This past Saturday, Nicole W-M and I woke up at the crack of dawn to hop into her extreme Eco-Friendly Car, a Honda Hybrid Insight, and we ran away toward the Canadian border for over 300 miles on one tank of gas, which cost $30 for a one-way trip. That is some awesome stuff.
Green Day Concert Site at Jacques Cartier Quay, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Not as awesome, though, as why we were heading up from New Jersey to Montreal: Green Day’s gig at the Jacques Cartier Quay in the heart of Old Montreal. I’ll write more about the show itself (rain, rain, rain, and insane fans), but score one for the traveling band of Australians who requested “Take Back” and instead got us “Platypus (I Hate You).” The verses got mixed up, but hey, for doing it at the last minute, who cares? It’s a crazy performance and was awesome to dance to!
“Platypus (I Hate You) – Green Day at the Jacques Cartier Quay – xGeneralxs (Jumpy, but it includes the conversation between the Australians and Billie Joe and Billie Joe and Tre ‘negotiating’ the song.)
“Platypus (I Hate You) – Green Day at the Jacques Cartier Quay – 8girl8 (Not in focus, but it’s got good sound and you can see Billie Joe rip on the guitar.)
Green Day in Holmdel - St. Jimmy - Photo by xGeneralxS
“You know, you spend your fucking money to come to a fucking show and it’s my fucking honor and our privilege to be up here and to give you the best fucking show you’ve ever fucking seen.” –Billie Joe Armstrong
He's a Scream - Green Day at Holmdel - Photo by xGeneralxS
It’s become a personal cliche to me. Almost every Green Day show that I have been fortunate enough to attend during the 21st Century Breakdown tour, turns out to be the “best one yet.” Of course, that’s not quite possible, is it? After all, I didn’t walk away from the kick-ass kick-off show in Camden thinking it was the best show I’d been to. I had a blast, of course, but having worked that day, taken care of people to get to the show, gotten to the show just as it was starting and dealing with dickey boys in the pit, the show was still fun, but the audience (that means me) didn’t give it a 110%, and that is a major factor in a Green Day show. Green Day always give it their all, but I couldn’t put aside the day’s stress and let go. Plus, I could have sworn I was going to faint a few times in the pit. I stuck it out, but missed the 2nd Encore in search of water for fear of never feeling hydrated again in my life.
What Did You Say? - Green Day at Holmdel - xGeneralxS
While each gig’s structure remains the same as well as the setlist most times, each show is a little different and tailored to the venue itself, depending on its size and atmosphere. But a major factor to a Green Day show is the amount of energy that an audience brings with them that fuels this band’s performance. The more energy released by the audience, the more the band soaks it up and throws it back out. I once wrote in a fangirly post titled “Green Day is Different” that because of the massive synergy between Green Day and its fans, each take what they need to create the best experience possible. Oh, and we don’t care if anyone doesn’t like them, haha. It’s a win-win situation, a beautiful give-and-take, particularly when it comes to a live Green Day show.
For two nights, over three days, I traveled to see Green Day perform in Hartford, CT on 8/12 and then again to Holmdel, NJ for their show on 8/14. I walked away both times thinking that it was the best show I’d seen for different reasons, and began thinking, what in the shows made me feel this way?
Jill's Tattoo Needs Two More Signatures! - Photo by GDM
Last July, Green Day hit Hartford’s XL Arena and though I didn’t go to the show, I did read the many-page thread at the Green Day Community regarding the show. The kids who went bonded tightly with the band that night and threw out requests, getting them to do “F.O.D.,” “Dominated Love Slave,” “Only You,” and “Christie Road.” Of course, some of these songs may have been planned by the band, but “F.O.D.” and “DLS” were certainly requested that night. As I read, I became more and more sad that I didn’t make the show. When it was announced that they would head back to Hartford at the Comcast amphitheater, I had no choice but to go. So, I did.
Billie Joe, at the start of a great version of “¡Viva la Gloria!” told us in Hartford that “he had done a lot of tours, that we’ve done a lot of tours, but these last shows in America have been the most fun.” And I have to say, from the shows I’ve been to over this tour, Hartford was the most playful, which is saying a lot, since a Green Day show is always full of playful experiences.
“¡Viva la Gloria!” – Green Day, Comcast Theater, Hartford, NJ – PsypherSCSU
Pharoah Playtime at Hartford - Green Day, August 2010 - Photo by Kimberly Martin
I took the Peter Pan bus up to Hartford and was met at the bus station by a new Green Day acquaintance, Jenne, a lovely person whose 5-year old daughter is also a huge fan of Green Day. Jenne would go on to surprise her daughter with her first show in Mansfield, MA, later in the week. At Hartford’s show, I also met up with Nicole, who was at that first Foxboro Hot Tubs show in New York City. Nicole would surprise her 5-year old son to his first show at Holmdel two days later. Green Day has become a family affair, complete with spitting, cursing, and sometimes, masturbation (a lot less than the American Idiot tour, for sure) and it’s all good! Jenne and I arrived to the venue in plenty of time, and met up with the usual suspects: ToniAnn, Stephanie, Geraldine from Albany (who I had met at MSG1 back in 2009), Shannon, Briana, David, Mary, Rich and Billie De (the couple who helped me onstage during “I Fought the Law” at the FBHT show at Don Hill’s), Luanne and her daughter, Allie (who had traveled from Chicago’s Lollapalooza to attend the shows in Hartford, Holmdel, and Mansfield); and Rory, my soundcheck buddy from MSG2 in 2009. It was fun hanging out with everyone, and when we finally got into the venue, we were raring to go.
Davey Havok, AFI, Holmdel - Photo by xGeneralxS
I hadn’t caught AFI’s gig at Camden, and I don’t know the band’s music well. I enjoyed them more than I thought I would. They added that extra opening spice to the show that I had only encountered seeing from one opening band before them, and that was Prima Donna’s two London appearances at the 02. AFI were engaging onstage, all over the place and had a nice exaggerated style. The more their set moved on, the more they and I got into it.
