Chester French at the Blink-182 tour launch party in L.A.
Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

There seems to be a common thread running through the (seemingly) unrelated slate of bands Blink-182 have tapped to open dates on their summer tour: They're all huge Blink fans.

In fact, many of the younger acts on the bill — bands like Panic at the Disco and Chester French — have some pretty vivid memories of seeing Blink on their previous tours.

"We went to Blink's [2002] Pop Disaster Tour with Green Day and Jimmy Eat World, and that was the first show that we'd seen in an arena," Panic drummer Spencer Smith told MTV News. "We didn't have floor seats, and at one point, one of the bands asked everyone to jump down, so we took part in that, and that was the first, like, bombarding-the-stage moment of my life, so that was cool."

"I saw them when I was a little kid. It was rowdy," Chester French's D.A. Wallach added. "I was, like, pre-pubescent, so [there were] lots of insecurity issues and self-righteousness, but it was awesome. One thing we try to do — and I think all the bands on this tour do — they not only have great music, but also really care about entertaining and don't shy away from comedy, which is something we think is tremendously under-represented in music today."

Oh, about that comedy. Blink have never shied away from working an off-color joke (or 17) into their onstage banter, something that leaves even the more established bands on the tour in awe.

"We grew up with Blink-182, and there's a certain chemistry that Mark and Tom have going when they're onstage together," Taking Back Sunday frontman Adam Lazzara laughed. "They really get going and say anything, and I'm excited to watch that every night."

• Blink-182's Biggest Hits

• blink-182
• Chester French
• Panic at the Disco

Blink-182 at their tour party on Monday
Photo: MTV News

LOS ANGELES — There was a mariachi band, flaming margaritas and lots of musicians on Monday night at the El Compadre Mexican restaurant, as Blink-182 took over the joint for a fiesta in celebration of their upcoming summer tour.

And while there was much celebrating — the mariachi band belted out Blink tunes and the margaritas flamed late into the night — the party also served another function: breaking the ice. After all, when you've got a tour that's positively packed with bands (not just Weezer and Fall Out Boy, but a rotating cast of opening acts like Panic at the Disco, the All-American Rejects, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French and Asher Roth, to name just a few), there's bound to be an odd act out. And Blink wanted to change that.

"We're actually here with all the bands and friends going out on tour — it's always awkward when you first start touring, and it's the first day and there's a bunch of people walking around and you don't know who you're supposed to talk to or not, and some people are standoffish," Blink bassist/singer Mark Hoppus told MTV News. "So we thought, 'Why don't we throw a big party before the tour, [so] everybody can come and hang out?' You know, get some beans, eat some Mexican food, bond. The guys in Chester French gave me some flowers. We bonded. It's going to be a good tour."

Oh, and about that tour: Yesterday, after Blink appeared on KROQ's Kevin & Bean show, MTV News reported that — per a caller's suggestion — the guys were considering naming their summer jaunt "One-Way Ticket to Boneville." As it turns out, that name was actually "Bonerville" (you know, a tiny hamlet just west of Boneville), and though it's currently in the lead, Blink aren't quite ready to start printing up the tour T-shirts just yet. There are still other contenders to the tour name throne.

"There's a new one that Mark is probably a little too scared to do, but I like it: 'Brokeback Mountain: The Tour,' " guitarist/singer Tom DeLonge smiled. "I thought that would be f---ing great, but there's some debate within the band about that."

"I was also thinking of 'High School Musical 5: The Tour.' I don't know about something like that," Hoppus said. "Actually somebody called up on the radio station today and said 'One-Way Ticket to Bonerville' which I think is really genius ... 'One-Way Ticket to Bonerville: Come for the 'ville, stay for the boner.'"

"I've been there," DeLonge added. "You don't need the other ticket."

• Blink-182 Party In Honor Of Their Summer Tour

• Pete And Ashlee, Speidi, Paris, More Attend Blink-182's Reunion In L.A.

