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The first night after soundcheck there were a few dudes from Australia who were talking to Travis near me, I think I have it on video somewhere. But Travis said he was gonna try and get down there to play soon--and that he needed to hop on a boat! For the second show I was front row right in front of Mark--which meant I had to get my spot immediately and not move for 4 hours. I didn't even notice the kid falling or the medics coming in or anything. I didn't even know it happened until I read about it a few days later! Crazy. Those were some awesome shows though.

I was at both the Palladium shows back to back nights and had the VIP thing where you got to attend soundcheck each night. Funny story as we were standing in line the first night, we saw Travis pull up in a black truck with FSAS rims. Not many people noticed, but I saw he just pulled up and parked right by the backdoor in the normal parking lot. After the show my buddy and I decided to stand around and see if we could get an autograph or something. (My buddy caught his drumstick he threw out during the encore and wanted that signed really bad) We wait for about an hour, and Mark/Skye come out along with one other guy. There were only about 10-15 of us chillin, and Mark gets in the backseat of his Prius and rolls off waving. LMAO. (This pissed off some people and they left.) About 30 minutes later, all of a sudden Travis walks out holding Alabama who is asleep. Some people were asking him to come over and sign, but I figured there was no chance--his kid was sleeping. To my surprise, Travis puts her in the backseat, then walks right over and starts signing and taking pix. I didn't really have anything to sign so I had him sign my VIP badge. My buddy did get his drumstick signed which is so sick. Here's some pix: Supposedly Mark signed the 2nd night, but I was too tired to hang out there again and had an early flight to catch. Never did see Tom, although I had heard he came and left via helicopter. LOL.

Going through old phone pix and found some from the 2013 Untitled shows in L.A. I've only been on the West Coast for 3 days total, and it was to fly out to Cali and see those 2 shows, then fly right back. I remember during soundcheck people were requesting songs and Mark said "We're not monkeys, we actually need to practice some of these." I thought he was joking, but in hindsight he was probably telling the truth. On the 2nd night's soundcheck, I remember Tom saying they were going to record an album that next year, and let the fans create the album cover. Mark sorta looked at him surprised and said "Oh really?" as if he was shocked. Again in hindsight, these were signs of how little they were around each other. I keep trying to upload these to the site but get an error, hopefully these links work:

That Travis clip has some more insight than the shortened one that was posted previously: "Wait til you hear the deluxe album, we kinda fucked up and made an entire new album. But with them still working California we just can’t release a new album. 14 new songs on the deluxe along with all the songs that are already on it and D*face did like a new cover, just a new color way. It’s pretty cool."

I never did hear a reason for removing it, but I do remember everyone freaking out about it. People discussed the dumb smiley more than that actual art which could've been part of the reason for removing it. I also think it was too close to Nirvana's version, so they may have been advised to remove it to avoid Courtney Love coming after them. In which case I would remove it quickly too!

I'm sure anyone who is allowed to interview him has been told specifically not to ask about it. Just as anyone who interviews current blink is warned not to bring up Tom. I'm with Kay though, I really don't think he's listened to California. I'd bet he's heard BTD, and I know they played San Diego at the MLB HR Derby which Tom was at, so he's probably heard a few songs. I would love to hear Tom's thoughts on it, tbh I bet he would cringe and laugh through most the record. I really think if he heard it all he would've gone on a Facebook rant by now. lol.

Would love to see a D*Face alternate perspective for the Deluxe Album cover. This would be pretty rad with L.A. in the background... Edit: It's only letting me upload super small images so to see D*Face's "rear view" work just click here: https://www.google.com/search?q=dface+rear+view&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=958&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7x5_U0ZLSAhVo2IMKHQd5BYwQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=GMwYN-azIvrFsM:

TOTTM is definitely one of my favorites on California, and probably the most "blink" sounding song on that album to me. Love that bass intro, it is very underrated IMHO.