Mary R's Dad is Happy That She's Onstage! - Green Day, Hartford - Photo by GDM
I started this show uncertain of where to be in the pit. So many people where there that I knew and I wanted to share the show with all of them. I ended up about four or five people from the barrier, and I have to say, there were so many girl fights this night, that it made me laugh. Girls were getting into arguments with each other left and right, though I have no idea why. The pit was a bit rough, but since it was mostly dicky women instead of dicky boys, it was much easier to deal with. Luckily, a really amazing thing happened during one of those “Everyone And Their Mothers On Stage Now” moments that have been happening lately, were the band pulls up a bunch of people and completely covers the stage in fan bodies. Mary R. got pulled onstage and I made a move that I will never regret: I headed straight for her spot at the barrier and spent the rest of the evening hanging out with David and G.L.O.R.I.A.!, who had sang “Longview” at Hartford last year. Mary R. made it back to her spot (a little bit more cuddly with her beau, David by this time), and I was in the spot that I love for the rest of the night: right under Mike (uh…) with a great view of Tre as well, and so close that it was great to be able to play directly with them. Mike threw me a pic, and I caught it, WITH ONE HAND, and he… was… impressed. I’m pretty happy to have one. It says “DIRNT XXX.” :wub:
Mike Threw It and Caught It With One Hand! - A Small "Life Complete" Moment
They’ve done “Give Me Novacaine” at Camden, Hartford and Holmdel. I remember hearing this number for the first time at London’s 02 back in October. It was great there, but the sound of the large arena drowned the song out a bit at the beginning of the tune and it was difficult to figure out what was being played until well into the number. The sound at Hartford and Holmdel both had excellent quality (Camden’s bass sound was off, sadly), except for some glitches here and there at Holmdel. It was great hearing Novacaine!
“Give Me Novacaine” – Green Day at Hartford, August 2010 – PyspherSCSU
Hartford was the first time that I had heard “Whatsername,” sung live, and this show as well as the Holmdel show contained two of the best 2nd Encores that I’ve seen. Holmdel, truly beat them all, though. Here’s video to Whatsername, complete with an asshole at the end who wrestles Tre’s drumstick away from someone, but still, it’s a great 2nd Encore nonetheless.
At either Camden or Hartford, I can’t remember now, at a few points, those in the seats started banging their chairs in ecstatic appreciation of what was happening on stage, and the sound roared through the venue. I turned around and just looked at everyone standing up, right there, right in the moment, as the banging cascaded throughout the place and added that bit more fuel to the performance fire from the stage. I love it. Bring the boys your all, and they’ll give it back to you in the same amount and more. This is the main difference (to me), of my perception of the show in Camden and the show in Holmdel. I was able to give it 110% at Hartford, and got that back in spades.
On a serious note, I want to wish Jill (she of the epic Green Day Shenanigans tattoo seen above), a speedy recovery. About 12 hours after the Hartford show, Jill suffered what doctors think is a mild heart attack, was in the hospital for a few days and now has a stent. Jill wasn’t even in the pit that night, but sitting on the lawn. That’s how hard Green Day rocked. Get well soon, Jill, that’s certainly giving your all to God’s favorite band!
GREEN DAY IN HOLMDEL
BJA Hollow Body - Green Day, Holmdel August 2010 - Photo by xGeneralxS
I had been to the PNC Bank Arts Center back in the 1980s and I believe saw Berlin and the Thompson Twins perform. But don’t quote me on that lineup, because I barely remember. I do know that I’ve been there, and I’ve seen it many a time on the way to the Jersey shore. The show was located deep in the middle of Nowhere, New Jersey in Holmdel Township. It’s a great amphitheater venue, built in 1968 of concrete acoustical pillars on the side of a hill, a natural acoustical space and the sound in the venue is amazingly clear. So clear, in fact, that Billie Joe Armstrong’s voice sparkled like polished glass reflecting in the sun. Holmdel brought us another amazing second encore, a soaring and heartfelt rendition of “When It’s Time.” Audience members were so close to the band that many of them were able to take high quality video of the performances, and we are truly lucky to be able to hear them for as long as we can.
“Minority” Solo with a Pretty Hollow Body – BJA at Hartford – YourBestShotMedia
BJA's Hollow Body - Photo by Kimberly Martin
Jill T. and I had been discussing at the Hartford show a guitar that Billie Joe pulled out that we had never seen before, and wondered if it’s one of the new guitars that Green Day tweeted about shopping for during their stop in Buffalo a few weeks ago. Billie Joe played a long solo on it during “Minority” on both nights and Kimberly caught a snippet of it being played during “American Idiot.” I asked one of the mods at the GDA, Eirik, what he thought, and he had never seen him play it before, thinking that it was possibly one of the studio hollow bodies being used on the road. I have no idea, I just like the sound!
In fact, the sound was so amazing at this show that there were moments where I felt like a multitude of angels were singing all once, starting from Billie Joe onstage and rising up with about 17,000 attendees. At one point, I just stopped dancing, closed my eyes, and listened to the sound bouncing off of the concrete. The sound was so resonate that it made a few occasions of feedback (especially during “Jesus of Suburbia”) noticeably stand out during the night. No matter, though, the night climaxed with that same version of JOS filling the space with a rousing, fist-pumping, adrenaline rush.
Mr. Lovely - Green Day at Holmdel, August 2010 - Photo by xGeneralxS
SAVE ME! - Green Day at Hartford - Photo by xGeneralXs
I think I annoyed a few people around me during the show. I came with Dawn, Nicole, and Michael. Our seats were in the 300 section of the venue, which made me really sad at first because I felt trapped in the upper level, when everyone else was down below in the 100 and 200 sections. I ended up standing with Luanne and her daughter Allie, in the aisle way right next to the soundbooth (Billie Joe had announced that everyone could fill up the aisles down below because no one would be sitting during the concert), and we had a great time rocking the aisle. I had so much room to dance that I got a little wacky, and Luanne and I did choreography from American Idiot on Broadway. Dawn mentioned that security had come up near us during the “I Don’t Care” movement of JOS as we were doing the faux 7/11 hand-to-shoulder fight scene. I’m sure everyone around us thought we had lost our bloody minds. To me it was a perfect example of giving that 110% of performance as an audience member, matching the energy given by the band onstage and creating again that synergy of complete connection between band and fan. And man, was it friggin’ fun!
