OT: Green Day

[Divemistress of the Dark]

ETA: I'm typing this on my new 9" Dell all kitted out with Ubuntu, but I'm not used to the bitty keyboard yet, thus the typos...sorry in advance...

All right, folks, there's some SQUEEage over on Facebook re: the GD tour going on right now. Looks like three or so Nutters have either seen the show or are going tonight!

For my part, I attended last night and thought the boys were FANTASTIC. Nothing like a really powerful trio, you know? You want showmanship, it's here, from the blazing guitars and totally awesome drum work to the columns of flame and incredible pyrotechnics. Also, they played for nearly three hours at a pace that would kill normal mortals! You know, I like their albums, but the records are heavily produced - seeing them live and much more raw is a whole different experience - you can almost feel your hair blowing back, they're so loud/fast/good. Hell, they've been playing together 20 years, and you can really, really tell.

The setlist was about what you'd expect - seriously blazing versions of 'WYCA,' 'Minority,' etc., but I personally bought a ticket to see just one song - "American Idiot" - which did not disappoint. Worth the price of admission to hear 15,000 Tennesseans scream "I'm not part of a redneck agenda"...I'm not the biggest fan of "Blvd of Broken Dreams," but I actually enjoyed hearing it last night. The version of "Jesus of Suburbia" as played by some kid from out of the crowd may have been one of the concert highlights of my year. LOTS of audience participation, and I really don't think I personally have ever seen the whole of arena crowd stand through an entire performance, much less jump up and down screaming their heads off. I really felt as though I were in a small club, everybody was so into the gig.

I understand Nancy may have a story about her experiences at the NYC show (but no pressure, seriously.)

WOW. You know, I last saw this band at Lollapalooza, back in 1994, and I remember thinking how good they were back then. Now I'm kicking myself for missing the tours in the interim - I won't be missing any again!

Kaiser Chiefs, the opener, were also great and gave myself and apparently Nancy something of a Fiction Plane vibe.

Tix were reasonable, too...think I paid about $60 and was right up on the side stage, all the better to keep my eyes riveted to Tre Cool for most of the evening. Granted, he's not our Stewart - there's only one, after all, but his performance was v. solid and he was also doing a lot of throwing drumsticks in the air & such. He actually sang one number and played about half the show decked out in a fetching bonnet with a bow on the top - I have photos but I haven't downloaded them all yet.

Billie Joe was amazing. He and Dirnt can do these sort of synchonized in-air splits that were really something to see and they played to all sides of the stage. BJ must have run a mile doing laps behind the drumkit. They all were awesome. I am now A Fan.

Seriously, go if you can. Here are the rest of the tour dates. Yes, there's one on 8/20 in San Diego, but we have other things to do!

(Wow, just looking at this list makes me tired...I have no idea how those guys manage to play at that intensity level nearly every night.)

08-01 Atlanta, GA Gwinnet w/ Kaiser Chiefs
08-03 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum w/ Kaiser Chiefs
08-04 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena w/ Kaiser Chiefs
08-05 Orlando, FL Amway Arena w/ Kaiser Chiefs
08-07 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena w/ Kaiser Chiefs
08-08 Houston, TX Toyota Center w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-09 San Antonio, TX A T & T Center w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-11 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-12 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-13 Omaha, NE Quest Center w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-15 Denver, CO Pepsi Center w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-16 Salt Lake City, UT ESA (Energy Sol Arena) w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-18 San Jose, CA HP Pavillion w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-20 San Diego, CA Cox Arena w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-21 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-22 Phoenix, AZ US Air Arena w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-24 Sacramento, CA Arco Arena w/ Franz Ferdinand
08-25 Los Angeles, CA Forum w/ Franz Ferdinand
09-28 Lisbon, Portugal Atlantico Pavilion
09-29 Madrid, Spain Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad
10-01 Barcelona, Spain Palau Sant Jordi
10-02 Toulouse, France Zenith
10-04 Paris, France Bercy
10-05 Cologne, Germany Cologne Arena
10-07 Berlin, Germany World Arena
10-08 Hamburg, Germany Color Line Arena
10-09 Copenhagen, Denmark, Forum
10-11 Stockholm, Sweden The Globe
10-12 Oslo, Norway Spectrum
10-14 Dortmund, Germany Westfalenhalle 1
10-16 Rotterdam, Netherlands Ahoy
10-17 Antwerp, Belgium Sportpalais
10-19 Glasgow, Scotland SECC
10-20 Belfast, Northern Ireland Odyssey Arena
10-21 Dublin, Ireland The 02
10-23 London, England The 02
10-24 London, England The 02
10-26 Sheffield, England Sheffield Arena
10-27 Birmingham, England LG Arena
10-28 Birmingham, England LG Arena
10-30 Manchester, England MEN Arena
10-31 Manchester, England MEN Arena
11-01 London, England Wembley Arena
11-03 Munich, Germany Olympiahalle
11-06 Vienna, Austria Stadthalle
11-08 Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadion
11-10 Milan, Italy Datchforum
11-11 Bologna, Italy Futur Show
11-12 Turin, Italy Palaolimpico
12-04 Perth, Australia Burswood Dome, Perth
12-06 Adelaide, Australia Adelaide Entertainment Centre
12-08 Brisbane, Australia Brisbane Entertainment Centre
12-09 Brisbane, Australia Brisbane Entertainment Centre
12-11 Sydney, Australia Acer Arena
12-12 Sydney, Australia Acer Arena
12-14 Melbourne, Australia Rod Laver Arena
12-18 Auckland, New Zealand Vector Arena
12-19 Auckland, New Zealand Vector Arena

