Blink-182 addresses Christchurch gig cancellation

Blink-182 bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus has fronted up about their cancelled Garden City gig.

The band got into hot water with Cantabrians earlier this week after one of the musicians was filmed saying “F*** Christchurch” at their Melbourne concert.

Hoppus has now told Discord users he was “bummed” about the cancelled show and said it wasn’t their choice or decision.

“We got a call saying it was cancelled. What else can I do?” he wrote.

“Vent all you want in here but it’s never like we want to cancel any shows. I love NZ. Wanted to play the show.”

Hoppus wrote he had planned to do “cool stuff” while there and it sucked.

He said no one takes a cancelled show lightly, and they have the best crew in the business who will make shows happen in “pouring rain, wind, you name it”.

An “unimaginable” amount of work goes into every show, Hoppus said, and hundreds of crew members were affected.

“Fans bought tickets. Plane tickets. Booked hotels. Got babysitters.”

Mark Hoppus from Blink-182. Photo: Getty Images
Mark Hoppus from Blink-182. Photo: Getty Images
The comments were a change of tune from earlier this week when he ripped on Christchurch by saying: “To be honest Sydney sucked so f****ng bad we had to cancel Christchurch”.

“It’s a gnarly name for a town could you imagine naming your city that? If I were God,” Hoppus said.

Christchurch city councillor Andrei Moore said on social media: “Disappointing to learn of Blink-182 saying ‘f*** Christchurch’ on stage in Melbourne after cancelling their sold-out show that many Christchurch folk and visitors bought tickets for 18 months in advance.”

“We’ve been through more than our fair share of challenges over the years which have led to many concert cancellations but I can’t ever recall any of them being followed up with an attitude as bad as this one,” Moore said.

It comes after Blink-182 announced last week they were cancelling their upcoming Christchurch show, just two weeks ahead of the event taking place.

The show, which was scheduled for March 4 at WolfBrook Arena, was cancelled with ticketholders and fans emailed announcing the news.

“Unfortunately, the Blink-182 Christchurch performance has been cancelled due to unanticipated logistical issues outside of the band’s control,” the statement read.

“Event organisers join the band and fans in being very disappointed and regret any inconvenience that this cancellation has caused.”