Davey and Billie Joe at Holmdel - Photo by xGeneralxS
Some of the many audible highlights of this night: “Who Wrote Holden Caulfield,” featuring AFI singer, Davey Havoc; the soul-rousing and fist-pumping rendition of “Jesus of Suburbia” [see Youtube below], “Letterbomb” [VIDEO LINK HERE] and one of the most epic “Longview’s” ever, complete with an American Sign Language teacher who was so good that she got a guitar at the end instead of the singer. [See Youtube below]. Oops.
“Longview” – Green Day, PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ – xGeneralxS
“Jesus of Suburbia” – Green Day, PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel – SHUTxChristinaaxUP
When It’s time / Wake Me Up When September Ends / Time of Your Life – Green Day, PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ – RockConcertNo1Fan
Billie Joe - Green Day at Holmdel - Photo by xGeneralxS
As we were stumbling to our cars back to the city after the show, I heard Green Day’s music pouring loudly out of the back of a pickup truck where three burly New Jersey men were tailgating in the parking lot. I really wish that I had been of the mind to grab my iPhone to take a video when I heard the first notes of “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” blasting out, but I had broken my glasses earlier in the night, and I wasn’t thinking straight. In a recent post, I mentioned that I would love to hear “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” at least once on this tour, along with “Peacemaker” and a couple of others from 21st Century Breakdown. I found myself walking brusquely over to where the three dudes were cleaning up their area a bit and I asked if they had been to the show that night. They said yes and then I asked, “Hey, wouldn’t you love to hear this song, ‘Horseshoes and Handgrenades’ played live?” One of the fellows bellowed, “Yea, I have never understood why it wasn’t a single! It shoulda been a single!” and I concurred. There’s been talk from folks in the pit lately that they have seen lyrics to “Peacemaker” taped at Billie Joe’s feet for the last few nights, but it hasn’t happened yet. The anticipation isn’t killing me, but I am pretty excited for the possibilities!
My next tour stop is Montreal! See you French-Canadian Idiots there!
A friend of a friend thought that they saw Billy Idol in attendance at Holmdel. A very tall, very white-blond fellow in an all-white demin outfit was in attendance. I did a double-take when I saw him walking around myself, but the fellow at Holmdel was younger and taller than Idol, who was actually playing a gig out in L.A. (Thanks to all those on the evil Facebook who told me about Idol’s show in L.A. when I asked.)
“Scattered” and “Dancing With Myself” – Green Day at Mansfield, MA – August 16, 2009
I have no idea who the fellow in white was, but I chuckled when I saw this wonderful clip of “Scattered” leading into “Dancing With Myself” by Billy Idol from Green Day’s show in Mansfield, two days after Holmdel. This clip is shot from above and focuses well on Tre’s drumming. Last year I posted some clips that were shot from above trying to focus slightly more on a view of Tre at the drums, and while the ones from last year weren’t that great in video quality, this one from above is clear and crisp. [For other clips shot from above, see, Johnny B. Goode, St. Louis, 2009; Song of the Century and 21stCB Intro, San Jose, Ca, 2009]
I saw Green Day perform “Scattered” at the MSG2 soundcheck, but I think that has been the only time live on this tour that I’ve heard it. The band sounds like they are having fun, and really get into the “Dancing With Myself” part. Tre offers a steady bridge throughout and sounds awfully good, while Jason White gets so into it that he jumps the highest up that I’ve ever seen him go! Nice!
Green Day (presumably Billie Joe) said that Mansfield was their favorite show so far on this leg of the tour, and if this video is a witness, it sounds like it was a blast.
I’m going to finish up my post about Hartford and Holmdel in the next day, and then… I’m sneaking across the border with a passport and Nicole and we’re going to see Green Day in Montreal. Sacre bleu! This makes up for missing out on what will be the epically crazy show in Irving later this month. Green Day’s shows in California, their home state, are crazy affairs. I will be heading to Chula Vista and San Francisco, but work timing and other factors prevent me from hitting Irvine. I have never been to a concert in Canada before, even though I lived close to Windsor, in Ontario and across the border from my hometown of Detroit, while growing up. I love Montreal, and if I could have pulled it off, I would headed for the Quebec show as well. I’ve spent previous time in both Quebec City and Montreal, and love them dearly. It will be nice to see Green Day in Old Montreal, at the Jacques Quai Pier. It’s open air, and if it doesn’t rain, it will be way rad. Haha, I said rad. I’m pretty sure I won’t be dancing with myself, but with a bunch of crazy French-Canadians, in the next few days. OUI!
Horseshoes and and Handgrenades - Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
Alright, I fess up. Since Green Day’s Twitter has been going atwitter, I’ve paid a bit more attention to their Twitter feed. For a while there it was only Tweets about contests, with the occasional personal zinger thrown in. After a really bad case of Twitter spam a few months ago in their feed, I stopped getting the tweets sent directly to my phone due to the glitch. I only recently started them again (after I remembered that I had turned them off in the first place), but now I don’t get them regularly on my phone. And there’s been so many lately!
We have no idea what started the Twitter chatter, presumably mostly from Billie Joe (or someone tweeting for him), and goodness only knows how long this trend will continue, but let’s hope for a bit longer at least. For a band to go from 1 to 2 personal tweets a month to like a billion (alright, I’m exaggerating) a day… OK, about 10 in ONE WEEK, means that a bunch of people would notice at the same time.
When it first happened, the Twitterverse of Green Day squealed like boys and girls, and you know how much I hate squealing (it’s not very punk), so I didn’t squeal externally, though I did let out an internal squee, and then got a bit embarrassed by some of the responses (my own internal Tweets as well as others’ external ones) to Green Day. Not mine, I would never Tweet, “You have a cute ass, Tre,” or “BIILLIIEE!” so I did a Twitter facepalm that didn’t come out quite as funny as I had hoped, haha. The knowledgeable Abbey tweeted to me that a few squees in the Twitterverse by teenies is probably OK, and I think she’s right! Abbey has been sending the funniest Tweets to them for months now, just crazy funny stuff.
Anyway, I tweeted to @greenday a few times that I would love to hear one of the few songs from 21st Century Breakdown that I’ve yet to hear: “Horseshoes and Handgrenades.” I’ve been fortunate to go to a lot of shows over the past months, but I wasn’t at the Fox Theater performance in Oakland back in May 2009, nor at the smaller performances in New York City at the Bowery Ballroom, Webster Hall, and a performance for a small group at PC Richards (very small crowd) that didn’t go over very well for some reason. I don’t know what they played at PC Richards, but the set was short and according to folks who were there, the crowd didn’t really know the music and there weren’t many hardcore fans. Green Day tended to play the entirety of 21st Century Breakdown during those first shows. UPDATE: “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” has only been played at the Fox Theater show from talking about it with a friend yesterday.