[GinaSuperCat]

Great review, Dive!! Sure wish we could have made the Atl date, which was tonight, but small fiasco after small fiasco have been ruling the day round here and thus rocking out is just not on the list of possibilities...

My first taste of Green Day was a promo cassette of their first EP a friend brought back for me from Berkeley first year in college at Chico...I sure wish I knew where it is (or, better yet, where it went). Cassette tapes just are not a lasting medium and I never took care with them like I did with vinyl. My memories of cassettes mostly involve pulling feet of the unwound magnetic tape out of the player, and those accordion crinkly parts you had to smooth out after such an incident, which would only make a recurrence more likely.

A radio station in the SF bay area called 'Live 105' held a one-day all day concert called BFD at Shoreline and PCat, his younger brother, and I went. Pretenders, Rollins Band, Green Day, Violent Femmes, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Oingo Boingo, The Knack and more. Was just after Dookie came out and PCat and I were living in a one room studio with one twin bed for about six months, hahah.

HAH...sorry about the tangent, thinking about Green Day shot me right smack dab back to the early 90s <grin>

[Shangeris]

American Idiot was actually the first album I bought, in 2005, and GD were my inspiration to play drums and guitar (Blvd of Broken Dreams was the first ever song I learned).
I'll go to the show in Turin on 11-12. Thanks for the rewiev Dive and I hope the show will be as good as yours was.

P.s. I have tickets for seat places so Bj can't take on stage... damm!

[smudge]

Having spent a little time on YouTube recently, agog at the energy, I'm kicking myself for not getting tickets for London (all three gigs are utterly, totally sold out at present - 2 ticket minimum across ALL UK shows at the time of purchase, and therefore nobody is offering spares at present.) My prior experience is limited to bits on the radio for the last 15 years or so which sounded kinda slick, even as the lyrics got sharper - just like Dive said - and now I feel like a complete numpty. Thirty years a Police fan, and I have clearly learned nothing.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Thanks, all. Yep, I'm currently scouring various audience-recording-type-sites for bootlegs. Looks like there's stuff from the new tour on Dime.

Having now Googled some interviews with the guys and read that they're trying to compete with Springsteen's live shows - and that they're all just whip smart - I did further research and read they've got four or five side projects going, including one a few years back with Devo (!). Have ordered CDs, will report back!

I'm really thinking about the STL or KC shows....heh. Too bad I just spent $$ on tix for Springsteen, McCartney and AC/DC (again)....looks like it's just gonna be a stadium-show (and expensive) summer for yours truly....

[demoman]

I love Green Day. I think I've only see them play live during a free concert in Boston a long time ago. Gotta love the guitar work (even though it's just simple power chords) of "Brain Stew" "American Idiot" is a great song and with powerful and topical meaning (at least 2000-2008. hahaha)

[nancyrose]

This show was just too amazing, and my personal experience waaaaay too cool not to share here...especially since Dive gave me an opening! (Apologies in advance for those of you over on Face Book who may have heard and seen enough!)

