I probably should be writing about Green Day’s tour in South America, but I’m still digesting what’s happening down yonder. The end-of-the-tour shows have been massive celebrations (as BJ said recently in a Brazilian press conference, “this is not a parting, this is a fucking celebration”), as folks in Venezuela, Colombia and so far, two shows in Brazil, have seen crowds that are completely one with the band during the shows. I’ve been lucky over the last year to go to fourteen Green Day shows (plus one Pinhead Gunpowder and two Foxboro Hot Tubs gigs), but I have yet to see a live Green Day show like what I’ve seen via video from South America. In fact, Green Day tweeted out after Porto Alegre in Brazil that the show was in their “top 3 craziest shows” ever. Over a 22-year career like Green Day’s, I’m sure that’s a pretty tall order. Good on ya, Brazil. Keep knocking the boys out, tell ’em how much we love ’em.
Billie Joe Armstrong Gibson Harmony Hollow Body - Photo via Green Day Twitter
Billie Joe Armstrong recently tweeted out a photo with the sentence, “I love this thing.” What was that thing? A beautiful Gibson Harmony Hollow Body guitar. While fans are talking about how his steady guitar “Blue” has recently changed since he has a lot of replicas of his original guitar (there is a marked difference in the Blues from the end of the North American tour and the start of the South American tour), I’ve been fascinated with Armstrong’s use of the hollow bodies. I don’t remember seeing him use this type of guitar during any of the shows that I was lucky enough to attend until the most recent Hartford, CT gig. My friend Jill and I talked about it, and we seem to be the only two out there doing so while everyone else focuses on “Blue.” I don’t blame them for that at all, but I can’t help but wonder if the future of Green Day’s musical direction lies in the hollow body sound, which offers a bit more controlled rawness and reminds me of a Foxboro sound. I am not going to pretend that I’m an expert in guitars because I’m not. I read somewhere on one of the forums exactly what kind of year and make this Gibson Harmony is, but I can’t find it now. If you have any info about the guitar or anything else regarding these types of guitars and Green Day, just shoot it in the comments, why don’t you?
Billie Joe Armstrong Hollow Body - Photo by xGeneralxS
I think that Jason White plays a hollow body on the tour and they use them in the studio, but like I said, I don’t remember Billie Joe using them onstage himself until the start of the second leg of the North American tour, where he played two of them, I believe the one that he tweeted about as well as a second one, pictured on the left from the Hartford show.
Below are two videos of BJ playing each one.
“Minority” Solo on Hollow Body – Green Day, Hartford, CT – YourBestShotMedia
“Minority” With Gibson Harmony Hollow Body at 2:15- Green Day, Porto Alegre, Brazil – rafazce
In a recent press conference interview in Venezuela, Green Day was asked a question regarding why they do side project work such as the Foxboro Hot Tubs. Billie Joe replied: “We just like to do different things, we like to change identities… to make things funner and more interesting, like the band, the Foxboro Hot Tubs… because you need a release from doing a project like 21st Century Breakdown. But what I would like to do in the future is to try to combine both, where Green Day is like… the big project, but also something that’s really fun and has that sorta-party-sorta atmosphere and that celebratory atmosphere at the same time.”
Since I heard Billie Joe say that in Venezuela, I’ve been trying to ponder out exactly what that means. I guess the bottom line is that we’ll know what when they tell us. I’m not sure if the Foxboro Hot Tubs album, Stop, Drop, and Roll used hollow bodies in its production, but these guitars certainly lend themselves well to that garage, celebratory sound, and I can’t help but wonder if a future Green Day album will sound like the Foxboro Hot Tubs or vice-versa. Both Mike Dirnt in a recent interview in Colombia and the above-mentioned Billie Joe interview in Venezuela, said that the band already has a bunch of songs written for a potential new album. Whether that’s both a new Green Day and a new Foxboro album, who knows? After American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, both massive albums with a concept-focus, and the raw plunk of the Foxboro Hot Tubs’ Stop, Drop, and Roll, the only thing I know is that I’m fascinated by the future sound paths of both Green Day and the Foxboro Hot Tubs, whatever those futures hold.
