Hanson And Blink-182 Covered The Same Descendents Song With Stephen Egerton At Riot Fest
Hanson and Blink-182 are both trios who made big radio hits in the late ’90s. Beyond that, the two of them really don’t have that much in common — or they didn’t, until this past weekend. Both bands were on the bill at Riot Fest in Chicago, and both of them covered the exact same track from California punk legends Descendents — “Hope,” the eternal anthem from the 1982 classic Milo Goes To College. On top of that, both bands were joined by the same guy, Descendents/All guitarist Stephen Egerton, for those Riot Fest covers.
Stephen Egerton technically wasn’t in the Descendents when they recorded “Hope,” since he joined the band in 1986, but he must’ve played that song thousands of times over the years. Wikipedia tells me that Egerton lives in Tulsa, Hanson’s hometown. Presumably, that’s how he knows those guys. Hanson, onetime kiddie-pop wonders, have an enduring fanbase, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to a great Riot Fest reception, so they did everything in their power to win the crowd over on Sunday afternoon. That apparently included bringing out John Stamos, the toast of the festival, to help out on “MMMBop,” and then immediately following that song with their Descendents cover. Taylor Hanson wore a John Stamos shirt, and he seemed to know most of the words to “Hope.” Egerton looked like he was having a great time up there. Watch it below.
When he joined Hanson, that was Stephen Egerton’s second time playing “Hope” at this year’s Riot Fest, even though Descendents weren’t on the bill. Blink-182 used to cover “Hope” regularly back in the early ’00s, and they just added the song back into their setlist on their most recent tour after not playing it since 2003. When Blink headlined Riot Fest’s Friday night program, Egerton joined them for “Hope.” Watch that below.
Sublime, who covered “Hope” on 40 Oz. To Freedom, did not get a chance to play that song with Stephen Egerton at this year’s Riot Fest because they were not on the bill — not because Riot Fest has any objection to booking a band whose lead singer has been dead for decades but because they already played last year.
