Green Day has been around for several years, but didn't really make it into the mainstream until 1994. I tried to resist, but the catchiness (and truthfulness) of "Longview" was just too persuasive. From then on, "Dookie" became a staple in my CD player (and it still is today). I was kinda worried when "Insomniac" didn't live up to expectations. Even more so when "Nimrod" and "Warning" pretty much reeked. Then, when Green Day released a greatest hits compilation, which is pretty much a tombstone for a punk band, I had all but dismissed them entirely.
Then, "American Idiot" came out.
Green Day got political and reminded us they still have the spunkiness of "Kerplunk" and the fun of "Dookie." They played the Delta Center in SLC last night, and Caleb and I had tickets on the floor.
But first thing's first. Jimmy Eat World opened. They were energetic, and they sounded good, too. Their music is tuneful and fun to sing along with. They played songs from their two most recent albums, which are probably their best. My only complaint is they only played for 30 minutes. Seven songs and they were done. A little disappointing.
After that, there was a brief set change, and then a guy in a big pink bunny outfit came out and flirted with everyone for a few minutes. I guess this was their way of telling us the show was going to be interesting, to say the least.
Then the whole place went dark, and Billie Joe, Mike, and Tre exploded onto the stage, launching into "American Idiot," with plenty of lights and fire to spare. The set started out primarily with tracks from the "American Idiot" album, and at first, I thought they were going to play the album in its entirety. I've heard what a great show Green Day puts on, and they definitely lived up to my expectations. They worked the crowd amazingly well, and they were heavy on the pyrotechnics.
You can see in this picture how close we were to the stage. I'm not one to hog space, so after I got a few pictures, I backed off a bit to let other people touch Billie Joe. Yeah, I'm just that considerate.
In the middle of their set, Billie Joe pulled up three random kids out of the crowd to play the band's instrumments, one of which was a female. He gave the girl his guitar and told her what chords to play, and she played just fine. The three of them performed like their own punk band. After the song, he gave the girl his guitar, and told the bassist to do a big stage dive. It was great.
Since Caleb and I were on the floor in a sea of people, we did what most normal people do at rock concerts - crowd surf. Well, apparently, at the fascist venue of the Delta Center, that's not acceptable behavior. I was wrestled to the floor by a big security guard and told that I would be thrown out if I did it again and to "stay the fuck off people." Oh, well. Every party needs a pooper, right?
Since Green Day have become so radio-friendly, it was understandable that there were lots of teeny-boppers there, and I can handle that. It's annoying, but I'll live. What surprised me were the amount of less-than-ten-year-olds there. Come on, parents! At least provide them with ear plugs!
Anyway, Green Day played for over two hours, which is impressive considering how hyper they were. And if a person can sing punk songs for that long, that means they've got some serious vocal chords. And they sounded GOOD, too, which is rare in punk shows. So, overall, this was definitely one of the most purely fun shows I've seen, and it was great to rock out with Caleb, too. If you get a chance to see Green Day, do it, but don't forget your ear plugs!
1 comment:
thanks! you rock currt-dawg!
Post a Comment