1:10 - Feldmann goes out of his way to say he co-wrote the album with the boysss. Ugh. At my M&G with Blink I may try to bring up the writing process and get some better insight as to how it went lol.

Feldy knew they lost pretty quickly. He looks super bummed, and immediately played the "Whatever my life is great" card. Later he posted another picture with PATD's lead singer that said something like "We didn't win but that doesn't mean we don't fucking rock!" LMAO.

Yeah I hope they could care less, but I really think they thought they would win it. (To the point of where I thought they knew already.) All of their social media was hyping it up hardcore, from Feldy to Skye to Trav's drum tech and everything. I'd be bummed, and would probably leave early too LOL. That would suck to know you lost and have to sit through it all. Hopefully they just felt honored to be mentioned in the first place, and set out to prove the academy wrong with the next record.

Anyone get the vibe that they may know they've won already? All of the social media stuff is pretty confident to just show up and lose... or maybe they're just excited to be invited. Also, does Feldmann join them on stage or nah?

I get that, I'm just saying I understand the argument that some of the songs feel a bit "cheap" or "tainted" in regards to quality (mostly lyrically to me) and that the methods for writing them could be partially to blame. The alternative is that these songs are all 10000% how Mark/Matt felt and it's a fun successful album that brought Blink back on the charts which is fine. I'm totally on board and stoked for them. I like California, I really do, I just think that given Mark/Matt's history with songwriting it seems a bit shallow to me personally at times. And for those who feel that way and dislike California, it's logical to blame Feldmann for that.

Yup, and that is the beauty of music to me, is being able to share and feel that emotion. And I think that's all Oliver is asking for, authentic Blink feelings. Not some guy eating a donut saying: "Hey we need a fast song. Heard the phrase Rabbit Hole the other day, write down the first thing you think of..." I get it. I'm not blaming Mark or Feldy or anyone, California is what it is. I just hope they are more honest on the next record.

I completely get what Oliver is saying, and as I've said before I don't necessary blame Feldmann for everything, but I think a lot of it had to do with how he "pushed" the guys to pop out shit as quickly as possible. Feldmann knows what works for radio, and knows the formula for "popular" songs, which is basically just a super catchy chorus, and a decent bridge. Throw whatever lyrics you want in between, no one cares about them. There's a big difference between just enjoying a "catchy" song, and connecting deeply with the raw emotion/meaning of the song. I like California, it's fun and catchy, but very few of the songs feel "honest" to me. (Other than HISALP which I cried mowing the fucking lawn listening to that). I want true honest feelings, songs that just come out of the artist, not ones that are forced. And it just seems that California was a bit forced, or "manufactured" which cheapens the overall product for those of us who have such a great connection to Blink songs in the past. To most people this doesn't matter, but to some I can totally understand where they're coming from. Most of the lyrics just do not connect with me, and I think it's because they were forced out, and then told that they were just fine and on to the next one. It's why lyrically Neighborhoods/D.E.D. are so much better to me, and I can connect with them so much more. It's because they were writing what they felt, and what we got was authentic IMHO. I mean stuff like this just fucking hits me, I can feel it: "When I was young The world it was smaller The cities were vast The buildings were taller I felt really strong My parents seem stronger" Or: "Everyone falls and spins and gets up again with a friend who does the same. Everyone lies and cheats their wants and needs and still believes their heart." And even Matt Skiba's lyrics from a recent release: "You're in my heart You're in my skull You're in my blood You're in my bones" That is some deep shit, derived from actual emotions spilled out on to pen and paper. And I guess when I listen to California I just don't get the vibe that much of it is super personal raw emotional deep shit.

Cathedrals of Glass comes out 2/24 and is written by A.J. Hartley who also wrote the first Sekret Machines book for Tom. I read the advanced copy a couple months ago and it is basically a sci-fi book about a group of 10 kids who are sent off to another planet for "punishment", except they crash and end up on this icy planet (Valkrys). It's a pretty entertaining read, although the first ~150 pages the pace is a bit slow. Ultimately they run into some fairly odd "threats", as well as start to think they might not be there by "accident"... The Poet Anderson "Graphic Novel" is basically just a scrap book full of the creation of Poet Anderson. There is some cool artwork in there, early sketches, and also an interview with Tom.

