"The Rock Show" is a song by American rock band Blink-182 for the group's fourth studio album, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001). It was released as the lead single from the album on May 7, 2001. The track was composed primarily by bassist Mark Hoppus about meeting a girl at a rock concert. It was inspired by the band's early days touring punk rock clubs, mainly Soma in their hometown of San Diego.
The song's creation stems from Blink-182 manager Rick DeVoe's opinion that the album lacked a catchy, "feel-good" song. Hoppus composed "The Rock Show" in response, while guitarist Tom DeLonge composed the album's second single, "First Date". The song was influenced by bands such as the Ramones, Screeching Weasel, and the Descendents.
The song peaked at number two on Billboard'sModern Rock Tracks chart, making it the most successful single from the album. It also reached number 14 in the United Kingdom. The song's music video finds the band given an unusually large budget for the video, and spending frivolously on random things. In promotion of the single, Blink-182 performed the song live on late-night talk showLate Show with David Letterman.
Background
Prior to recording Blink-182's fourth studio album, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, the group recorded demos at DML Studios, a small practice studio in Escondido, California, where the band had written Dude Ranch and Enema of the State.[1] The group had written a dozen songs after three weeks and invited the band's manager, Rick DeVoe, to be the first person outside Blink-182 to hear the new material, which the band found "catchy [but with] a definitive edge".[1][4][5] DeVoe sat in the control room and quietly listened to the recordings, and pressed the band at the end on why there was no "Blink-182 good-time summer anthem [thing]". Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus were furious, remarking, "You want a fucking single? I'll write you the cheesiest, catchiest, throwaway fucking summertime single you've ever heard!"[1][6] Hoppus went home and wrote "The Rock Show" in ten minutes, and DeLonge similarly wrote "First Date", which became the most successful singles from the record and future live staples.[5]
Hoppus wrote the song based on his memories of the San Diego club Soma. In their early days, Blink-182 performed dozens of concerts at the venue, mainly at the 5305 Metro Street location.[7] "It was covered with graffiti, it stunk, it was made of concrete and metal so the sound sucked and the toilets were always over-flowing. It was the best, we loved it," he recalled.[8]Travis Barker remembered that the song's arrangement was worked in the Famous Stars and Straps warehouse in San Diego.[9] The band felt the song captured "the spirit of the Ramones and Screeching Weasel," and "[it was] definitely influenced by bands like the Descendents."[10] The band members expanded upon this in a 2001 interview with BBC Music:
I think it's actually as if we built a punk rock time capsule and went back to five years ago when we were writing songs. We wrote that song as a mid-tempo punk-pop song about a girl, and it ended up being one of the better ones on the record.[10]
Eric Aiese of Billboard examined the song through the lens of its airplay competition: "As the face of rock radio has yielded toward the emerging hard sounds on "nu metal", Blink continues to provide a contrasting voice […] "The Rock Show" clearly shows the band's talent for writing—and performing—hooks."[12]
Music video
The music video for "The Rock Show" depicts the band spending their major-label budget on a variety of chaotic stunts and humorous pranks.[13] The video's large budget—reportedly $500,000—was deliberately used for these extravagant stunts as part of its humor.[11][14] It depicts the trio trashing televisions and trains, taking homeless individuals for a spa makeover, handing out cash to strangers, and paying dancers to mow lawns.[11] Many of the people involved were bewildered when handed money during filming, with some even suspecting it was a scam.[15]
The video was directed by the Malloy brothers, who had previously gained experience making surf films.[16]Marcos Siega, who had directed three of the band's previous videos, wrote a treatment for "The Rock Show" but was unable to get his schedule aligned to direct the clip.[17] The band's label, MCA, initially wanted the video to focus on skateboarding, aiming to align the band with their SoCal subculture, but the band rejected the idea.[15] "We had to really put our foot down [with the label]," Hoppus recalled, noting that their growing clout allowed them to get the video they wanted. Hoppus later recalled that the band conceived the video as a deliberately chaotic, DIY-style clip, using handheld cameras in the style of an "anarchic skate video". The project became a way to lampoon the often exorbitant music-video budgets that reached millions at the millennial peak of the record industry. Still: "That was a cheap video for a band of our size at that time," Hoppus said.[15] Despite initial label skepticism, Hoppus observed that the resulting footage fit well with MTV's post-Jackass programming, which embraced its anarchic tone. "We thought we’d made the Casablanca of punk videos," he remembered.[18]
The gray 1985 Dodge van that the band used for the video was later bought and restored by fans,[19][20][21] where it has since been used as a traveling fan exhibit at Blink concerts.[22]
During their hiatus with Blink-182, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker regularly played this song in their band, +44. Guitarist and background vocalist Craig Fairbaugh replaced DeLonge on backing vocals.
In 2025, American pop-punk band Bowling for Soup covered this song to coincide with the announcement that they are playing two of the 2025 Warped Tour dates. Frontman Jaret Reddick stated "All of a sudden we find out that Warped Tour is back in 2025 and that we are playing… the absolute first thing that popped into my head was the lyric, 'I couldn't wait for the summer and the Warped Tour'".[49]
References
1 2 3 4 Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2013 Vinyl Reissue) (liner notes). Blink-182. United States: Geffen / Universal Music Special Markets. 2013. SRC025/SRC026/SRC027/SRC028. This reference primarily cites the Mark Hoppus foreword.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
↑ Blink-182: Take Off Your Pants and Jacket Tour 2001 Official Program. MCA Records. 2001. p.2.
↑ Barker, Travis; Edwards, Gavin (2015). Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums. William Morrow. p.158. ISBN978-0-062-31942-5.
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