A few short weeks ago, I was in London for the two Green Day shows at the O2 arena. It seems like a lifetime ago already, but I have some great memories of the concerts and the boys, and I met some fabulous people from all over the world, including the United States, England, Germany, Norway, South Africa, and Brazil.
One of the people that I met is a lady by the name of Kerry Harris. She was part of the Rocktober crew and flew in from Australia on a whim to see Green Day for their entire English tour, including the now legendary Foxboro Hot Tubs gig. She is a doctor from the Land of Oz and a talented painter. Kerry presented one of her paintings to a friend in Kent and I loved the canvas, so with her permission, I thought I’d take the opportunity to showcase a few of her impressive works.
Green Day Triptych - Painting by Kerry Harris
Green Day - Kerry Harris Triptych Sketches
Green Day for Jax - Painting by Kerry Harris
Mike Dirnt, Tre Cool and Billie Joe Armstrong by Kerry Harris
I'm Not Stoned I'm just fucked up - Bumper sticker by Kerry Harris
A conversation on Facebook comparing Green Day’s two shows at Madison Square Garden back in July and their two shows at London’s O2 in October prompted me to think of Green Day’s version of The Who’s “A Quick One While He’s Away.” Four people, including me, had seen all four shows and except for one, agreed that while both second nights were better, (because the second night is always better), we felt that London’s 2nd show was the winner for various reasons. However, Dawn, who I’ve mentioned before, had one caveat: Green Day’s performance of “A Quick One While He’s Away,” from the second show at Madison Square Garden.
This performance took MSG by surprise because no one in their right mind expected it. The song is one of four bonus tracks from the iTunes release of 21st Century Breakdown and unless you had that album version (the CD and I believe the vinyl versions have different bonus tracks) you were kinda lost as to what was going on.
I remember being a little nervous at the hesitant start for the band. It’s a long and slightly complicated song and who knows how many times they had actually rehearsed it. After a few bars they let go and went with it and I realized that what I was seeing was a very rare performance, especially since Billie Joe noted that it was the first (and probably the last) time that they had performed it. There may be good reason for that as the crowd took a while to warm up to it but I am not sure if the audience ever completely got into it. I did, but I was in the pit, behind one row of bodies and I was pretty damned happy with having heard it live at least once.
So, I got to thinking about the performance and wanted to watch it again, so I’ve posted it below. It’s not the best of videos, but it is the entire seven minute song:
Fast forward to that ficticious band, the Foxboro Hot Tubs, and their gig in London on November 1st. The Foxies (my silly pet name for them) broke the song out and repeated the ‘You Are Forgiven’ a billion times. Here they are having a crazy time with it and the two versions, from, um, two different bands, is like night and day. There are three short “A Quick One” clips on Youtube from the secret show in London and the clip below is the longest one. All of them are very short, which probably had something to do with booze.
Green Day Accepts EMA Best Rock/Cock/Kack/Shit Award
Vodpod videos no longer available.
more about “Green Day Accepts EMA Best Rock/Cock/…”, posted with vodpod
Mike and Tre interview with Pete Wentz, Joss Stone, and some other dude
(I love it when Mike and Tre get are the focus of attention. Love you, Billie, but, well, you know):
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more about “MTV Europe Music Awards 2009 :: 05.11…”, posted with vodpod
The Fuse Awards for Best Video of 2009 is head to head with Paramore’s “Ignorance” going back and forth with Green Day’s “Know Your Enemy.” The voting is actually pretty close, so it’s time to get your mice fingers working for the band that has given us so much joy. And really, Paramore? No way…
Warner Brothers and Youtube/Google got into a monetary pissing match back in January over the fee structure that Google would have to shell out in order to pay Warner Brothers and their artists for official band music videos. Youtube/Google wouldn’t back down and Warner walked away with all of their artist’s videos and channels, including Green Day.