As background, I have always liked Green Day enough. I had a house share at the beach one summer, and I have some fond memories of hearing one of my roommates play a lot of their earlier stuff, which led to my buying a couple CD's. Fast forward to life as a "suburban mom," and the release of American Idiot. That album captured the attention of my son, Trevor, in a major way (and, yes, I DO think it initially had something to do with the casual inclusion of the illicit "F word." He used to think they said it by accident and it was too late to change it on the recording! Gotta love the innocence of a child!!). Anyway, my CD used to go missing for days while Trevor borrowed it, and whenever he had friends over to play, that was the music they'd ask me to play as they jumped on the trampoline. The next Christmas, several of them got electric guitars, and they used to get together and (pretend to) jam to "Holiday" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." Leaving aside his mother's successful job of indoctrinating him with The Police, it's probably safe to say Green Day was Trevor's first "favorite band."

So when 21st Century Breakdown was released and the tour was announced, I thought it would be cool to get tickets to a show. I don't remember exactly how bad the tickets I was offered were, but they were bad enough that I decided against them. I never said a word to Trevor, so it was no big deal.

Last Monday, driving home after dropping Trevor off at camp, my local radio guy is talking about the Green Day show that night and the next at MSG. He says he heard from a friend who caught them in Boston and said the show rocked, calling it definitely one of the "top 5 shows I've ever seen!" I feel that familiar twinge inside that says I need to be somewhere, and I'm about to do whatever it takes to make it happen!

At first, all I could find through the usual second-hand ticket sources were lots of singles and tickets for the general admission pit, neither of which would work with a 10-year-old. Then, finally, there it was...two tickets "piggybacked" in the first and second rows of Loge 76 for Tuesday night's show. We could do that! Awesome! I had just enough time to complete the transaction and get back to camp in time for pick up!

The next day, a very excited boy and I bolted as soon as camp ended and headed into Manhattan. We grabbed a quick dinner at Tir Na Nog, where Trevor patiently nodded as his nostalgic mother regaled him with stories of good times had at this particular Irish pub during the preceding two years. More teary-eyed reminiscing as we passed by the big red UpStaging trucks parked at MSG ("But, Mom, why do you keep calling them Red Dogs???").

I mentally slapped myself back into the present, showed our tickets, and headed over to scout out some swag. Trevor selects a tee-shirt, and immediately puts it on right over the one he's already wearing.

We head to our seats just as the Kaiser Chiefs take the stage, and see that our location is truly awesome! Trevor gets the front row, I'm right behind him...we are pretty much exactly at stage level and there is not a single person or thing obstructing our view! The Kaiser Chiefs played a rousing, energetic set and had us up dancing for pretty much the entire second half of their show. As Dive said, there is definitely something about them that reminds me of Fiction Plane...not sure if it's actually their sound or their enthusiasm.

During the break between acts, we watched the Green Day set (a large, elaborate Cityscape) go up, and enjoyed the antics of folks down in the pit. The Garden was filled, and the crowd was in good form. Interesting to note the age demographic...everything from lots of pre-teen kids to adults in their 30's, 40's, and 50's. Most of us are standing even before the band takes the stage.

After the opening number (see set list below), Billie Joe Armstrong talks a bit about how great it is to play in New York City ("the best fucking city on the planet!") and says the previous night's show was a lot of fun for them. He then lowers his voice a bit as if to share a secret, and says "But you know, the second night is always TEN FUCKING TIMES BETTER!!" Oh yeah, we are happy to be there!!! Billie Joe is ALL OVER the stage, playing to the crowd like a Baptist preacher. There's a long catwalk out into the pit, which he visits repeatedly through the night, bending down to shake hands, accept kisses, and occasionally pulling people up on stage with him. At one point, he jumps right over the bar to our Loge section and walks about 10 rows up the aisle singing and slapping high-fives before returning to the stage.

About five songs in, they go into an amazing, pyrotechnic-enhanced version of "East Jesus Nowhere." Somewhere in the middle of the song, Billie Joe announces "I need someone to save...I need a small child, a little boy, a girl...who wants to be saved??" He's pacing the stage from right to left, while me, Trevor, and two guys beside him who've become our concert buddies are calling out, "over here, over here!" He hears us and is walking in our direction! He's standing on the corner of the stage about six feet away from us, and starts talking to Trevor while the crowd is cheering like mad.

