Blink-182 reunion rumor causes premature exhilaration
Pop-punk group's various side projects, however, are progressing.A quick note to Blink-182 fans out there: Don't hold your breath for a reunion anytime soon.
Last week, fan sites were abuzz with rumors that Blink — who went on "indefinite hiatus" in February— were reuniting to play Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM's Inland Invasion concert on September 17, a move that probably would've shattered the record for shortest indefinite hiatus ever.
But according to Blink's label and management team, there is no truth to those rumors, and Blink-182 will not be performing. Even KROQ seemed to have no idea where the rumor came from.
"Um, no, I haven't heard about it. But it would be great," Gene Sandbloom, KROQ's operations manager, laughed. "We were actually joking about it earlier. It was one of the ideas that had come up in the room when we started talking about Inland, because we always try to make it a mix of old and new bands. But we never made a call to Blink's management, because we decided it was too soon after they had announced their split. It wouldn't have made sense."
So if you've already booked flights to L.A. in September, perhaps now would be a good time to cancel. Unless you wanted to check out the Alfalfa Festival being held at the nearby Antelope Valley Fairgrounds (it's pretty awesome). There's also the outside chance that you can cruise on over to drummer Travis Barker's house, where he and fellow Blink alumnus Mark Hoppus will be no doubt working on their side project, Plus-44, which Barker is recording in his basement.
The band's Web site, PlusFortyFour.com, recently went live, bearing the optimistic message: "Musical masterpiece in progress. Please be patient." While not a note of Plus-44's music has been heard, they're making strides on their debut album, which they hope to have a majority of written before Barker departs on this summer's Warped Tour with another side project, the Transplants.
Of all the former Blink members, Barker is easily the most active. When he's not starring in his own reality-TV show, managing his clothing line or recording material with Plus-44, then he's getting ready for a round of promo to support the Transplants' upcoming Haunted Cities, due June 21. The band recently relaunched its Web site, TheTransplants.com, in anticipation of the release, where fans can view in-the-studio videos, stream the single "Gangsters & Thugs," or buy a ring-tone version of the tune.
Barker also recently revealed plans to collaborate with Nicole Richie's fiance, DJ AM (not his real name), for a jammy "DJ versus drummer" act.
— James Montgomery
Aggiornamento del 07/06/2005
BLINK REUNION? GIAMMAI!
I fan credono in una riconciliazione live, ma la band smentisce
I fan dei Blink 182 hanno vissuto un paio di giorni di fibrillazione.
Questa settimana sono apparse in rete una serie di misteriose notizie, secondo cui la band americana - arrivata alla rottura all'inizio del 2005 - sarebbe stata prossima a una reunion live a Los Angeles.
Purtroppo per gli ammiratori più accaniti di Tom, Mark e Travis, la delusione è stata grande: la smentita della notizia è arrivata pronta e categorica da parte della casa discografica dei Blink, la Universal.
I fan delusi potranno però consolarsi con i progetti paralleli dei singoli elementi della band: Hoppus e Barker stanno registrando un album con una nuova band, i Plus-44. L'altra band di Travis - i Transplants - stanno per pubblicare un nuovo album, "Haunted Cities" e "Meet The Barkers" il reality show di quest'ultimo, su MTV USA, sta andando a gonfie vele. Non è tutto: sembra anche che il batterista stia lavorando anche a un disco con un DJ, di nome DJ Am.
L'unico inattivo al momento è - almeno sembra - Tom Delonge.