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Mark Hoppus, bassist and singer of Blink-182, wrote in his recently published memoir “Fahrenheit-12” about the previous rivalry with Green Day and his personal fight against cancer. He particularly illuminates the shared experiences during the “Pop Disaster Tour” in 2002 and the problem of what the two acts had at the time.
Two bands in different phases
The background: At that time, both groups toured the United States for two months, but they were in different phases of their careers. Blink-182 had just reached a number and one album with Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001). Green Day, on the other hand, were commercially on the descending branch, but should celebrate a comeback with American Idiot in 2004.
In an interview with “NME”, Mark Hoppus said at the time: “It was very strange because I grew up with Green Day. I really waited for ‘Dookie’ [1994] comes out, and stood in line to buy it. “
Despite his fan existence, the tour together was a challenge: “I was a huge fan, then we toured with them, but it was a strange thing because Green Day had a downward trend at the time. We were announced as a co-headliner, but Blink appeared as the last volume every evening, and that was a strange feeling for us. unusual.”
“Green Day were ready for the fight”
Hoppus describes the competitive pressure on the stage: “We arrived, we thought we were cool, we had a number one album, Green Day was just in the crisis. […] Green Day got ready to fight – musically, of course, they were super nice to us all the time. ”
Ultimately, the rivalry of mutual incentive has become: “That definitely made us a better band. I think I have inspired them so much that they thought: ‘We have to destroy Blink-182 with a great album called’ American Idiot ‘.'”
In his book, he compares their relationship as “rival gangs in the city, which both despise and respect”.