The Rock Show

For other uses, see Rock Show.

"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 Rock Show"
Single by Blink-182
from the album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
Released	May 7, 2001 (2001-05-07)
Recorded	January–March 2001[1]
Studio	Signature Sound (San Diego) Larrabee West (Hollywood) Cello (Hollywood)
Genre	Pop-punk[2]
Length	2:51
Label	MCA
Songwriter(s)	Mark Hoppus Tom DeLonge Travis Barker
Producer(s)	Jerry Finn
Blink-182 singles chronology
"Man Overboard" (2000) "The Rock Show" (2001) "First Date" (2001)
Music video
"The Rock Show" on YouTube
Audio
"The Rock Show" on YouTube

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's Modern 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 show Late 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][3][4] 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][5] 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.^[4]

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.^[6] "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.^[7] Travis Barker remembered that the song's arrangement was worked in the Famous Stars and Straps warehouse in San Diego.^[8] The band felt the song captured "the spirit of the Ramones and Screeching Weasel," and "[it was] definitely influenced by bands like the Descendents."^[9] 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.^[9]

Although it only peaked at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 33 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, it reached number two on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.^[10]

Reception

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."^[11]

Music video

The band filmed a music video that included them trashing televisions, trains, taking the homeless for a spa makeover, handing out cash to strangers and paying dancers to mow people's lawns.^[10] The relatively large budget for the video, reportedly $50,000, was the basis of the joke and frivolously spent.^[10][12]

Track listing

CD single 1

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Rock Show" (radio edit)	2:51
2.	"Time to Break Up"	3:05
3.	"Man Overboard" (radio edit)	2:46
4.	"Man Overboard" (video)	3:12

All tracks are written by Blink-182.

CD single 2

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Rock Show" (album version)	2:51
2.	"Aliens Exist" (live from The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show)	3:43
3.	"Adam's Song" (enhanced video)	4:22

DVD single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Rock Show" (album version)	2:51
2.	"All the Small Things" (Video)	2:53
3.	"Clips from 'The Urethra Chronicles'" (video, four 30-seconds clips)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2001) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[13] 34 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[14] 38 Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[15] 11 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[16] 35 France (SNEP)[17] 88 Germany (GfK)[18] 55 Ireland (IRMA)[19] 28 Italy (FIMI)[20] 24 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] 98 Portugal (AFP)[22] 10 Scotland (OCC)[23] 10 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 39 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 84 UK Singles (OCC)[26] 14 US Billboard Hot 100[27] 71 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[28] 2 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[29] 33

Year-end charts Chart (2001) Position US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[30] 14

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[31]	Gold	400,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United States	May 7, 2001	Alternative radio	MCA	[32]
	May 8, 2001	Mainstream rock active rock radio		[33]
Australia	June 25, 2001	CD		[34]
United States	June 26, 2001	Contemporary hit radio		[35]
Japan	June 27, 2001	CD		[36]
United Kingdom	July 2, 2001	CD DVD		[37]

In popular culture

• 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.
• "The Rock Show" appears in the video games Amplitude, Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero Live, and Splashdown.
• The song is available as DLC for both Rock Band and its portable counterpart, Rock Band Unplugged.
• 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.’”^[38]