Pairing Green Day with Blink-182 on a tour sounds like it would have been a no-brainer in 2002. That was the pop-punk era and golden age, after all. However, as Mark Hoppus has recently revealed, the two bands were often at each other’s throats in an intense rivalry.
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The two bands joined up for the Pop Disaster Tour of 2002 at a time when Blink-182 was still finding its footing. According to Hoppus, this experience essentially helped hone the band’s edge.
Despite Green Day’s influence and Hoppus’ own idolatry of the band, Blink-182 found themselves closing every show on tour. It’s possible the rivalry may have started there.
2002 was a quieter year for Green Day, all things considered. They were in between albums at the time, having put out Warning in 2000. The band would eventually ascend once again with American Idiot in 2004, but at the time of Pop Disaster, they were in somewhat of a lull.
Blink-182, however, were riding high on the success of Take Off Your Pants And Jacket from 2001. The album went to no. 1, and Blink was in the spotlight.
Blink-182 and Green Day Began a Rivalry on Tour in 2002
Mark Hoppus described the rivalry more as an “unspoken competition” between the two bands. There was never a formal declaration, but they began constantly trying to outdo one another.
“We walked in thinking we were hot s–t,” Hoppus recently told NME. “And Green Day walked in ready to fight — musically of course. They blew us off the stage the first few nights and we were like, ‘Oh s–t, we have to up our game.’”
However, Hoppus added, ultimately something good came out of the competition. “It definitely made us a better band,” he said.
Overall, the rivalry was more about artistry and hyping up the crowds than any personal problems the two bands had with each other. Hoppus even clarified that “Billie was really nice to us.”
“It was this back-and-forth about who could put on the better show and who could win people over,” he further explained. “I think I inspired them so much they were like, we have to kill Blink-182 with an awesome album called ‘American Idiot’.”
Featured Image by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
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