• blink-182
• Panic at the Disco
• Chester French
• Taking Back Sunday

Busta Rhymes
Photo: Universal

It's official, people. Mixtape Daily is here. That's right, daily. Mixtape Monday had a phenomenal run. For over six years, the weekly segment became an institution. Every week, it was your one-stop shop for everything related to the streets. But we promised you bigger and better things in 2009, and we're men of our word. We're going to keep bringing you all the exclusives and insight you've come to expect. We're just expanding and refocusing.

Don't Sleep: Necessary Notables

Mixtape: I Bullsh-- You Not

Starring: Busta Rhymes and DJ Scratch

Key Collaborations: "Foreign Currency" (featuring Maino), "Death Wish" (featuring Raekwon) and "Director's Cut" (featuring Uncle Murda)

Essential Info: Busta Rhymes is on a European promo tour pushing his May 19 release B.O.M.B. In the meantime, the mixtape I Bullsh-- You Not is available for free download online.

"This is happening in its own organic, natural way — the way I'm used to it happening for me," Busta said of the love he's getting from the streets and the charts. "The music is sparking something in the people that they completely open their arms and embrace willingly. It ain't nothing you gotta force-feed or beat people in the head. They rocking with it because it's genuine hot sh--."

Mixtape: Jacques Jams, Vol. 1: Endurance

Starring: Chester French and DJ Clinton Sparks

Key Collaborations: "Cîroc Star" (featuring Diddy and Jadakiss), "Campus Kingpin" (featuring Pusha T) and "I'm So Tall" (featuring Talib Kweli and Mickey Factz)

Essential Info: "We're just trying to create a movement around endurance and eventually stamina as well," French's D.A. Wallach said of their mixtape's crazy name. "We want people to get their game up. We're not talking about music. We're nerds. We live in the studio and live on a bus and do shows. ... When we say 'game,' we're talking about basketball, soccer, backgammon. We're talking about things that involve physical endurance. ... I do know how to play spades. Yes."

The group — signed to the Neptunes' Star Trak label — just put out their Interscope debut, Love the Future, with a host of your favorites, including Skateboard P. and N.O.R.E. the two worked on beats for a couple of weeks and let Mr. Sparks act as their liaison with all these big-name artists. The tape bridged the gap between their core rock/pop fans and all their hip-hop supporters.

Listening to the project, though, the duo, who both graduated from Harvard, put together the project to play like a audio movie and tell the abbreviated story of their lives (being "athletes" at college to getting signed, moving to L.A. and getting caught up in that scene).

Other Heat This Week

» Sinister Shan Presents - World's Greatest DJ Awards
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» Juelz Santana and the Skull Gang - Skull Gang (independent album)
» Lloyd Banks - 4-30-09: Happy Birthday
» The Cool Kids and DJ Don Cannon - Gone Fishing
» Trap-A-Holics and Ludacris - Disturbing Tha Trap

• Mixtape Daily Video: Nicki Minaj, Drake, Lady GaGa, More

• Busta Rhymes
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Kevin Rudolf in his video for "Let It Rock"
Photo: Cash Money/ Universal Republic

2008 was a huge year for rock ... and 2009 looks like it could be even bigger. So all this week, we're taking stock of the things guaranteed to rock this year. From the triumphant returns of some of the biggest bands on the planet to a handful of up-and-coming acts that we're expecting big things from in '09, we've got it all covered. This is Rock Week, on MTVNews.com.

Once upon a time, even the hugest bands on the planet were bands no one had ever heard of. They had yet to rock arenas or unite the globe or even ride on a tour bus with a working toilet, for that matter. They were just a bunch of kids with a single press photo (usually taken against a brick wall) and a whole lot of possibility. It didn't matter that the odds were stacked impossibly high against them. It was almost better that way.

