Blink-182 Announces Summer Tour Plans

If it hadn't been for drummer Travis Barker's near-fatal airplane crash last year, Blink-182 might not be touring this summer.

But after a five-year hiatus, Blink-182 members Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker and Tom DeLonge will embark on a nearly 50-date North American arena and amphitheater tour, beginning July 24 at the Joint in Las Vegas, and wrapping Oct. 3 at the Borgata Events Center in Atlantic City, N.J.

The Live Nation-produced trek will feature support on various dates from Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, All-American Rejects, Taking Back Sunday, Asher Roth and Chester French.

"My goal was to have name-brand acts all the way," Blink-182 manager Rick Devoe tells Billboard.com.

The rock act has also tapped stage designer Martin Phillips to help create "the most ridiculous display of lights and images we can imagine," Hoppus said in a statement. Phillips has worked on tours stage designs for such artists as Kanye West, Daft Punk and Nine Inch Nails, among others.

Rumors that Blink-182 could reunite after its messy split in 2005 started last year after Hoppus posted a blog saying that Barker's survival and the death of Blink-182 producer Jerry Finn put the band members back in touch.

"Unfortunately it took something catastrophic to do it, but sometimes that's how life is," Devoe says. "These guys got together for the right reasons."

Although Blink-182 confirms it is writing new songs, "the word on the street is that this tour is about the hits," says Devoe, who couldn't say when a new album might be released. "As the rehearsals go by, we're hoping to have at least one new song in the repertoire."

The manager adds that Blink-182 fans who are short on cash this summer will be happy to learn that amphitheater lawn tickets will be available for $20. "If you have $20, you get in. No fees or anything," he says.

Tickets for the tour go on sale May 30 at livenation.com. Presenting sponsors of trek include T-Mobile Sidekick LX, State Farm Insurance and MySpace.

Beyond October, Blink-182 has offers to play Australia's Big Day Out and other European music festivals in 2010, according to Devoe. "That's what I'm hoping is going to happen," the manager says. "And in between these tours is when they're going to be working on an album."

Blink-182 doesn't plan to route another North American tour until the band releases a new album, Devoe says. He notes that Blink-182 can't work as quickly as it used to because the band members have family obligations and some live in different cities.

"Everyone has got full lives," the manager says. "It's a different Blink, in the sense that you have to pick your kids up after school, and one of your kids has dance class and the other kid has this."

Blink-182's last tour in 2004 grossed $14.4 million from 42 concerts that drew more than 421,000 fans, according to Billboard Boxscore. The trio's self-titled album in 2003 has sold 2.2 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Here are Blink-182's upcoming tour dates:
July 24: Las Vegas (the Joint)
July 28: Vancouver (GM Place)
July 30: Calgary, AB (Saddledome)
July 31: Edmonton, AB (Rexall Place)
Aug. 1: Saskatoon, SK (Credit Union Center)
Aug. 2: Winnipeg, MB (MTS Centre)
Aug. 4: Milwaukee (Marcus Amphitheater)
Aug. 6: Boston (Comcast Center)
Aug. 7 Quebec City, QC (Colisee Pepsi)
Aug. 8: Montreal (Bell Centre)
Aug. 9: Wantagh, N.Y. (Nikon Theater at Jones Beach)
Aug. 12: Hershey, Pa. (the Star Pavilion)
Aug. 13: Cincinnati (Riverbend Music Center)
Aug. 14: Pittsburgh (Post Gazette Pavilion)
Aug. 15: Chicago (First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre)
Aug. 16: Omaha, Neb. (Westfair Amphitheater)
Aug. 18: Minneapolis (Xcel Energy Center)
Aug. 20: Indianapolis (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
Aug. 21: Buffalo, N.Y. (Darien Lakes Performing Arts Center)
Aug. 22: Detroit (DTE Energy Music Theatre)
Aug. 23: Toronto (Molson Amphitheater)
Aug. 25: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC Bank Arts Center)
Aug. 27: Saratoga, N.Y. (Saratoga Performing Arts Center)
Aug. 28: Camden, Pa. (Susquehanna Bank Center)
Aug. 29: Hartford, Conn. (New England Dodge Music Center)
Aug. 30: Washington, D.C. (TBD)
Aug. 31: Wantagh, N.Y. (Nikon Theater at Jones Beach)
Sept. 2: Cleveland (Blossom Music Center)
Sept. 3: St. Louis (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
Sept. 4: Kansas City, Kan. (Capitol Federal Park at Sandstone)
Sept. 6: Denver (Fiddlers Green Amphitheater)
Sept. 7: Salt Lake City (David O. McKay Events Center)
Sept. 10: Seattle (White River Amphitheater)
Sept. 12: Sacramento, Calif. (Sleep Train Amphitheater)
Sept. 13: Mountain View, Calif. (Shoreline Amphitheater)
Sept. 14: Santa Barbara, Calif. (Santa Barbara Bowl)
Sept. 16: San Diego (Cricket Wireless Amphitheater)
Sept. 17: Irvine, Calif. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
Sept. 19: Phoenix (Tempe Beach Park)
Sept. 21: Albuquerque, N.M. (Journal Pavilion)
Sept. 23: Dallas (Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion)
Sept. 24: Houston (Superpages.com Center)
Sept. 26: West Palm Beach, Fla. (Cruzan Amphitheater)
Sept. 27: Tampa, Fla. (Ford Amphitheater)
Sept. 29: Atlanta (Lakewood Amphitheater)
Oct. 1: Charlotte, N.C. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
Oct. 2: Virginia Beach, Va. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
Oct. 3: Atlantic City, N.J. (Borgata Events Center)