The next thing I know, my son is up on stage with his new BFF, Billie Joe Armstrong, and it's a good thing I've got this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utHWZdlf9vw because I was stunned for much of what followed! I did regain enough composure to get a couple of photos, and I recall thinking at one point "I gotta text Kellie," but THAT was just waaay too much to ask at that time!

As Trevor, now one INCREDIBLY stoked little boy, walked off the stage, one of the security guys brought him a drumstick that Tre Cool had tossed to him. The rest of the night, he was greeted by name everywhere we went, and had his picture taken by total strangers. It was, to say the least, a very bizarre and wonderful night!

The rest of the show was phenomenal, and included more audience participation, including three lucky musicians who were pulled up on stage to fill in on drums, bass, and guitar. When they were leaving the stage, the kid who played bass handed the instrument back to Mike Dirnt, who then called him back and told him to keep it! It was very cool!

All told, the show ran 2 hours and 50 minutes. Amazing. Exhausting. Best spontaneous decision I ever made. They're coming back to North America in 2010 after completing their European leg, and when new dates are announced, I will definitely try to see them again!


Set list:
1. Song of the Century
2. 21st Century Breakdown
3. Know Your Enemy
4. Murder City
5. East Jesus Nowhere
6. Holiday
7. Static Age
8. Before the Lobotomy
9. Are We the Waiting
10. St. Jimmy
11. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
12. A Quick One While He's Away (The Who)
13. Hitchin a Ride
14. Welcome to Paradise
15. Stop, Drop, and Roll/ Eye of the Tiger
16. FOD
17. When I Come Around
18. Going to Pasalacqua
19. Stuart And The Ave./ Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?
20. Iron Man riff
21. Brain Stew
22. Jaded
23. Knowledge
24. Basket Case
25. She
26. King For a Day
27. Shout/ Earth Angel (The Penguins)/ Christie Road
/ I'll Be There
28. 21 Guns
29. American Eulogy

30. American Idiot
31. Jesus of Suburbia
32. Minority
33. Macy's Day Parade
34. Tell Me When It's Time to Say I Love You (AI b-side)
35. Good Riddance

[Divemistress of the Dark]

YAAAAY! Thanks nancy! That pretty well sums up what the live show is about, I think...

Also, when the child in question is "saved," there's a huge BOOM as all the pyrotechnics go off - must be really exciting for a young kid to be onstage with all that going on.

Seriously this was likely the most audience-interactive show I've ever seen in a stadium. I actually came straight home and joined the fan club (heh. A tactic that's paid much dividend in many forms before)....

[nancyrose]

[quote="Divemistress of the Dark"]YAAAAY! Thanks nancy! That pretty well sums up what the live show is about, I think...
I actually came straight home and joined the fan club (heh. A tactic that's paid much dividend in many forms before)....[/quote]

I did the same. A bargain at $20, I think!

[GinaSuperCat]

Nancy, that story will never get old. Please scroll up at read NancyRose's post if you happened to miss it...You should share it with the world!!! Are you all on the Green Day boards? And that Mike let that dude keep his bass...seriously, is this real? <chants, Trevor! Trevor! Trevor!).

These reports just reinforce something that has been building for a while.

<please disembark here, this is the last train stop before our next destination of 'rant.'>

You know, it has always chapped my hide that hardly any other band has been charged with 'selling out' more than Green Day and these are the last dudes who deserve such sustained grief. Sure they are successful and well off and seem to have a blast every night. I just have a beef with that charge in the first place (which, if you have the patience to read any further, is an understatement), and the implications and damage it causes...

Sure they started out at Gilman (club in Berkeley where they have a strict list of rules for who can play there, major label is a no) and so a lot of their 'fans' ditched them when Dookie came out (Reprise is on Warner). The 'authenticity' tude has always been a loser in my opinion. Look at how much they give to their fans, look how many people they blow away in one night. If they were going through the motions, phoning it in, sure I can see the problems and complaints there, but that's, umm, definitely not the case.

