Travis Barker Talks Tom DeLonge Blink-182 Controversy
. (Radio.com) Fans knew little of the troubles brewing within blink-182 until drummer Travis Barker attempted to assemble the threesome for a performance at his annual Musink Music & Tattoo Festival, March 20-22 in Costa Mesa, Calif. And now, Barker has shed a little more light on what happened. Minutes after the announcement that blink-182 would headline the show with Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba filling in for Tom DeLonge, a follow-up press release was issued by the band's publicist declaring that DeLonge was leaving the band "indefinitely." "We [blink-182] had agreed to do this show," Barker explained Friday morning on the Kevin & Bean show on KROQ (a CBS Radio station). "We had planned this in the end of October. We had all agreed to do it. It was concrete, blink was headlining. Then the day before New Year's Eve we got an email saying Tom is indefinitely taking a leave of absence. He doesn't know how long. It could be forever. More than likely it's forever and will not be doing anything blink-related, meaning live shows, recordings. And we were set to go in studio on Jan. 5. Managers had studios rented, equipment was moved over. Everyone was raring to go. And this is the fourth time it's happened." Barker echoed the same thoughts in his Rolling Stone interview earlier this week, saying that this series of events has a precedent. "This is exactly how it went down 10 years ago. No phone call from Tom. It was always just his management saying, 'Don't bug Tom. Tom's out. Leave him alone.' "You know, the way we see it is, you know when it happened 10 years ago we had this big tsunami benefit that we were supposed to play and we pulled out. It sucked for everyone. It sucked for the fans. It sucked for us. And it was kind of the same this for this Musink show. Let's get through this show. We committed. We said we play it, let's play it." Barker explained that the band's last reunion, which happened in 2009, may have been for the wrong reasons. "From the time my plane crash happened and I survived, it was like, 'Dude you almost died. I have to play music with you again,'" he said. "Then it turned into interviews where he was like, 'I was on a plane when Travis got in a plane crash and everyone was talking to me and it felt weird and poor me.' He took it to a weird place." But no worries, they're still friends--or, at least Barker considers them such. Read more here. Radio.com is an official news provider for antiMusic.com.
|
Travel News, Trips and Tips: Hit the Beach in Sierra Leone!
Live: Pearl Jam Rock Nashville
On The Record: Steely Dan- Stevie Wonder- Smokey Robinson
Travel News, Trips and Tips: More Goodies for Spring Travel
Chevelle Return With First New Song In Four Years 'Rabbit Hole (Cowards, Pt. 1)'
John 5 and Richie Kotzen Teaming Up For U.S. Tour
Bob Mould Announces Solo Electric North American Tour Dates
Mob Rules Release 'Future Loom' Video
Stryper Share 'Unforgivable' Video
Born of Osiris Announce New Album With 'Through Shadows' Video
Steve Perry Revisits Journey's 'Faithfully' With Willie Nelson
Live Nation Announce $30 Ticket to Summer With Over 1000 Shows