For more information on Gibson’s Hollow Body guitars, here’s some links of interest:
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!
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
Tré Cool’s drumming is magical. He beats out a rhythm like a possessed shaman calling daemons and spirits into the arena of play. He’s got a touch of madness, too, and let’s face it, every great drummer has a touch of the mad.
I really wanted to hear Tré sing and play the guitar on “Dominated Love Slave” at least once during the four times that I saw the band this summer. Alas and alack, I believe he graced the stage with DLS only twice, once in Hartford (as I’ve said before, I should have gone to Hartford as well as Albany), and Nashville. At San Antonio, I made a sign that I folded into my pocket with the phrase, “Who the Fuck is Tré Cool? Dominated Love Slave, That’s Who!” LOL. No opportunity afforded itself for me to pull the sign out, and San Antonio was the tamest of the four shows that I attended. While the show itself was great as usual, there where no signs and no real wild moments at this show, except for Sara’s “Longview” performance and stagedive, unlike the many crazy little moments that constantly happened at Albany and the two MSGs.
Since this was my last opportunity to see Tré do this song (unless something changes when I see them in England in October), I was a bit sad that I missed the opportunity to see him come from behind his drums and wow us in the audience with a song about the sexual joys of staples and beltsanders. Oh well.
Anyway, after one of the shows on the West Coast, Tré surprised a bunch of fans near the tour buses and serenaded them with “Like a Rat Does Cheese,” a song rarely performed in polite society. That’s why you must watch it many times. LOL. This has already been around the Internet at a number of sites, but it’s well worth seeing a few hundred times.
Tré Cools Sings “Like a Rat Does Cheese.”
Tré Cool Sings “Dominated Love Slave.” – Hartford, 2009
I became a member of the Idiot Club long after the seats to the NYC secret shows had already come and gone. I missed the first round of pre-sales, mostly because I felt like a schmuck being a johnny-come-lately. But when, after a few months as a member ($20 mostly well-spent), Green Day made an additional batch of tickets available through the fan club for Hartford, Albany, and the second MSG, I had some thinking to do. Which of these shows would I go to? The second MSG was a given, and in fact, I already had my ticket to Albany. My real dilemma: whether to add to the three shows I was already lucky enough to attend the XL Center Hartford show on Friday, July 24. I decided against it as I was already pushing my luck.
From reading fans on the Internet, I had a feeling that this show would have an extra special something just by the enthusiasm of the crowd. These guys were die-hard, hardcore fans and the great majority of them that ended up in GA that night knew Green Day from at least back to the 18-year old album, 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours. From the setlist (posted below) to the few videos out there of the show, this one seems to have had something extra special: “Welcome to Paradise” (Kerplunk!/Dookie), “Dominated Love Slave” (Kerplunk!), “Only of You” (1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours), “Christie Road” (Kerplunk!), and most especially, to me, Dookie’s, “F.O.D.” (Fuck Off and Die). This song was completely spurred by a demand from the audience, and in this video, the chant “F.O.D.,” “F.O.D.” makes a strong case for playing it. The video of it gets me excited and makes me laugh at the same time.
As recorded, the song starts out rather quietly and timid, and in the middle, breaks out into dance havoc. This video perfectly captures the 180 degree turn that this song makes during its progression. Billie and the band get so into it toward the end, that Billie almost… almost… attempts a Pete Townsend whirlwind guitar arm.
Ah yes, I’ve been lucky so far this tour, but I will always regret not getting my ass to Hartford.
Setlist:*
1. 21st Century Breakdown
2. Know Your Enemy
3. East Jesus Nowhere
4. Holiday
5. Static Age
6. Hitchin’ A Ride
7. Welcome to Paradise
8. Dominated Love Slave
9. Only of You
10. Christie Road
11. F.O.D
12. Brainstew
13. Jaded
14. Longview
15. Basketcase
16. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
17. She
18. King For a Day
19. Shout
20. American Eulogy
21. American Idiot
22. Jesus of Suburbia
23. Minority
24. Last Night On Earth
25. Good Riddance
Green Day Mind 