The dispute was settled last week and Warner Brothers will begin the process of making available official videos once again. They have not done it yet, however. Some of the videos on the GD Channel still have a disclaimer that they are “No longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner Music,” so I have no idea when the Warner Music Group will actually get around to uploading or unblocking certain videos.
I also have no idea about the final agreement between Warner and Youtube regarding the fee structure agreed upon, I just know that soon official Green Day videos will be back on YouTube. (Here’s a link to various articles if you want to read more.) Meanwhile, in honor of the entire brouhaha, here’s a blast from the recent past, Green Day’s appearance on the Colbert Report and “Green Day Keyboard Cat.” Play Warner and Youtube off, Billie Joe!
I’m so glad we had this time together,
Just to have a laugh, and sing a song.
Seems we just got started and before we knew it
Came the time we had to say, ‘So long.’
It seems like eight short weeks ago that Green Day sprang back onto the concert circuit with their 2009 U.S. Tour. And you know what, it was only eight short weeks ago that they started out in Seattle, WA, through to Canada, a bit of the Midwest and back up to the Great North, through Yankee territory, down on to Philly and conquering D.C., to the South and Texas, Middle America, and the West Coast and the Sun Belt, and finally, ending it all last night in LA LA Land.
Do not fret as they make their North American goodbyes, for in a short month, they will begin the breakdown of Europe and all will be well!
In the meantime, there’s MTV’s Video Music Awards coming up, where Green Day will perform (9/13), and Green Day’s American Idiot also begins soon. It’s going to be a busy but laid back month and every one probably needs a break, you know, to sit down with the kids, take a long bath, say hi to the missus, stuff like that. And yes, the end of September brings them traveling out of the country at least through to January. Yes, they will be gone from America for such a long time, but the world needs them, too. LOL. At any rate, rumor has it that there will be a second U.S. tour leg sometime next year. So, Lord willing and the crick don’t rise, we’ll have them back again next year. Can’t wait.
Three Friends
Rest up, boys! Europe, Australia and Japan are waiting for you!
Green Day on television music show in Japan, June 2009
Japan Loves Green Day
*Photograph by unknown photographer. Green Day Authority Picture Vault. Video via Current TV and Green Day Authority.
I’m writing this one on my iPhone so I’ll fix it up later but I wanted to post this before I forgot about it. For those of you who may be fans of astrology, someone has plotted Billie’s chart. I’m always iffy about astrology, though I have dabbled into it on occasion. Whatever one may think of it, the chart explanation is a good read. *Found via Green Day Google News Alert
OK, not to start any false rumors or anything about the band adopting a slew of children, but a Twitter user, heckieclaire, just posted a really nice, wistful link about a man taking his son to his first Green Day show… and glowing that Billie Joe had adopted his son… well, it’s hard to explain… just go and read it…
BHJ, I think your son is in mighty fine hands with BJA! EEK! 🙂
So I was messing around the last two days updating this blog’s layout. The Green Girl was fun, but the green color was getting to me. Sorry, sometimes when there’s too much green, there’s just too much green.
Being that I’m not the best wizard of HTML and XML and CSS and all that crap, I decided to go with this nice customizable header template called “ChaoticSoul” (why, of course) from WordPress. You’ve probably seen it around out there on the Blogdom somewhere or the other. I also bought the customizable CSS, and I’d love to tweak some things, particularly size to the titles to entries, so as soon as I figure out where WordPress keeps saving my stylesheet, I’ll get right on that.
The logo photograph above is one that I took from the first Green Day show at Madison Square Garden. (See larger version below.) It’s during “Minority” and Billie Joe is standing at the end of the catwalk in a haze of confetti. I love the way the blog template breaks up the one large photograph into two frames because this photograph becomes a reminder of the thing that I love most about a Green Day performance: the band’s ability to break through the barrier of the theatrical fourth wall between audience and band whereupon (fancy word), they become one during the course of a show.
And having Billie stand past that wall is a reminder to me that his energy is so outstanding as a performer that this barrier goes down about 65% of the effort due to him. It’s a reality that should not be taken for granted or lightly. It’s rare when a generation gets a performer like BJA. Love him or hate him, he knows how to perform.