There’s a video of an interview with the band from last year where they are asked which song that they would like to hear on the radio, and Tre said, “Horseshoes and Handgrenades.” [SEE VIDEO HERE @ 15:30] I would, too!
Of course, I don’t expect to get a response nor actually hear Green Day play the song on the tour, but it would be great to hear the powerful songs on 21st Century Breakdown that rarely get played: the angry and defiant, “Horseshoes and Handgrenades,” the melodic and sad “Restless Heart Syndrome,” and the stringed, fast, and exotic Latino-flavored “Peacemaker” and “¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl),” both reminding me a bit of “Misery.” I’m not quite sure about the last songs I haven’t heard, “Christian’s Inferno” (it acts more as a story bridge in the album than a stand-alone song to me) and I’d like to hear “See the Light,” but I’m not sure how well that would work live. Not sure if anyone else would want to hear it, either. I’ve seen one video of it from last year at a small club in Paris, but the Youtube video was taken down. It’s a song that means a bit to me, as I try and strive to actually ‘see the light,’ but often fail.
I’m going to the show in Hartford tonight, and I most particularly want to hear “Horseshoes and Handgrenades,” for the lyrics, and the combination of Mike and Tre’s bass and drums. The sound of boots hits the ground, and Tre’s drums pound out a steady beat with Mike’s bass really getting a workout through the song. One of the things I don’t hear enough of in 21st Century Breakdown is Mike’s bass, and “Horseshoes and Handgrenades” highlights well the work that he and Tre do on Green Day albums as a team.
On top of that, how can you not want to hear a song that, as Cool says in the Absolut interview, “comes out of the box with the words ‘I’m not fucking around?'” And live, no less? Anyway, here’s to hoping that sometime during this tour, the boys will throw in gems from 21st Century Breakdown while everyone screams for “Geek Stink Breath,” “One of My Lies,” or any other number of “rare” Green Day songs. Though if they want to throw in a “F.O.D.” or “Dominated Love Slave” or any of the others, I won’t complain. Oh, and yes please, again, to “Letterbomb.”
“Horseshoes and Handgrenades” – Green Day
I’m not fucking around
I think I’m coming out
All the deceivers and cheaters
I’ve think we’ve got a bleeder right now
Want you to slap me around
Want you to knock me out
Well, you missed me kissed me
Now you better kick me down
Maybe you’re the runner up
But the first one to lose the race
Almost only really counts in
Horseshoes and hand grenades
I’m gonna burn it all down
I’m gonna rip it out
Well, everything that you employ
Was meant for me to destroy
To the ground now
So don’t you fuck me around
Because I’ll shoot you down
I’m gonna drink, fight and fuck
And pushing my luck
All the time now
Maybe you’re the runner up
But the first one to lose the race
Almost only really counts in
Horseshoes and hand grenades
Demolition, self-destruction
What to annihilate
The age-old contradiction
Demolition, self-destruction
What to annihilate
This old age
I’m not fucking around
I think I’m coming out
I’m a hater
A traitor
In a pair of Chuck Taylors
Right now
I’m not fucking around
UPDATE: Finally, some… uh… nice person on the Youtubes captured it…
I saw this earlier today and wasn’t able to write much about it, but I’ve been anticipating “Letterbomb” big time over the last few days after hearing that the Buffalo show was treated to this gem from Green Day’s album, American Idiot. I wasn’t disappointed. Let’s go fucking crazy, indeed! I’ve seen Rebecca Jones from the cast of American Idiot do this song many times over the last year, and I truly think that the counterparts of Billie Joe Armstrong and Rebecca singing this song from a male and female perspective is fascinating. I love hearing Rebecca tear it up, full of focus and verve as she tells Johnny off during the musical. Of course, it will always be Billie Joe’s song, as evidenced by this fiery performance at Lollapalooza, but Rebecca certainly captures the feminine angst and primal scream of “Letterbomb” and gives Billie Joe a run for his money.
UPDATE: At the same time, it’s all Armstrong’s song, and in this video, he throws everything in it, even Rebecca’s scream of “WAKE UP” that she does in the musical. I didn’t realize that about the “Wake Up” scream until EllenKC from the GDC mentioned it. This video is the first time I’ve seen him do this song live, I didn’t know it originated from Rebecca. You go, girl! What a nice symmetry between the musical and “Letterbomb.” I love it!
Good grief, I can’t wait to hear what Thursday at Hartford brings!
Thanks to Green Day LIVE on Tour on Facebook (… and sorry that you hate Facebook so much, Green Day (or even Youtube)… there are some great things about it as well as crappy things, sadly…) for the link.
Via the Alternative Press, here’s a great gallery of photographs from Day Two of Lollapolooza, including Green Day, Gogol Bordello, Against Me!, and Social Distortion.
I’ve never been to a big music festival. I wish I could say that I was cool and at the first Lollapolooza back in the day, but I’ve never been to any and I’m not all that cool. Sigh. I also don’t appreciate insanely big crowds. I’ve lived in cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York, where MASSIVE crowds, particularly in New York, make me a little giggity. I heard what happened at the first Woodstock, y’know!
Billie Joe Leads the Crowd at Lolla- Green Day Authority Picture Vault
I’ve also never had the funds for one of them, nor the travel time, or job position to allow me to attend one. Maybe next year. Plus, the last time I was in Chicago during the summer, I threw up in a trashcan not far from Grant Park on Michigan Avenue. I know what you’re thinking. No, I wasn’t drunk, I was suffering from heat exhaustion. Chicago is cold in the winter and hot in the summer, the only two real seasons of the year for the beautiful city at the foot of Lake Michigan.
