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

There’s your black and white, and now to the pink: Billie and his boa. I posted a while ago about a red hot boa brought to Billie by Teenage Lush. It was a rich, deep red and well, Billie looks good in red.

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.

Ah, Vegas.