Niki N. Phaser

          Mark Hoppus has announced that Blink 182 will be touring Europe for a few weeks, during the summer of 2010. No exact dates or locations have been published yet, but in the following months, everything will be revealed. To be sure that you are not missing anything, check the band’s official site for future information. Since the band reformed, there has been talk of a new album, but there is still nothing certain. Drummer Travis Barker has been working on his solo record, which will feature, among others, RZA and Chester of Linkin Park and Dead By Sunrise. It will be out next year, under the title Mr. Barker’s. Mark Hoppus has been in the studio also, producing a lot of new bands, while Tom DeLonge’s side project, Angels and Airwaves is about to release a new album, Love, and also an experimental movie of the same name. The first single, Hallucinations, has been released as a free download, as will the entire record. However, some sources state that the band will be working on a new Blink 182 album before touring Europe in 2010. Their last one was released in 2003.

An online auction has been recently set by The Chi Cheng Special Needs Trust with the help of CharityBuzz.com. All earnings will go to the said fund to help pay the medical bills. The auction will conclude on December 8, 2009. For more than a year, the Deftones’ bassist has been, at first, in a coma and then, in a minimally conscious state. Since the tragedy happened, on November 4, 2008, his family and band have been met with the utmost support by fans and fellow musicians.

The latest effort is this  online auction, which is based on the help offered by some of the biggest names in contemporary rock. First of all, there is a lot of original and signed ”rock apparatus” (guitars, drum kits), that would grace any collector’s showroom. The list contains stuff signed by the likes of Metallica, 311, System of a Down, My Chemical Romance, Deftones, Green Day or country star, Tim McGraw. Remaining in the ”signed by” territory, you can also acquire promo material and albums by Coldplay, Iron Maiden, Gallows, Mastodon, Sepultura, Slayer, Alexisonfire.

More special gifts are offered, for example, by HIM. The highest bidder will get a chance to see the band perform at Helldone this year, as well as a meet&greet session, travel expenses and lodgings being also provided. Rise Against are doing something similar, involving their KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Show gig. Another great proof of generosity comes from Blink 182′s Mark Hoppus, who is willing to produce a track for one lucky (or rich) band, meaning you get to spend a day in the studio with him. One of the most coveted items in the offer is the Velvet Hammer Golden Pass, which, among other magic tricks that it performs, will grant you access to any Velvet Hammer artist show for one year. To see the entire list of items and to place your bid, go AWAY.

While we are waiting… and waiting… and, you guessed it… for Blink 182 to release some new material, we should all take a moment and remember the wonderful non-single masterpiece that was Violence, song which appeared on as of yet still their final album, the self-titled (or untitled) from 2003. Because of this album, the band’s 2005 hiatus was even harder, because it marked the beginning of a new sound for the band. While still punk and pop, this album had more serious tones. Unlike previous stuff, it talked about love, not about dating, about intimacy, not about hanging out. The sound was hinted at by earlier songs like Stay Together for the Kids or Adam’s Song, but Blink 182 is the album where the boys grow up, they are done with practical jokes, because they feel new things and they need to get them out there. Violence is by no means the highlight of the album. It shares the title with I Miss You, All of This or I’m Lost Without You, but, still, Violence probably has the best chorus on the entire thing. The live version sounds great, too, but you kinda notice the lack of the slight reverb on the “You kill me” line. It makes all the difference.

Album Version