Since I like a band called Green Day, I’ve been very interested in this year’s Lolla, but I couldn’t afford to hit it. I didn’t have time or money and remember what I said about massive crowds? In addition, I’m mentally scheduled to go to five shows, three here (Camden happened last week) on the East Coast (Hartford, Holmdel) and two in California (Chula Vista and San Francisco). I have time off of work due to holidays that happen in the first week of September, and I’m jonesing something awful for California dreaming as well. There is a 50% chance that California may not be happen due to finances. I want to write about the final two shows of Green Day’s North American, second-to-last leg of the tour. Afterall, not only is it Homecoming, but this blog has been about one thing since June of 2009: Green Day and their performance from a fan of performance’s point-of-view. You can piece shows together after the fact and know the general feel remotely, but it’s not like being there and reporting on it firsthand. I kinda find it… hmm… sexy… orgas… uh… well, I hope you get my drift. So, we’ll see if I get to do it and be able to write about it, too.
Anyway, enough of that, back to…
Lollapalooza 2010: The View From The Couch
Saturday Lolla Schedule - AOL LifeStream (Live and Pre-Taped)
This weekend, I hibernated. I didn’t mean to. I had plans to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings play a special gig at Prospect Part in Brooklyn yesterday, but when I began to watch Blues Traveler on Lollapalooza’s Life/Live Stream (from AOL! I had no idea they still existed), I sorta got sucked into my couch and stayed there watching the stream for the next eight hours from the luxury of my Ikea furniture and no crowds! Frankly, while that was good in one way, it sucks balls not to have been in Chicago to see Green Day rip apart Lollapalooza Live and show the crowd that they, over their twenty-two year career, have managed to grow from three scrawny kids playing to a mountainside gig of five kids into one of the world’s few stadium punk bands. And I do mean punk.
The day at Lolla that I was able to spend remotely was exciting, and the performances that I saw (alas, not Green Day’s gig from the stream, only through updates from Twitter and news feeds), were phenomenal.
Lolla 2010
Blues Traveler, Against Me!, Gogol Bordello, and Social Distortion
I’m old enough to remember the heyday of Blues Traveler, and I won’t say anything bad about them. When they came out in the 1990s, they were fun and had a hard, bluesy and slightly rebellious sound in that tradition of the Grateful Dead and Phish with some grunge thrown in, too, and I remember many a time kinda rocking out to their sound of summer. I dropped in on the Lolla feed just as they were half-way through a Nirvana song, having traveled in the same circle back in the day with Nirvana and honoring Cobain’s memory. They set the mood well for a day of remote festival couch surfing, bringing just that touch of 1990s nostalgia into play for when Green Day would hit the stage later on the night. Blues Traveler played at Woodstock ’94, the same year that Green Day turned it into Mudstock ’94.
Against Me! was next up, and it was the first time that I had heard them and I liked what I heard. Raw and emotional, their songs of protest and the speedy beat made me realize that this is a band that I need to see live one day. They are from Florida and have been around since 1997, but only recently released their second major album, White Crosses. It’s on my list of albums to get now.
There are no words really to explain what happened during Gogol Bordello‘s set at the Parkways stage. I’ve seen Gogol Bordello live once, at Terminal Five in New York City, and I swear to High Heaven that it was one of the best dance parties I’ve ever been to. Their Roma/Israeli/South American sound, with the Russian folk violin and accordion hi-jinks thrown in leaves you with no choice but to dance. Your feet are unable to stay silent as your Old World soul gets all of the pain out through slamming one another in a dance pit. If the footage from their performance is ever released, YOU MUST WATCH what you can. The audience were whirling dervishes and it was an amazing performance, even from the comfort of my own damned couch.
Lastly, Social Distortion. My goodness, what a way to round out a punk afternoon of performance. I’ve never seen them perform and I only know a few of their songs. Remember, I’m on a sentimental journey through sight and sound and I’m discovering the roots of punk backwards. I sometimes feel like a fake because of it, but truthfully, the wonder of discovery is that you are never too young or too old for it. Finally getting to see these hard, older punks, who never made it huge but are an anchor in the pantheon of punk, pour their spirit of protest and consciousness out, made me wish so much that I had had the time and energy to delve deep into punk after I started graduate school in 1992. I was a musical dropout by then, though, and a bit too crazed with school and work and theater in the 1980s to pay much attention either. My bad.
I’m not sure if the Parkways site in Grant Park quite knew what would hit them over the next hours, as Blues Traveler loosened up the crowd on another stage from their afternoon grogginess, Against Me! got their feet functioning, Gogol Bordello made their heads explode, and Social Distortion made them want more. That more was the last show of the night, with some guys known as Green Day who had somehow become the best, nay, only, stadium punk performers of their era from the school of the 1990s. As dodobrainworms, one of those who witnessed the performance yesterday from Grant Park tweeted during Green Day’s set, “Jesus….when did Green Day become the perfect stadium act…time flies.”
Green Day at Lollapalooza 2010 – Demonstrating How a Stadium Punk Band Does It
Hey YOU - BJA at Lolla - Green Day Authority Picture Vault
Once Social Distortion went offstage, there would sadly be no live streaming of Green Day’s show, and my heart kinda sank when they didn’t magically appear in the feed somehow. It was all cool, though, because I shared some time with fellow fans as we watched Twitter feeds of the show and Facebook pages found snippets of magic that floated through Twitvid. It was fun, even if frustrating not being there as the Tweets made us all really proud of “our guys,” our Green Day, who’s given us so much crazy fan-love that they can do almost no wrong in our eyes and all we want to do is support them in whatever they do. And they didn’t disappoint us or that audience. They put on one of the greatest shows that ever hit Lollapalooza.
Water by Tre - Green Day at Lolla 2010 - Green Day Authority Picture Vault
Since I wasn’t there, I can’t tell you how it really was, but the videos that have come out are really something to see. Once again, the band sounds tight and honed, and Billie Joe’s voice… dear FSM, let’s not even mention how great it sounds for fear of fainting. I posted a long list of Tweets yesterday during the performance, and there were only a couple of naysayers that I saw, while the majority of them were extremely positive.
Mike Ain't Fucking Around - Green Day at Lolla, 2010 - Green Day Authority Picture Vault
The usual antics seemed to have happened: the more than adorable kid who was brought up and saved Billie Joe this time [PICTURE HERE]; the French audience member who stagedived from 12 feet up, directed into the arms of the paparazzi that Billie Joe corralled below [PICTURE HERE]; the “Longview” singer with the Green Day Idiot Club t-shirt on who blew the crowd away and got a guitar for his troubles afterward [VIDEO HERE], the Hey-Ohs of “Hitchin’ A Ride” [VIDEO HERE]; the long and all-over-the-place but fun-as-hell “Shout-Satisfaction-My Kind of Town-Hey Jude-Shout” medley [VIDEO HERE], to the “Brain Stew” where Billie Joe brought up the American Sign Language interpreter for the evening to do the water gun as they seemed to have bonded through the night and she was rocking out some musical sign language interpretation [VIDEO HERE] [PICTURE HERE]; the same shenanigans that never, to me, get old.
