Billie Joe and Adrienne, "Christian and Gloria," by Naomi Lir
Naomi Lir, a.k.a., BillieJoesEntourage, has created a nice “Christian and Gloria”-type wallpaper from a second photograph taken at the American Idiot opening, a reverse image of the one below of Adrienne and Billie, both of which show off Adrienne’s beautiful tattoos. You can download a large version of the above wallpaper here or by clicking on the image above. Check out more of Naomi’s work at her DeviantArt site as well.
I don’t post often about the wives or family members of Green Day. For one thing, the band is pretty private about their lives, and personally, it’s none of my business. I make an occasional exception for Adrienne Armstrong, however. From what I can tell, she is pretty neat and incredibly gorgeous, and it’s obvious that after 15 years of marriage, Billie and Adrienne are in love. And it’s a beautiful thing in this day and age of temporary rock star marriages.
People find this blog, according to my search engine stats, by looking for variations of “Adrienne and Billie” moreso than any other aspect of Green Day. I have only posted two photographs of them together, a really hot one of them for their anniversary this year (hey, what, it was published!), and the one below at American Idiot in Berkeley. These two posts are the most consistent photographs or subject that people stumble upon.
Adrienne and Billie Joe Armstrong, Premiere, Green Day's American Idiot at the Berkeley Rep.
Green Day's Pink Bunny Downs Some Brew in Torino (Turin), Italy - Photograph by Giulio Lapone
You know you are a Green Day fan when your friends send you stuff from their friends about Green Day. And I’m incredibly happy that it happens! Jon Pack, a great photographer (see Jon’s work here), knows I’m a fan because he sits two cubicles away from me at work and has to listen to me talk about Green Day all the time. So when his friend, another talented photographer from Italy sent him a link to Green Day photographs on Facebook, Jon then sent the link to me. Thank you, Jon!
Green Day in Torino by Giulio Lapone
Italian photographer Giulio Lapone, had the great fortune to see and shoot Green Day’s last European arena tour stop in Torino (Turin), Italy on November 12, 2009. Giulio took some nicely expressive shots of both Billie and Mike, as well as the Italian audience. You can view the entire set of photographs at Giulio’s Facebook page here. While his normal site isn’t quite working at the moment, you can still view his other work here. Thank you, Giulio, for giving me permission to post some of your images here.
And yes, Giulio, you ARE the best photographer in Italy!
What I love about these photos from Giulio is the quality of motion within the images. Just like an actual Green Day show, everything is moving, from the Pink Bunny to the sweat pouring from Billie’s face to Mike’s bass with the video fire behind him and the fan that is in complete emotional synergy while singing with Billie. They also show two-thirds of a band at the end of a brilliant and tiring European tour, where, though it’s obvious that they need a break from touring, it’s also obvious that they love to play.
Green Day has often said how they love Italy, and from Youtube videos of the last show on this European tour, Italy loves them, too!
Billie with Sweat in Torino (Turin), Italy - Photograph by Giulio Lapone, November 12, 2009
Mike with Star and Fire, Torino (Turin), Italy - Photograph by Giulio Lapone
Billie with Fan in Torino (Turin), Italy - Photograph by Giulio Lapone
Who let those Jokers in here? Green Day in Torino (Turin) - Photograph by Giulio Lapone
AARRGGHHH! - Shoot to Thrill photos by Ramsey Cardy
Ramsey Cardy from the Green Day Community shot a small set of great photographs from the show in Belfast. View the entire set on his website at Shoot to Thrill or click the pic. As usual, the Black and White one caught my eye the most, but the ones in color from his site are stunning. Great work, Ramsey!
Ah, Las Vegas. What happens there of course stays there, and this is one of the shows that I most wanted to go to. I’ve never been to Vegas, and what better way to be introduced to the city of lust and money than to see Green Day? I can’t think of any other reason to go to Vegas, actually. Alas, it was not meant to be. My current adventures ended in San Antonio, sadly.
While I wasn’t able to attend, I did read about the show a bit on the IC and GDC Boards. I won’t go into details, except for one. From what I gather, this show had a very lively soundcheck with some hardcore fans who flew in from around the country, including a girl named Lauren, who had already been to a few GD shows on the East Coast. I was happy to learn that Lauren, with her ever-present “Nimrod” cone hat and her Ernie hand puppets, was successful in her quest to get Billie to sing a few verses of the lost classic from Warning, “Misery.” They rarely do this song at shows; it’s long and Cabaret-like, but worthy of performance every once in awhile. Embrace your inner Broadway, boys, I mean, aren’t you doing a musical or something, I hear? LOL. Maybe the AI cast can prank you or something and forced you to do it live one day? Hmmm…
This was the second attempt at a soundcheck, if I am correct, where fans persuaded Billie to sing a bit of “Misery.” Problem is, Billie doesn’t remember the words, I mean, who does? 🙂 I don’t know if the first group provided lyrics, but Lauren smartly wrote them on a sign, with Billie finally relenting to sing a verse or two. With Lauren, I really don’t think he had any other choice, she was on a valiant mission and did not fail us. Bwahaha. She was also mentioned in a review as a “grown woman” spotted in the crowd with an Ernie doll. Lauren isn’t even out of her teens yet. You go girl!
On a side note, I’m trying not to think about ROCKTOBER, big time, but London is calling.
Back to Las Vegas, though. Ryan O. from a site newly created by fans at Flickr (Green Day Flickr Group), posted some lovely black and white images of the band taken at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. See some highlights below while the entire set can be viewed here. Be sure to check out his other band photographs from Mandalay Bay while your at it.
Billie in motion, as usual:
Billie in Motion - Green Day - Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas. Photo by Ryan O. from the Green Day Fan Flickr Group
Tré always keeps the beat:
Tré Cool Rules - Green Day - Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, 2009. Photo by Ryan O. from Green Day Flickr Group
Mike with my favorite of his basses, the black star on white with three hand-drawn XXX’s. They remind me of the city symbol of Amsterdam, one of my favorite places:
Mike and the Bass - Green Day - Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas. Photo by Ryan O. from the Green Day Fan Flickr Group
I was hoping that someone would give him a giant Vegas showgirl tiara with swooping feathers, LOL, but there was something better. Billie brought his own hot pink and fluffy boa, according to eyewitnesses. He done did good. From a Youtube video, however, he didn’t wear it for too long into the song. It may have been just a bit too fluffly!
I swear, he reminds me of Marlene Dietrich sometimes:
Hot Pink and Fluffy - Boa by Billie Joe Armstrong - Green Day - Las Vegas, 2009. Photo by Cheryl McCloskey.
Here’s a slightly “X-rated,” if you will, bit of “King for a Day.” I feel naughty just posting it. eek… it was LAS VEGAS, after all.
RT @fox5ny: BREAKING: #NYC Health Commissioner issues advisory urging all New Yorkers to wear a mask indoors as NYC approaches “high” level… 1 month ago
Green Day Mind 