Its not like staying indie, never signing to a major label, never wanting to participate in anything that may be interpreted as a cash grab and trying to stay true to your ideals protects you, either. Of all people, Jello Biafra was jumped and beaten at a club, being called a 'sell-out' and a 'big rock star.' He has done all of the above, and still goes to shows at clubs/dives and stands in the front just like everyone else, and this is what he gets. He joked that if he had indeed sold out, he would have had an entourage, protection, and the safety of distance from backstage, haha. And yes I know about AT, the lawsuits with other DK members, the whole story. Seriously, outrageous.

Usually the charge is leveled after the release of one album onwards, but Green Day gets charged with 'selling out' every few albums. it seems that there is a serious case of short term memory coupled with successive generations calling Green Day their own. Sure Green Day has endured, but because they have endured, they have to go through this process perennially, it seems. Dookie, then International Superhits (greatest hits album, surely the sign of selling out!), then American Idiot, and now once again with 21st Century Breakdown and a killer Rolling Stone cover.

I think it's because the term 'punk' often is affiliated with their music. Pop or punk, punk, pop, etc? Throw the term punk in there and the authenticity ethos will invariably follow, with its inverse charge of selling out. Its a particular form of resentment that breeds the inane expectation that they should stay living month to month for some authentic diy suffering artist ethos four our pleasure. Accordingly Sid was never a sell out, nor Darby Crash. Self implosion for my entertainment: If the sickness of that is not evident, then I don't know. Ive never been a bit fan of 'genres,' leave those categorizations to the marketing team who's trying to reach a certain 'audience.' Anytime 'punk' is applied, you have a whole association of extra baggage. Rock and pop, the assumption is that success is not antithetical to the operation, punk and now 'indie' (where the type of label and accompanying aesthetic is built into the operation) and etc. success can be a sign of weakness, caving in, and selling out.

I love punk, whatever that means, but this has always been the WORST part of it all, the junior high need to police the cool and adjudicate the authentic from the sellouts/'poseurs.' I'm glad Green Day is successful, and while I really like the sound on their earlier 5 or so albums best, that's a different issue. They do play a fair bit of their older catalogue, more than I realized--thanks for posting the set-list Nancy. 35 songs at that level of energy, awesome!

Long live Green Day, Jello Biafra, and everyone else who just does their own thing...

[nancyrose]

That is one read-worthy rant, SuperCat! I couldn't agree more with everything you said...but I couldn't have said it nearly as well. Seems to me there's some corner of human nature that reacts with hatred anytime someone is fortunate enough to do what they love, have fun doing it, and, gong forbid, actually make money. Who are these people who anoint themselves important enough to determine the authenticity of art? And what could be more despicable than the love and elevation of some for only the tortured artist? Pain and misery is so often thought to be an indication of genius. More often it's nothing more exotic than mental illness.

As for Green Day, it's worth noting that the highest priced ticket on this tour is $49.50. Hardly what I'd call stratospheric, and an indication they want to remain accessible.

[njperry]

Nancy, what a great story. Incredible.

I am not a fan (outside of the Simpsons Movie), but have more respect for a band that is good to a kid, especially to a son of a friend.

[English-lion]

I love the story Nancy I could hear it a thousand times over!!

[jennym]

I gotta see them when they return from the European tour. I just can't bring myself to see them at the AT&T Center in San Anton. It's awful!

[Divemistress of the Dark]

Standing and applauding for Superkitty and Nancy! Hear, hear.

Especially this:

Who are these people who anoint themselves important enough to determine the authenticity of art? And what could be more despicable than the love and elevation of some for only the tortured artist? Pain and misery is so often thought to be an indication of genius. More often it's nothing more exotic than mental illness.

As a person who survived four years of art school, can I get an AMEN...

Personally, I don't give a shit what's "cool" vs. not. It's been kind of interesting lately...I used to care a lot more than I do now and some folks on Facebook have been throwing some minor 'tude my way over some current interests.

Big fat, hairy deal. It's no fun to be so worried about how you appear to others that you can't have a good time, or enjoy art and music that's not produced or distributed a certain way. Also, this "sellout" business....don't tell ME there aren't about 50 million other bands that'd totally go for it if given the chance to sell their song for a commercial, for example.

On this, as on so many things, where you stand certainly depends on where you sit.

(sits down, still awed by the awesomeness of the radical ladies on this forum!!!!! COPELANDIA FOREVER)