Mike and Billie - Lolla, 2010 - Green Day Authority Picture Vault
I hear that there was an amazing version of “Letterbomb” also, but again, as from Buffalo, there’s no good video of it. Four Green Day songs will be streamed tonight on the Lollapalooza Webcast at 11:00 PM Eastern Time. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see it as one of the four.
As I was reading the reports off of the Internet about the show, I teared up a little bit. Yeah, I know it’s stupid, it’s just a band, but it’s my band, one that I’m awfully proud of. Congratulations, boys, you’ve come a long way since 1994, and while I may not have been along for the entire ride, I’m so happy that I finally caught the Holiday bus to Jingletown.
See everyone who’s going to Hartford and Holmdel there, and if God’s willing and the crik don’t rise… Chula Vista and San Francisco as well.
Here’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”:
“Boulevard of Broken Dream” – Green Day at Lolla, August 2010
During the solo encore, Billie Joe sang, “She’s A Rebel.” Yea, he forgot the words (which he tweeted last night as being a “highlight” of the show for him), but you know, it doesn’t matter, because it’s still beautiful.
“She’s A Rebel” – Billie Joe Armstrong – Lolla, August 2010
Lollapalooza 2010: Green Day KILLS on Saturday Night – Marcus Leshock, Chicago Now.
You Ain’t No Picasso (Review and Photos): “Bottom line, Green Day have gotten even better since I saw them nine years ago. Sure, they’ve been around a while (BJA’s opening joke: “Welcome to Lollapalooza! After us is the Smashing Pumpkins… oh wait. The Beastie Boys! …No, wrong year. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds!”) but they’ve yet to overstay their welcome. I don’t know how many more years they can do it at this level, but we should be thankful for every one.”
Anthony Nowack Photographs of Green Day at Lollapalooza 2010
FestivalCrashers.com: Green Day Pulls Out All the Stops at Lollapalooza, “Performance: 20/20 What was there not to love? As a friend of a friend said while leaving “It’s everything I’d ever want from a rock show. And maybe a little more.” The pyrotechnics, the visuals, the songs, the fireworks, the medleys. They pulled out every trick. Even borrowing a couple (like the toilet paper shooter trick from Wayne Coyne and Girl Talk. It all worked. Except the t-shirt gun. I say that now, but I’m not wearing a shirt. Other bands should take notes. A lot of notes.”
The AOL LifeStream consisted of: “When I Come Around,” “Brain Stew,” “21 Guns,” and “Jesus of Surburbia.”
We're All Idiots - Lolla, 2010 - Green Day Authority Picture Vault
"3 nights. All music. All you need is some food and some drugs and everything will be OK."- BJA at Lolla
I’ve been hanging around with Green Day fans tonight at the Green Day Community, where we’re sharing Tweets with each other that have appeared about Green Day’s performance at Lollapolooza tonight. It’s the first time that Green Day has performed at a Lolla since 1994, and there were more than a few naysayers harping on the festival’s choice of Green Day headlining. According to those folks who are tweeting, Lolla made the right choice in asking Green Day to headline this year. So far, they have gotten tweets that claim that tonight’s show was better than the much-anticipated performance of Lady Gaga yesterday.
Before I get into that, here’s the funniest one, someone tweeted what Billie Joe said a bit ago onstage about Lollapalooza:
owhmusicguy: “3 nights. All music. All you need is some food and some drugs and everything will be OK.” – Billie Joe Armstrong. #lollapalooza
Ha! That does sound like a good way to get through a three-day music festival, that’s for sure.
Here’s a short TwitVid from Jough Dempsey (via Green Day LIVE on Tour on Facebook). [LINK] They sound great even so far away from the camera! Oh, and you think that a 10:00 PM Lolla curfew would stop Green Day? Think again… they blew right past the curfew. My boys. I lub you.
alissas Playing past the 10pm curfew is one of the most punk rock things you can do at Lolla. #GreenDay
Fart_robot
RT @CarlitoJERK Just ripped a 10 second fart at Green Day. Great show. FART ROBOT APPROVES. about 2 hours ago via API in reply to CarlitoJERK
BigCash
Greenday #lolla fan wins for largest, uh, guts. After called on stage, he jumps from 12′ stage into a sea of photogs arms at request of band about 2 hours ago via UberTwitter
MethodDesigns
I love how Billy Joe from Green Day makes every fan feel so important. Their live show is amazing! #lolla about 2 hours ago via TweetDeck
dodobrainworms Jesus….when did Green Day become the perfect stadium act…time flies.
GenevieveKoski Billie Joe pulled a kid up onstage to sing, then gave him his guitar becuase he did such a good job. I’m literally tearing up. #lolla
alissas BJA may be the best performer I’ll see all year. #GreenDay #Lolla
slybeer Nice ass, billie joe #greenday #lollapalooza
slybeer Err, for the record, he just mooned the crowd, i’m not just creepy! #greenday #lollapalooza
Marah Eakin Very impressed with GD’s pogoing and punk guitar jumping in their advanced age. #lolla
marahe Green day keeps bringing people up on stage to sing. The very best live band karaoke. #lolla
marahe On the other hand I wonder if Billie Joe just finds the lyrics to “Longview” to be a little embarrassing. #lolla
Kyle_Ryan Their fame has changed over the years but one thing about Green Day hasn’t: They still spend half their set fucking around. Respect! #lolla
EarbudDJ If you’re at #Lolla and don’t think Green Day had the best set, you weren’t here
CosLIVE Like em or hate em, Green Day just put on one of the best Lollapalooza headlining performances ever… and theyre still playing #lollapa …
coslive And its done. Lollapalooza had the time of their life. pun intended. #lollapalooza
Green Day tweeted again today, presumably, from Billie Joe, but it’s not signed. Here’s what it said:
Show in buffalo was SICK! Highlight was letterbomb for me. In chicago now. Lollapalooza. Playing w L7 and the Breeders!-what year is it? about 5 hours ago via UberTwitter
UPDATE: I wish. 😦 Sadly, I decided that I didn’t like either version of “Letterbomb” from Buffalo that’s out there right now, so instead, here’s “Give Me Novacaine.” If a better Youtube version of “Letterbomb” shows up, I’ll post it.
