Epic post for an epic show
The following is a rambling review of the Green Day show Cassie and I saw last night.
Last time we saw a show at the Comcast Center, we were stuck in traffic and miss almost all of the opening bands. Bleh. This time, we left at 4:00 for the 7:00 show, arriving in the parking lot around 5:00. We had seats, not GA tickets, so we went to a pizza pub for dinner and returned to the show at 6:50. While in line to enter, we heard Davey Havok's voice soaring over the confines of the venue, and we realized that AFI had started their set *really* early. Cassie and I were both mortified. We had done so well!
So we caught the last half of their set, and all I can say is... poor them. They are so good live. The combination of a near empty venue (which makes sense since the show wasn't supposed to start until what ended up as the halfway point of their set) and a crowd that came to see Green Day and not them, resulted in the band playing to a sea of blank faces and drunken insults. I really felt bad for them. Luckily, by the end of the set, when they played "Miss Murder" and "Love Like Winter," the crowd had assembled and there was some good applause when they finished. Makes you wonder how the crowd would have liked them had they, you know, seen the whole set.
Now onto Green Day.
Before the show I did a little research on the tour. I saw the first leg of it last year at the Garden, which was a great show with a very mediocre opening band (The Bravery). I have never been a fan of shows in sports arenas. They just. don't. work. Standing in front of your "seat" (a folding chair on the basketball court), unable to see a thing due to the lack of an incline in the floor, watching the show on a jumbotron as opposed to on a stage, hearing the sound echo randomly about the acoustically challenged walls.... *sigh*
So I was excited for this one. It's the Comcast Center. The last show I saw there was the Blink 182 reunion tour, which was amazing to say the least. This would be the biggest show I'd seen Green Day perform (...in person. I don't count Milton Keynes), so I was ready for a spectacle.
My research showed that they had returned from the European leg of the tour and had done a show in NJ two days prior to ours. There they played a *30 song setlist* followed by 2 encores, totaling 35 songs. Freaking epic. I'll post a link to that setlist here for comparison. What I would like to note about this setlist is the following: There are 3 pre-Dookie songs billed, including "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?", a song from my favorite album, Kerplunk, which was performed this time featuring Davey Havok. I just squee-ed a little. Also of note, they played "When I Come Around." Of all the times I've seen Green Day perform, they never play this song. Ever. They hate the song. The record company forced them to add it to Dookie as a safe single to make it to pop radio. It confused me to see them compromise their principles like that, performing that song despite their hatred for it. But maybe this isn't them selling out. After seeing the show I did last night... it became clear that they have reached a level of appreciation for their fans that allows them to play to the crowd, even the unwashed masses that only know the radio singles, without seeming douchey about it.
OK, so here we go. The pink bunny is drinking heavily and stumbling through the YMCA. The Ramones blare on the speakers as the teenyboppers pretend to know who The Ramones are.
Aaand the show:
1. Song of the Century
2. 21st Century Breakdown
3. Know Your Enemy
4. East Jesus Nowhere
5. Holiday
6. ¡Viva la Gloria!
7. Give me Novocaine
8. Letterbomb
9. Are We the Waiting
10. St. Jimmy
11. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
12. Scattered/Dancing with Myself (cover)
13. One for the Razorbacks
14. 2,000 Lightyears Away
15. Hitchin' a Ride
16. When I Come Around
17. J.A.R.
18. Iron Man/Sweet Child of Mine/Highway to Hell
19. Brain Stew
20. Jaded
21. Longview
22. Basketcase
23. She
24. King for a Day/Yackety Sax/Shout/Break on Through (to the Other Side)/Sweet Emotion/Satisfaction/Hey Jude
25. 21 Guns
26. Minority
Encore
American Idiot
Jesus of Suburbia
Last Night on Earth
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
As you can see, the first 11 songs are from American Idiot onward. With some obvious exceptions you will find later in the encore, the first part of the set felt: 1. Just like the first leg of the tour, and 2. Like a plug for the musical. The combination of showmanship, energy, and an amazing set behind them led to this feeling less tiresome than one might expect. It helped of course that tens of thousands of people were extremely into it. The drunk frat boys behind us immediately started slurred chants of "Play something old school!" for the first half an hour. Of course, when Billie Joe strapped on his replica of Blue it appeared that the frat boys would get what they want. And they did. Billie Joe asked the crowd if there were any old school fans in the crowd. The teenyboppers went wild. I was about to say something snarky about how they weren't born yet when Nimrod was released, but I can't really say much, as my favorite album was released 4 days before my 4th birthday. They proceeded to play "Scattered," from the Nimrod album, which I have always regarded as my least favorite Green Day song.
*Insert rant about how Nimrod was their 5th full length album and therefore should never be referred to as "old school."*
Before the concert, Cassie and I were discussing favorite/least favorite Green Day songs and albums. We both agreed that there really isn't a "bad" Green Day album. We agreed on this after she pointed out the merits of Warning to me and I reminded her that "Suffocate" was released in the US on Shenenigans, not Nimrod. Anyway, I was telling her that, as a rather obsessed Green Day fan, my favorite songs change periodically. First, it was "Basketcase." In middle school, "Brain Stew." In high school, "Holiday." Lately I've reverted back, and for the past few months now I've been obsessed with "One for the Razorbacks." If you haven't ever heard this song, you should. It's great. It's before they sang about religion, before they sang about Bush, before the kids, the drugs, and the teen angst. This was when they still sang about girls. And not allegorical ones.