These days, things are different. Thanks to the vast frontier of the Internet, practically every band has been heard by somebody, which makes the concept of them "rocketing to success" seem rather antiquated. And, perhaps dulled by nearly three decades of "Next Big Thing" articles, we tend to roll our eyes further back into our heads with each "can't miss" contender foisted on us by the music industry.

That said, please allow us to do the very same thing. Because, really, the Next Big Things have to come from somewhere, right? So while we're going to refrain from the hyperbole ("This band will change your life!") we are going to go out on a limb and say that you'll be hearing a whole lot from these guys in 2009. From Lil Wayne-approved rock stars to much-buzzed blog acts to, um, barely pubescent head-bangers, these are our top picks for 2009's Rock Rookies.

Kevin Rudolf

Who: The 25-year-old songwriter/producer grew up a guitar virtuoso then switched to making beats after being taken under Timbaland's wing. Since then, he's produced tracks for Rick Ross and Ludacris and played guitar for Justin Timberlake, LL Cool J and the Black Eyed Peas, to name just a few. His debut album, In the City, was released late last year on Lil Wayne's Cash Money Records and spawned the hit "Let It Rock," which, if you've been near a radio in the past six months, you've probably heard.

Something to Say: "Let It Rock" crossed over to the pop, rock and R&B charts and reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, but unlike most chart fare, it's actually about something: "It's a song about the hypocrisy in the world, and I'm saying that when I come through, I'm bringing the truth," Rudolf explained. "I use the parable of the Prodigal Son, because I want to expose all the fakes out there — in the music industry, in the world, anywhere. A lot of people think it's a party record, but it's not."

Good Non-Answer, Dude: As a kid growing up in Manhattan, Rudolf worshipped at the altar of Eddie Van Halen and Jimmy Page, so he knows a thing or two about guitar shredding. But what does he think about his labelmate Wayne's playing? "He's on his own path. ... I've done a couple of songs for his new record, and they do lean a lot more rock, and he's coming at it hard," Rudolf said. "As a guitar player, he's sounding good. I'm a different kind of guitar player, you know, but he's on his own path."

Chester French

Who: Two Ivy League-educated smart-asses with a penchant for spacey, horned-up electro pop, Maxwell Drummey and D.A. Wallach met at Harvard University, named their band after a sculptor and caught the ear of Kanye West, who offered the duo a deal. They passed on that offer in favor of an even more lucrative deal from the Neptunes' Star Trak Entertainment. Judging from their debut EP, She Loves Everybody, their full-length, Love the Future (due later this year), is sure to burst with swanky hooks and smarmy jokes. Oh, and Drummey is rather inexplicably married to British socialite Peaches Geldof.

The Secret Source of 50 Cent's Abs?: Though they've already drawn comparisons to another head-in-the-clouds electro duo — MGMT — Chester French fail to see any similarities. For one, they're way more into fighting ... and physiques. "We're a band that really encourages consensual violence — never against women — but we like representing for a whole bunch of people," Wallach said. "We've all been abused by a woman in one way or another, but we come in and we take it, because we're these strong, assertive men who care about our physiques. This music stuff is really a side project for us. It's a way to earn money so that we can keep our gym memberships going. ... We're trainers too. We trained 50. Everyone knows that."

A Big, Messy Year Indeed: When they spurned Kanye for a deal with Pharrell Williams and Star Trak, CF garnered plenty of "who the f--- are these dudes?!?" headlines. Looking to silence the critics, they've been holed up in the studio, hard at work on their full-length debut. And with an album on the horizon, what else are the dynamic duo looking forward to in '09? "2009 is going to see the birth of my second child, which I'm really excited for," Drummey joked. "We're going to put an album out too."

Check back Tuesday for the first of our looks at some of 2009's most-buzzed new acts, as Rock Week continues on MTVNews.com.

• These Bands Will Rock Your 2009

• Kevin Rudolf
• Chester French
• Lil Wayne
• Pharrell Williams

MTV.com Exclusive: Chester French

• Chester French