Lollapolooza, 1994
They barely had a crowd at one of the Lolla shows, but they still rocked it:
Green Day – Welcome to Paradise [Live @ Lollapalooza 1994] – Green Day Concerts
Now they are selling out stadiums and creating musicals on Broadway. Who would have thought it? While I’d like to say that Green Day had no clue what would happen so many years later, I do have the feeling that they were determined to make their mark and go to amazing places. Congrats on having your dreams come true, lads. That’s pretty rad.
I wanted to see them at their first Lolla appearance since 1994, which happens tomorrow on Saturday, August 7, 2010, but it ain’t happening. I was no where near into Green Day when they performed in 1994. I’ve never been to a giant music festival (yea, I know) and I’ve thought many times of going, but I just never did it. Chicago is a lovely city in the summer, too.
1994 was not only Green Day’s breakout year with their Lolla appearance along with their maniacal performance that same year at Mudstock, aka Woodstock, but the year also marked the death of Kurt Cobain, too, a moment that I remember with great sadness. I have a feeling that Green Day is gonna rock it out tomorrow, for the old days when they were all still young and had shit to be angry about, playing with amazing bands of the day, among them L7 and the awesome Breeders. There might be a bit of nostalgia going on they hit the stage tomorrow at Lollapalooza. 2010’s show is going to be one of those gigs that you really, really wished you could have been at, just like those performances at Lollas back in 1994. Well, at least I wish I were there in 1994 and 2010. Oh well.
Have a great time, if you’re going! If you’re not going like me, head on over to Spinner.com and download Lollapalooza 2010 Free MP3s.
Here’s the Lollapalooza lineup from 1994, where L7, the Breeders, and Green Day appeared together, via Wikipedia. Wow. Look at that fucking lineup.
Several of the artists, including Green Day and Cypress Hill, skipped at least one Lollapalooza tour date in order to appear at Woodstock ’94 instead. (During Woodstock ’94, a security guard mistook bassist Mike Dirnt of Green Day for a stage-invading fan and punched out some of his teeth. Green Day did not perform in Miami) (Green Day held the opening slot for the show in Atlanta, flying to New York immediately afterwards.) Nirvana was scheduled to headline but officially pulled out on April 7, 1994, amid strong rumors that the band was on the verge of breaking up. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was found dead in Seattle, Washington the following day. Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, made surprise guest appearances at several shows, speaking to the crowds about the loss.[1]
Listen to Me Whine - BJA, Camden, Susquehanna Bank Center, 8/3/2010 - Photo by xGeneralxS
By the time I got to the kickoff show of Green Day’s current North American tour leg, I was stressed and a bit exhausted. The weeks leading up to the show have been overwhelming emotionally and just sucky. I’ve been missing the idea of California and my life here in New York has been droning on. I’ve been restless and unsure and stuck about many things lately, and I’ve only wanted to think of big ideas that I’m afraid will never come true. Combined with a general life pathos, well, let’s just say that I wish the Last Ride In was actually on a surfboard and not on what feels like a runaway train. It’s been good, but it’s been hella frustrating, too. And not in a fun, Frustrators, sort of way either.
Luckily, I’ve seen some pretty good bands since Green Day (or actually the Foxboro Hot Tubs) was last in town back in April, like the Mystic Knights and Prima Donna, but I’ve also been lucky to see old school punks and shows such as The Avengers, Jello Biafra and the School of Guantanamo Medicine, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, the English Beat, Courtney Love, Faith No More, and Star Fucking Hipsters. I’ve come across smaller bands over the time, too, the crazed Cula A Buco playing with the Cobras and Prima Donna in Santa Cruz, local NYC bands, the Homewreckers, the Sandworms, Yula and the Extended Family, and a few more whose names I can’t remember. It’s been good musical times.
The Ticket That Went to Wembley Without Me - Wembley, 19 June 2010
Though I’ve seen many great shows over the last few months, Green Day was never far from my mind. I missed Wembley last June because I couldn’t get over the expensive Summer airfare pond known as the Atlantic Ocean, and that made me sad. Luckily, a little piece of Wembley came home to me as Jax sent me the Ticket That Went To Wembley Without Me. Thanks, Jax!
Since missing Wembley (and I’ve been lucky through the year, so I’m not whining about it… anymore), the second leg of the North American tour has been on my mind what with making mental plans about which shows to go to, how to get there — if I can get there — all the while attempting to avoid a 21st century breakdown simultaneously. Sigh.
Though I’ve seen a lot of great bands since those halcyon days of Pinhead Gunpowder playing at the small 924 Gilman in February or those beautiful nights at Don Hill’s or the Bowery Electric with the Foxboro Hot Tubs in April, I’ve got to say that I have been a little spoiled by the smaller, more intimate shows that Green Day or any of their members in all of their varieties may play. I’d love to see Green Day in a smaller space, and the amphitheaters are going to be the equivalent of as small and intimate of a Green Day show that I’m going to get after missing their shows last year at the Bowery Ballroom and Webster Hall in NYC.
Green Day - Camden, Susquehanna Bank Center, 8/3/2010 - Fith Photography
I’m excited by the amphitheater tour, though I’ve not always been so thrilled at the thought that either there was no pit at some venue or as I found out last night, there would be no catwalk for Billie Joe to go strutting down. I had thought about that possibility, but the reality was a bit like, oh, bummer, no catwalk at all. After which I thought to myself that that was a bit whiny. I didn’t even have to worry, though, because Green Day can adapt to any venue, and adapt they did. It was a great show, despite the dicky boys in the area of the pit that my friend and I found ourselves in. I heard later that if only we could have seen the other side of the pit, we would have known that there was plenty of space over there to dance.
