Want to watch Blink 182 live on the One More Time Tour? Some tickets still remain
Pop-punk legends Blink 182 are back on the road for their One More Time Tour. What’s my age again?
The multi-platinum artists out of Poway, California, who helped take the punk scene mainstream in the 1990s return to the stage for a world tour. It starts with a two-night stand in Perth Australia’s RAC Center on Feb. 8 and concludes in Glasgow, Scotland, with another double-evening session on Aug. 29 and 30 at the Ovo Hydro.
You will probably agree with our top choice, but what about the rest?
What is the greatest American-born rock band of all time? It sounds like an easy enough question, but my goodness, it is anything but that.
Podcast host Jack Wagner recently tweeted about the thought experiment, and the post caused ripples of debate in our Slack newsroom. So we decided to make a list.
This was a deliberately hard exercise for so many reasons, though, and it’s not just because most of the great bands you’re thinking about (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, AC/DC, Queen, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, U2, Oasis, Sex Pistols, Joy Division) are actually not bands from the United States. There were other hurdles we needed to jump through, too.
How exactly does one define greatness? Is it your personal favorite band, or is it based on accomplishments and influence? We all had our own definitions so we had to trust our gut here.
How does one define an American band? We disqualified Fleetwood Mac because Mick Fleetwood and the late Christine McVie are British; CSNY did not make the list because Neil Young is Canadian and Graham Nash is English; The Band didn’t count because several members (including the late, great Robbie Robertson) are Canadian; The Jimi Hendrix Experience had an American frontman but the rest of the band was English. You get the idea.
How do we define a rock and roll and roll band? Not only is it hard to define rock and roll (Do funk bands like Parliament count? What about R&B groups like Earth Wind & Fire?) but it is also tough to know what even counts as a band. So many of the greatest musicians who immediately came to mind (e.g. Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Prince, Joan Jett, Patti Smith) were primarily known as solo artists. This was tough to evaluate but our writers tended to favor bands with a more traditional rock and roll instrumentation.
Here was our methodology: Our staff was allowed to vote for any domestic rock band. They were asked to rank each band from No. 1 overall to No. 10 overall. Bands that got first-place votes received ten points while bands that got tenth-place votes earned one.
We calculated the results and bring them to you, the reader. This article says the results are definitive, and it is definitively our list. But really, it is actually imperfect, and mostly, this was simply the closest we could get to agreeing.
Other bands that received votes from multiple staffers include Journey, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hall and Oates, The Grateful Dead, Simon & Garfunkel, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Strokes.
Fortunately back on the call, Brown is already providing gems even during games in which Baltimore is getting blown out. Here is Brown providing an incredible impression of Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge (while the Orioles trailed the Padres, 10-0) for color commentator Ben McDonald:
Kevin Brown explains Blink 182 to Ben McDonald, complete with a Tom DeLonge impression. pic.twitter.com/ZQtmYjsIti
If you’re anything like me, once he got that lyric out, your brain already rushed to complete the rest of the song and you were shouting, “Don’t waste your time on me you’re already the voice inside my heeeeeead.”
It’s all about all the small (Colorado Avalanche) things in the Stanley Cup Final.
DENVER — The background buzzing of nearly 18,000 hockey fans in Ball Arena during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final erupted into animated cheers during a TV timeout midway through the third period.
With Wednesday’s thrilling series opener between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning tied at three goals apiece, Blink-182 bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus appeared on the jumbotron with a pre-recorded message. He gave the Avs faithful crowd a shoutout, and everyone knew what was about to follow.
The first seconds of All the Small Things, Blink-182’s 1999 classic, blasted through the arena and ignited already rowdy fans, jumping up and down and waving their white and silver pom poms in the air, awaiting the opening titular lyrics.
All the, small things. True care, truth brings…
In the last three NHL seasons, the song has become a staple of Avalanche home matchups, particularly in the third period. Although it’s not played during every home game, it’s a tradition celebrated by Colorado fans and players alike, and one that amplifies the Avalanche’s urge to steal the lead or hold onto it for just a few minutes of play longer — especially as they play for their first Stanley Cup since 2001.
