Skating icon Tony Hawk took to the stage in San Diego to introduce Interpol, and said that he vows not to “quit skating until Interpol stops touring”.
The moment took place as Interpol continued their 2026 US tour dates on Saturday night (August 15), taking to the stage at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. Before their headline performance, skating legend Tony Hawk took to the stage to introduce them, and share how he first came across their music over two decades ago.
“It is my honour and privilege to introduce you to this band,” Hawk said, adding that he discovered them back when they dropped their debut album ‘Turn On the Bright Lights’ in 2002.
“I got to see them live for the first time doing a sound check at Jay Leno,” he added, referring to their 2004 appearance on the US chat show. “I was a guest on Jay Leno with them [and] they actually had my ramp behind the sound stage… I watch them play ‘Slow Hands’. They watched me do slow hand plants.”
Hawk continued, saying that he has noticed similarities between their respective careers. “I feel like we’ve had a similar trajectory this whole time. Neither one of us has quit doing what we love… I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m not going to quit skating until Interpol stops touring.”
Interpol have since shared a clips of Hawk introducing them to the stage, writing in the caption: “From Leno in 2004 to now, thanks for riding with us @tonyhawk 
”.
Hawk also commented on the post, writing: “My wife said ‘slow handplants’ was lame but I say dad jokes are peak comedy.”
Interpol continued their US tour dates last night (Sunday August 16) with a show in Las Vegas, and are set to head across the pond and perform at Deftones‘ huge Outbreak Fest show in London on Sunday (August 23) – joining a stacked line-up that also includes IDLES, Amyl & The Sniffers, Esdeekid, JPEGMAFIA, Basement, Wisp, Deafheaven, Show Me The Body and more.
From there, they will be playing an intimate after party in the UK capital.
The indie icons signed to Partisan Records earlier this year, and are also set to head out on a UK and European co-headline arena tour with Bloc Party later this year, including two nights at London’s Olympia on December 4 and 5. See the full list of dates here and find tickets here.
For Interpol, the live shows come ahead of them dropping their ninth album ‘This Mirror Weighs A Ton’ on August 28 via Partisan Records – pre-order it here.
That album has been previewed by the Massive Attack-inspired title track, ‘See Out Loud’, and ‘Iron City’. The latter finds the band leaning into the tension between past and future that runs throughout the new record. Speaking to NME about the song, frontman Paul Banks said that it was meant to be seen as “a conversation between the human narrator and the future artificial intelligence that’s running things.”
When asked in that interview whether or not he fears AI, he responded: “No. AI replacing art can only base itself on what we’ve made, so without new stuff it will devolve into a simulacra and have no bearing on the human experience. We need to be feeding it new real stuff for it to be doing anything of real note.
The album will also feature ‘Wings On Fire’, which the band debuted live earlier this year. Banks described that track to NME as “a fun romp”.
The post Watch skating legend Tony Hawk introduce Interpol on stage in San Diego: “I’m not gonna quit skating until Interpol stops touring” appeared first on NME.