Tre is All Smiles - Camden, Susquehanna Bank Center, 8/3/2010 - Fith Photography
A Man and His Bass - Green Day, Camden, Susquehanna Bank Center, 8/3/2010 - Fith Photography
Since we got to the show just as Green Day went on after a traffic jam on lovely NJ Highway 295 stopped our progress (thanks Rachel for clarifying that for me, lol), by the time we caught our breath, had a beer and some cigarettes, and entered the pit area, we could not see over the heads of anyone and assumed that there was no space on the far side of the pit. I suppose there was an entrance on the Ben Franklin side of the space, but we entered on the Walt Whitman side and into a wall of people.
Catcher In The Rye - Camden, Susquehanna Bank Center, 8/3/2010 - FITH Photography
No one was really dancing in the pit, it was more pushing and shoving, and I can get a bit wild. Most of the time, it’s all good, but I ended up behind this tall fellow whose space I entered and I am not sure if he was trying to block me from taking his space (which I wasn’t trying to do), or blocking his girlfriend from being pushed by me or the people that were pushing me from behind. The day was so stressful that I actually got angry at his elbow blocking and literally punching me in the side and chest with them. No way do I play that. I pinched his arm when he kept doing it. I was trying to get past him and out of his way, but his elbows were blocking everything and I couldn’t move anywhere. At the same time, I was so warm that I thought I was going to faint. If only I had known that the other side of the pit was empty, I would have been much happier, and not felt the need to annihilate this tall asshole in front of me. At that point, I sorely missed my burly and stoic Cobra men, who would have chomped his elbows off, or at least been able to see over the heads of the crowd. Those boys are tall!
Anyway, the show itself was great. The band had a frantic energy that did not stop onstage. I was also totally psyched when Billie Joe came out with fluffy blond hair. Yes, folks, you heard it, it’s a HAIR ALERT!
Billie Joe with a Silly Bandanna of Pot Leaves - Camden, NJ, 8/4/10 - Photo by Green Day Mind
You know how I am about taking pictures (I’m not much of a photographer lately anyway since I hate my camera and I don’t like taking a lot of photos at shows anyway), so I only have two of them, but it just so happens that xGeneralxS, who took some amazing photographs of the Foxboro Hot Tubs at Don Hill’s before her camera died, was at the Camden show! I’ve only seen a few of the photos, and as usual, she’s caught the band beautifully. Fith Photography, who posted a gallery of photographs on Flickr, also took some great shots and both kindly agreed to let me highlight some of their photographs. Thank you!
The setlist structure was primarily the same with each section changed up a little bit, 21CB, AI, Old School, 21CB, Encore 1, Encore 2, and the playing of “Paper Lanterns” during the “old school” portion of the night felt really special. There was a fresh ferocity from the band as they launched into their huge back catalog of songs. A reviewer at Spin wrote that they didn’t seem as emotionally invested singing the older material as they seemed to be when performing the newer stuff. I’m not sure about their assessment, it’s possible, particularly when they come blasting on with “21st Century Breakdown,” at the show’s opening and the song crawls right under your skin. I love to hear it kick off the set at each show that I’ve been to so far this year. While 21CB might be grittier than “Paper Lanterns,” I’ve never had the thought that they were more emotionally invested in one type of their music than the other, though I do think that Green Day believes its newer music is more accomplished than their older stuff. As to whether they have fun playing one more than the other, I think that’s quite arguable. But what the hell do I know? Just shut up and dance.
“21st Century Breakdown” – Green Day, Camden, NJ – RockConcertNo1Fan’s Youtube Channel
Billie Joe’s voice sounds crystal clear. I’ve noticed this not only from the European tour that I’ve seen on Youtube and the smaller shows that I attended earlier this year, but most especially during the band’s performance of “Last of the American Girls” on Jimmy Fallon the other night. As I was listening to it, for a second I thought that they were actually lip-syncing the song, it sounded so good and like the album recording. Hearing his voice live at Camden, and joined by the best rhythm section in music these days, Mike and Tre, they kept a dynamic beat throughout the entire night. These guys just love to play, new stuff, old stuff, their stuff, someone else’s stuff. I think that’s kinda the bottom line with them, not emotional investment between old and new. Haven’t we all had that argument already?
1st Part, “¡Viva la Gloria!” – Green Day, Camden, Susquehanna Bank Center, 8/3/2010 – chixLL
“Hitchin’ A Ride” and Saving a Kid from Being Crushed – Green Day at Camden, 8/3/2010 – denwilliams
“Boulevard of Broken Dreams” – Thank you for the last 22 years! – chixLL
I guess because it’s been so tough lately, “She,” a song that I try to avoid listening to because I just don’t want to mentally crack, really got to me on Tuesday, though a bit through it, I felt awfully faint and crushed. The video below is a bit like my experience of the song, as I was really trying to concentrate and listen, but each time that I started feeling that emotional scream inside, I think my psyche rescued me by making me slightly blank out at points of the greatest emotional and heat distress.
“She” with long stares into the ceiling (but sounds great) – Green Day, Camden, Susquehanna Bank Center, 8/3/2010 – RockConcertNo1Fan
By “Jesus of Suburbia,” I was still slightly in a state of daze. Billie Joe sang the entire song, and the shape of the amphitheater really offered a lovely background soundscape to the music and made the tune’s complexities stand out. I loved it.
“Jesus of Suburbia” – Green Day, Camden, Susquehanna Bank Center, 8/3/2010 – RockConcertNo1Fan
I was overcome by the tons of confetti that blew out during “Minority,” and by the time the second encore came around, I needed water. I also realized that I was so emotionally drained by then (as well as dehydrated), that it would probably be a bit too much to stick around for the sad part of the show. Sigh. I listened to the encore outside, desperately searching each vendor stand for water. Billie Joe’s voice was still clearly heard when I finally found a bottle of water in the amphitheater outdoor atrium. I gulped down the refreshment and listened to the last strains of “Good Riddance” outside, with the song drifting up the hill and out of the sides of the venue.
I’m going to do it all over again in Hartford on Thursday. It’s gonna be a blast.
Boys Will Be Boys - Camden, Susquehanna Bank Center, 8/3/10 - Fith Photography
Here’s some links from last night’s show:
SoundSpike: In Pictures Story by Editor Hali McGrath and Photographer Rob Loud.
Spin.com: Green Day Kick Off Epic Tour Near Philly
Rolling Stone: Green Day launch Tour with Punk Marathon
Popstar.com: Green Day Returns to U.S. for Second Leg of North American Tour
Green Day Mind 