— Michelle R. Martinelli (@MMartinelli4) June 16, 2022
When the puck was about to drop, the song stopped. But the fans, as they often do, carried on screaming the lyrics of the catchy tune.
“It just adds on to the excitement the fans have and how into the game they’ve been, especially this year and this playoff run,” left winger J.T. Compher said.
After a scoreless end to regulation, Avalanche left winger Andre Burakovsky netted the game-winner just 83 seconds into overtime, delivering a 1-0 series lead to the home team.
Blink-182 fan and Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz said the tradition has changed the way he listens to All the Small Things. Instead of being reminded of his Blink-182 fandom when he was growing up, Francouz said now when he hears it on or off the ice, he connects it to memories or hopes of winning with his team.
“Usually, it’s a good mood in the arena and we’re winning, that’s when they play the song,” he said.
“I feel like especially lately, the fans are kind of waiting for it. And they get more and more excited, so they sing louder. So definitely when they take off and sing by themselves, it’s interesting to hear it.”
Francouz speculated his teammates would probably agree it’s the squad’s unofficial theme song.
That, in large part, is because of Craig Turney, who’s better known to Avalanche fans as DJ Triple T and has been DJing games since 2007. After listening to the song back in the fall of 2019, Turney played it during the next Colorado game, and it quickly became a (usually) third-period tradition.
The Avalanche’s game presentation team, in 2020, even sent instructions up to the NHL’s Edmonton bubble for how and when to play All the Small Things, said Steve Johnston, executive producer of game presentation for the Avalanche. When the team returned to playing at Ball Arena the following season, the tradition continued and intensified. There’s also a Twitter account dedicated to the ritual.
“It’s really taken off this year,” Johnston said. “And our fan base has just taken it and run with it. It’s just been this awesome thing that our fans have just really jumped on. They sing along to a lot of songs, but there’s just something about All the Small Things that just really stuck.”
Turney declined an interview for this story.
There’s no hard rule for when or when not to play the Blink-182 anthem, Johnston explained. It’s based on the feel and flow of the game and crowd, and it’s not something he and Turney try to force. Often, the song comes on when the Avalanche are winning, but not always, like Wednesday’s Game 1 when it was tied.
Center Nico Sturm, who only joined Colorado’s roster in March, likened All the Small Things to other NHL teams’ traditions — despite some of those being a little more wonky. The Carolina Hurricanes have their Storm Surge, Detroit Red Wings fans toss octopi on the ice, Nashville Predators fans opt for catfish and the Avalanche’s crowd rocks out to Blink-182.
“I think it’s one of the better traditions in the league,” Sturm said. “It’s nice for the fans to have that one thing to rally around. And the atmosphere is obviously always great when that song comes on.”
It’s a fun song, and — especially if you’re familiar with it, like diehard Avs fans are now, if they weren’t before — it’s nearly impossible not to get into the music. So even if the Avalanche are winning, the tune combined with 18,000 raging fans in Ball Arena screaming the lyrics gives the players an extra push to hold on for the win, they said.
“It definitely sends some chills and gives you an extra little motivational boost there,” right winger Logan O’Connor said. “It’s pretty uplifting for everyone and just the momentum or atmosphere feels like it shifts more towards us, which is pretty special.”
Of course, several players said it’s often hard to hear the song when they’re on the ice and ultra focused. But the bench is a different story, and they “feed off that energy for sure,” Compher said.
Sometimes, that results in players, particularly on the bench, bopping along with Blink-182. Center Alex Newhook said he’s among the players who catch themselves sometimes singing with the raucous fans.
“I’m sure I could sing the main chorus that the fans sing and stuff like that, but I don’t know if I could go for the whole song,” defenseman Cale Makar joked.
Multiple Avalanche players said they’re not huge Blink-182 fans, but they now know at least a few of the words to All the Small Things. Even general manager Joe Sakic said he’s got some of the lyrics “figured out.”
But not everyone else on the team does.
“I’m French Canadian, so a lot of times, I just sing the syllables,” right winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel said, adding that it also gives him chills, and he “for sure” finds himself nodding along on the bench — and hockey Twitter notices too.
Sturm added: “It usually means we’re in a pretty good spot in the game, right? So hopefully we can hear it a couple more times.”