At the same time, the erupting pyrotechnics on stage is also indicative of the energy vibrated by Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool and the entire production crew of a Green Day show. Good work all around, boys (cause most of the crew is guys… erm.)
Anyway, I hope you like the redesign. I do!
Green Day at Madison Square Garden, July 27, 2009
For a gallery of photographs that I either took at Green Day concerts and events or were used in some way in this blog by the rules of Fair Use, can be found here.
Green Day is different from other bands and let me tell you why.
There are only a few bands or musicians that I have been ga-ga over, and the list is pretty generic, so I won’t go much into who they are. Green Day is the first band that I’ve made an attempt to see more than once or twice in a lifetime (and certainly not more than the five times I’ve seen them since May), except for The Presidents of the United States of America, and that’s mostly because the tickets were cheap and they have the same sort of “let’s-have-a-damned-good-dancing-time”-type of vibe that Green Day does. PUSA’s lyrics never were as deep as Green Day’s can be, as you can only mine so much depth by singing about peaches and bullfrogs. Green Day manages to kick lyrical and musical ass, sing about deep and stupid things, make you laugh hysterically, and generally seep into the very fabric of your soul and pull out those dark secrets and fears that you attempted to pretend that you never had.
I missed out on seeing The Talking Heads and Nirvana when they were together (and in Cobain’s case, alive, R.I.P.), which is two of the items on my list of Top 50 Regrets in Life. Jane’s Addiction and The Red Hot Chili Peppers were fantastic shows, but I’ve never desired to see them more than the once each that I have seen them. I’ve seen the requisite U2 and Police shows (remember, I came of age during the 80s, so those were the major bands that I grew up on). I’ve seen The Who and Pink Floyd once each (I saw God at Pink Floyd, no really, I did) and The Grateful Dead twice, though I have never been a fan of the latter. One time was free because the bar I worked at was the largest buyer of Budweiser in New York City and the company gave the bar owners a free skybooth at Madison Square Garden as a gift and the other time… well, I was dating someone who was into them. I finally saw David Bowie during his New York City Five-Borough Tour from 2002, and I can now die fulfilled. The tickets were only $17 if you were a member of Bowie’s fan club, and truthfully, I joined the Fan Club just to get tickets. If you have never seen Bowie in a college auditorium (the 1,814 seat Colden Auditorium at Queens College, straight out of the 1950s), then I think I’ve got at least one up on you!
I’ve seen bands in small and large venues, and since my dad owned a bar in Detroit while I was growing up (The Moonglow Lounge, read about it here, last two paragraphs), I saw more live R&B music before the age of 10 than anyone can shake a stick at. In fact, the scene in Eminen’s 8 Mile where Cheddar shoots himself in the groin was filmed a 1/2 block from my Dad’s bar. I grew up on that corner. I may not have first-rate punk creds according to die-hard punk schmucks who scream about “selling out and sucky music,” but I spent many a night at St. Andrew’s Hall in Detroit seeing punk and new wave bands including The Cure and others whose names I can’t remember now. Hell, just growing up in Motown gives me music cred that many people can’t touch. In other words, I know what I’m talking about.
So then, what makes Green Day different? Four words sum it up: “Billie Joe, Mike, Tré.”
From the moment that I first saw them pop onstage at the bleary hour of 8:30 AM on a Friday morning in the freak show that was Good Morning, American Idiot back in May, I was blown away by the extreme attention they paid to and the very deep connection that these three guys have with their audience. Billie Joe actually talked to people in the crowd and not at them. Mike actually looked people directly into their eyes and not over their heads or as if they didn’t exist. Tré actually expressed his contempt for the setting in a way that was fun and fuck you at the same time. In other words, they were humans beings who just actually happened to be rock stars. I was floored and fell hardcore in love with them as a entity. Oh yea, the music was damned good, too.