I still love BTD, although I could do without the extended outro. I wish it ended at ~3:09 personally. And I do love the guitar intro... until I heard it again on No Future... and then again on San Diego. lol. The lack of guitar was a huge bummer to me. If you listen with some nice headphones, there is some decent guitar work going on, but it's too low in the mix, and then of course repetitive as I mentioned above. After California I decided to check out all of Matt Skiba's discography (and have since become a huge fan of his), but super catchy loud recognizable riffs are not his thing. He's just a power chord guy, so if I would've known that before, I may have understood the lack of guitar in California a bit better.

@Gozee I found a bunch from September 2015, I remember trying to buy that acoustic for $500! https://web.archive.org/web/20150925065353/http://tothestars.media/collections/over-100 BUT, when you click on them to get the description that you want, it doesn't have that archived. Ugh. Sorry, I tried.

I believe most of those were sold late 2015 on TTS. I don't have time to go through these and find it, but here is a cool website that allows you to view "archived" snapshots of websites. Here are some snapshots from 2015 you can click on, and essentially view the site exactly how it was that day: https://web.archive.org/web/20150401000000*/http://www.tothestars.media You can also move on to 2016/2017 in the top right. If you really want to find them, start going through those! Sometimes they take a bit to load, good luck!

Yes, it's a solid read. It's very long, but it is essentially 4 stories in one. There are 4 main "characters" and their stories alternate each chapter. I assumed it was going to be a big weird book about people having encounters with little green men, but it is not like that at all. It is essentially a thriller, and has more to do with government cover-ups and secret "technology". At no point does any of it sound like it is coming from Tom, it is a well written adult thriller. It reads like a Da Vinci Code, or The Lost Symbol where you just have to continue reading... Supposedly the "stories" were derived from actual interviews that Tom did, but even if you treat it as pure fiction, it's a good read IMHO. And if you start thinking that some of the stuff may be real, it can really start blowing your mind. I've read all of Tom's books so far, and Poet/Sekret Machines are the top 2. Poet is definitely aimed towards a much younger crowd, but if you get over the corny cussing and tween love, the "fantasy world" he created is pretty interesting--if you're into that sort of thing. This "GODS" book is supposedly the first non-fiction installment of this Sekret Machines project, I'm going to check it out but I'm just going to get it from Amazon when it releases.

I'm hoping Mark rocks the blazer jacket with the HMNIM octopus tee underneath. I can see Travis rocking a cutoff tee with his little black top-hat. And Matt can wear whatever, just please avoid hoodies. (Side note: I know people have made fun of Matt's weight, but when I met them last summer I was shocked at how thin he was in person. I think the camera adds 15 pounds for him! But the hoodies definitely don't help LOL)

The last couple times I've listened to California, HISALP has really stood out for me. I used to skip it regularly but it has become a highlight for me lately. It's one of the few songs on that album that sound "honest" to me, and is able to evoke emotion. It is pretty crazy that they are still sitting on Sober/HISALP, I feel like those would be huge hits commercially (Especially Sober). I thought I heard HISALP was being released as a single overseas at one point, but then I never heard about it anymore... ?

Just got 2 ETGBF tix to Knoxville, TN using "MARKRULES" BOOOOOM. No ragretz

Code is "MARKRU", but doesn't look like you can secure VIP tix with this one.

$477+taxes+fees for ETGBF package... seems like these went up a bit, or are more in line with the European tour prices. Ugh not sure if I can swing that. Although from what I've heard from people who did it, it was completely worth it, and I was mad at myself for not doing it last summer: https://buy.knoxvilletickets.com/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=blink182vip&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=