Broadway Billie with Red Hat by Erial Grove - London, O2, Oct. 24, 2010

Broadway Billie

When I saw Green Day at the London O2 back in October, I brought a shiny red hat all the way from New York for Billie. When he asked for it during King for a Day, it was a semi-perfect toss and a great catch and he just looked like the perfect Broadway showman. The video below isn’t the best, but at about 3:58, you can see him catch it, parade around, and then do his best little James Cagney impersonation.

King for a Day – London at the o2 – October 24, 2009 – Bad Video, but it shows Billie catching the red hat at 3:58.

At the first O2 show the night before, I stood for the first time near the end of the catwalk. It was a spot that was enjoyable but I won’t do again. I like to see all of the band, and not just BJA. I had my “Green Day’s American Idiot” t-shirt on from the Berkeley show and someone had given Billie a pink fuzzy hat (I think it was my friend Gerg). The next thing I know, he looked at me with a slightly wicked smile and literally did a James Cagney in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” move with the hat in his hand. I swear to God he saw my shirt. I had by this time seen five Green Day shows and I had NEVER seen him do this move before… straight outta B’way. I still crack up with laughter when I think of it.

Now, American Idiot is on Broadway, opening to previews in March and tearing up box office records at the St. Jimmy… er… St. James Theater. Billie’s alter ego, St. Jimmy, is played by Tony Vincent, and Vincent got a nice write-up interview in the New York Times the other day.

Where Have I Been?

And to the question, where have I been? Well, I went to California to see Pinhead Gunpowder on 2/12/10 (read J’net’s GDA review here!), but a death in my family and a proofreading project have temporarily halted me from writing about the Pinhead show. I really hope to do that soon, and to be back with more stuff. I saw Tom Kitt, the arranger of American Idiot, perform at Joe’s Pub last night, and if, by the time I can get back here, I remember the show, I’ll write about that too.

Oh, and can you believe this? My friend got invited to the Character Approved Awards, which will be honoring Green Day (along with a bunch of other great artists, writers, and designers) and where the American Idiot cast will be performing on 2/25/10. He doesn’t even like Green Day! Haha. Oh well. But he is the friend who has managed to get me cheap airline tickets to California, so as I like to say, Green Day karma gets spread around to those who wait on and love the Lushie Gods. LOL.

I don’t know when or if the awards will be shown on television, but I do know that Billie looks very manly in the pic below. Some kids at the GDC didn’t like it, says he looks too old. I say, he looks great for his age.

Congrats, Green Day!

Billie Joe Armstrong / Green Day Character Approved Awards Honoree