In other words, the difference that I, personally, believe that Green Day has that other bands or musicians don’t quite possess at their level of stardom is the respect that they have for their fans as well as the 1000% level of enthusiasm that they produce whenever they are on stage. I’ve heard stories about how they sometimes don’t stop to sign autographs or tell fans that they’ll be out of the bus in a few minutes and never come out (I’m specifically talking to you about that last one, Tré), but I’ve also heard stories about fans breaking their knee by falling down a flight of stairs at a venue right before the show and them coming out to say how sorry they were that the fan was missing the show that night (I’m specifically talking to you about that one, too, Tré).
I’ve seen them nurture young and old performers night after night by bringing them onstage, unknowns when they got up there and unknowns after they left, but superstars for their time in the limelight. I’ve seen their kids dancing in the pit and their wives hanging around like real people. They’ve even gotten to the point in life where Billie has such an enthusiastic happiness, and is obviously a gigantic family-oriented man, where he can pull his sister onstage (as happened in either Seattle or Vancouver, at the beginning of the tour) and make his mom walk down from her seat in order to excitedly (the first time ever, I think) introduce her to a crowd of thousands (see below). These are rare moments for any fan to experience, and Green Day wants to share a good portion of their lives with you.
Green Day with Mrs. Ollie Armstrong, Salt Lake City, Utah
In the middle of the show that I went to in San Antonio, Billie was standing at the end of the catwalk when he looked down and saw a fan who had been in the same area for the previous four shows, including San Antonio. He looked her in the eyes and said, “I remember you, you were at the show last night.” She replied that she had been at three other shows and this was her last one. He looked at her tattoo and said, “Oh wow, you have my name tattooed on you,” and when he said it, you could hear a humbleness and an awe in his voice that is rare among non-famous people and seldom heard in action from famous ones. And in Kansas, when he usually breaks out into Storytimes about fighting an asshole or pissing in the closet at the start of “Before the Lobotomy,” he took a moment to tell a fan how beautiful she was:
Billie Joe Takes the Time to Tell a Fan How Beautiful She Is, Kansas City, Missouri
Green Day fans get a lot of crap for being Green Day fans. We tend to talk about them too much because we are excited to see them touring again or we want to share a song or a lyric and nobody but another diehard fan gets it. In a UK Absolute Radio interview with the band from earlier in the year, questions (and quite a few good ones) were provided by members of the Green Day Community, including one questioner who asked if Green Day understood the influence that they had over their fans, going on to state that they were “the most influential strangers in her life,” which Mike, rightfully and funnily, said was “totally awesome and super creepy at the same time.” We struggle, like Kelsey, a guest essayist at nothingwrongwithme.com, to put into words how much they mean to us, and tend to isolate within Green Day-only fan club sites because there are few places in the “outside world” to share about them. We have to put up with stupid remarks about selling out or how they were never punk or how they used punk to get where they are today. Few of these purist jerks acknowledge that Green Day is one of the hardest working bands out there and that they have consistently kept their ticket prices low ($49.50 for the highest ticket without fees as compared for $140 for a Madonna show). As a case in point, throughout the predominately glowing reviews that the band has gotten during their U.S. tour (I’ve only seen one negative one and the author was a bit too hipsterish for my taste), there is usually one or more commentators who would like to tell everyone how much Green Day blows. (For example, see the first comment from the Salt Lake City review here.)
To paraphrase from “Jesus of Suburbia,” we don’t care what anyone says bad about Green Day. Fans know that Green Day, after 22 years on the music scene and 16 years of fame, is different from other bands. Yes, we might have our gripes about setlists or dropping songs from shows unexpectedly or wishing that they sounded like Dookie again or being horrified that American Idiot is going to be a musical (not me, but some are horrified), but all in all, you know, we know them and they know us. Ya know? And that’s what makes them different from other bands and musicians out there right now. They want to share life with us to a point and understand that they wouldn’t be where they are without us and we wouldn’t know ourselves better without them. It’s a win-win synergy for fan and band alike.
Green Day Mind 