in shock. After the tour we were on, there were two months off. Wasn’t two months off enough time to go home and relax with your family? Who in the world gets two months off from their job to hang out at home? But it wasn't enough. He needed more time. Much more time. Travis and I said "okay, if you don't want to tour, how about let's stay home and start the next record?" We had a lot of ideas and were ready to start laying them down. And tom could be with his family. He didn't want to do that either. He was burned out and just wanted to stop. We asked him how long he needed, and he said he didn't know. The conversation got heated and lasted for two or three hours. It went around in circles, and the end result was the canceled tour, with no idea when we would be doing anything with blink-182 again. Travis and I told tom and our manager that we weren't willing to sit on our hands for six months, that we still wanted to write and play music. They understood and agreed. A couple of days later, tom told us that he needed six or more months off. Our entire touring crew was told that the six months of work they had been promised was canceled, effective as of the end of the European tour ten days later. That was a couple of weeks before Christmas. The mood on the rest of the tour was sour. Everyone was bummed. Everyone was fired. The whole thing had come to a grinding halt for one person. But the shows were fucking great!

Travis and I were super bummed and angry at the position we were being put in. We understood that tom wanted to be with his family. We all did. We all love our families and want to be with them. At the same time, this is our job. We are so lucky to get to do what we do the way we do. We love our work and want to be out there doing it, and it was being taken away from us. We had no say in it. blink-182 has been a democracy since day one, and toward the end there it wasn't. it was all about one person. it felt ugly. it really did. so we went home and started our six month break.
After Christmas the tsunami hit, and soon after that I called our old manager about the possibility of doing some kind of benefit show. I felt we needed to do something. I knew we were in Tom’s “time off” period, so I said I would do an acoustic set, or Travis and I could try and find a replacement guitarist for one show. I know there are allegations out there that I was booking blink-182 to shows without talking to anyone. This is absolutely not true. I called our old manager, and offered to do it without Tom, but Tom wanted to help the tsunami relief cause, so our old manager booked us to play on the benefit show at the Pond. It had been a long time since we had played, so we set up a few rehearsals the week before the benefit.

At one of the rehearsals, we started talking arguing about our forced break, the greatest hits record, and the possibility of recording the next album. Tom said on the next blink-182 album, he would ONLY record at his house in San Diego. He would not come to Los Angeles. He wouldn’t travel anywhere for the recording. He wanted me and Travis to record our parts up in Los Angeles as we wanted to, then send him the pro tools files down to San Diego for him to work on there. Mind you, on the last blink record, Travis drove down every day from Los Angeles to the studio in San Diego to record his parts. But Tom wasn’t leaving his house. This was the point our band was at.

Tom was deciding when we would tour, how we would tour, when we would have time off, when we would record, and how we could record. One person was dictating everything. We told Tom this. Things got hot. We told him if we were going to record the album separately, in different studios, our band was ceasing to be a BAND. The magic in the studio is created when the three of us are there TOGETHER, working on parts, discussing, sometimes arguing, all pushing the album forward. Trying to frankenstein a cd together by mailing each other pro tools files to work on in our own private studios was ridiculous. It would lessen the entire album. It would be a terrible cd. We asked Tom if he was ready for the consequences of what that meant? Would we really sacrifice the quality of our music for the convenience of his insistence that he record only at his house in San Diego? We said, "You are trying to control everything, and it's wrong." He said he couldn't be a part of anything he couldn't control, and he left the rehearsal space.

The next day our manager called and informed us that, "as of today, Tom DeLonge is no longer a member of blink-182." He said not to try and call Tom, that he had already changed his number and didn't want to talk to us. And that is how it ended. After 13 years of being in a band together, hundreds of thousand of miles toured, countless shows played, and seven albums released, Tom didn’t even call to quit the band. He had his manager do it for him.

credit: B182.com