It was inspired by the band's early days touring punk rock clubs, mainly Soma in their hometown of San Diego.

The song peaked at number two on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, making it the most successful single from the album.

[1][3][4] DeVoe sat in the control room and quietly listened to the recordings, and pressed the band at the end on why there was no "Blink-182 good-time summer anthem [thing]".

"[9] The band members expanded upon this in a 2001 interview with BBC Music: I think it's actually as if we built a punk rock time capsule and went back to five years ago when we were writing songs.

[10] Eric Aiese of Billboard examined the song through the lens of its airplay competition: "As the face of rock radio has yielded toward the emerging hard sounds on "nu metal," Blink continues to provide a contrasting voice […] "The Rock Show" clearly shows the band's talent for writing—and performing—hooks.

"[11] The band filmed a music video that included them trashing televisions, trains, taking the homeless for a spa makeover, handing out cash to strangers and paying dancers to mow people's lawns.