So, after my least favorite Green Day song, they played my favorite. I almost squee-ed myself right out of the theater. Unfortunately, at this point in the show, Billie Joe invited the kids in the pit to join him on stage. This was amusing for a number of reasons.
1. Most Green Day fans who get GA tickets nowadays are overweight teenage girls.
2. No one on stage knew "One for the Razorbacks."
3. Poor Jason White was standing in the corner while every other band member was swarmed by hormonal teenagers.
This seems an appropriate time to discuss my feelings about audience participation at these kinds of shows. It sucks. I hate it. Make it stop.
I understand that, for the kids who get to come up on stage, it's awesome. It really is. But for the rest of us... for the love of all that is holy, make it stop.
Here is how they used audience participation in this show: They "sacrificed a virgin" during "East Jesus Nowhere," they had a *horrifying* fat chick bleat out "Are We the Waiting," and they gave a free guitar to a crazy green man who messed up the verses of "Longview." Eh, whatever.
After no one on stage knew the lyrics to "2,000 Lightyears Away," and the drunken "old school" frat boys realized they weren't so "old school" after all *insert rant about stupid fans who think that Dookie is the band's first album*, the stage crew ushered off the mob of teenyboppers and the show went on as usual. Songs 15-23 covered a range from Dookie to International Superhits. At this point in the show, right around the spontaneous medley of randomness in the middle, Billie Joe started ranting about how this was a huge show, we paid a good amount of money to see it, and that they were going to perform "all fucking night." He claimed to have lost his mind and that no one would be able to stop him. Hm. This is suspicious. Here's a guy with a wife and kids, a parade of former drug addictions, and 22 years of being an international star under his belt... ...telling us he's not even close to done after 17 songs. I suspect there might have been more than enough coke in the tour bus. The guy was bouncing around on the stage like a madman. Right after touring in Europe. Right after performing 35 songs in Jersey. I'm both horrified and impressed by this point.
And here comes the customary "King For a Day" medley. You've got Billie Joe wearing a chicken hat and a feather boa, Mike Dirnt with cat ears and Lady Gaga glasses, Jason White with a pirate hat, Jason Freese with a giant balloon hat, and, last but most certainly not least, Tre Cool with a giant floppy straw hat, old lady glasses, a bra, and a boa. They proceed to play the wonderful drag anthem that is "King for a Day" while a rainbow colored Green Day logo appears above them. The song breaks into "Yackety Sax" as Jason Freese shows off a bit, and then "Shout" begins. Each band member (except for Jason White and his eternal shyness) took a turn at vocals while Billie Joe took over the other instruments. It was highly entertaining. Turns out Billie Joe can drum, but he can't play saxophone to save his life. As per usual, the song disintegrated into a medley of the most random songs imaginable, including "Hey Jude."
The show finished with "21 Guns" and "Minority" (their customary closer), and all the way through to the end, the entire crowd, even the cheap seats, was on its feet with arms in the air. It looked really amazing. There were even more *actual lighters* in the air than cell phones, which is good to see.
Of course the encore began with "American Idiot" and the epic journey that is "Jesus of Suburbia." It closed with the ballads, "Last Night on Earth," "Wake Me Up When September Ends," and of course "Good Riddance." All three of these start with Billie Joe solo on acoustic. The first two end with the rest of the band. It was quite amusing watching them sneak on and off the stage behind Billie Joe during the first parts of the songs.
It was a strange show, to say the least. I had seen this band many times, in 4 states, in clubs, stadiums, arenas, amphitheaters and festivals. I didn't know they had a show like this left in them. After the past 6 years, in the post-American Idiot era of their career, I thought they were on autopilot. Last year, they were. The Garden was a good show, but it didn't seem... like them. This show was all Green Day. They were having a blast, the crowd was having a blast, and I was having a blast. I'm really glad to see that they still have it in them to put on a show like that, a show that caters to every demographic of their fans, from the Dookie-head frat boys, to the American Idiot generation of teenyboppers, to those of us who are familiar with an EP called 39/Smooth.
Summary of my feelings on the setlist as a whole:
Songs I was surprised they didn't play:
Last of the American Girls
Welcome to Paradise
When It's Time
Extraordinary Girl
Nice Guys Finish Last
Before the Lobotomy
Songs I wish they hadn't played:
Scattered
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Know Your Enemy
Songs I was hoping they would play and didn't:
Who Wrote Holden Caulfield? (featuring Davey Havok)
Macy's Day Parade
Songs I would have never expected but happened anyway:
When I Come Around
One for the Razorbacks
J.A.R.
Last time we saw a show at the Comcast Center, we were stuck in traffic and miss almost all of the opening bands. Bleh. This time, we left at 4:00 for the 7:00 show, arriving in the parking lot around 5:00. We had seats, not GA tickets, so we went to a pizza pub for dinner and returned to the show at 6:50. While in line to enter, we heard Davey Havok's voice soaring over the confines of the venue, and we realized that AFI had started their set *really* early. Cassie and I were both mortified. We had done so well!
So we caught the last half of their set, and all I can say is... poor them. They are so good live. The combination of a near empty venue (which makes sense since the show wasn't supposed to start until what ended up as the halfway point of their set) and a crowd that came to see Green Day and not them, resulted in the band playing to a sea of blank faces and drunken insults. I really felt bad for them. Luckily, by the end of the set, when they played "Miss Murder" and "Love Like Winter," the crowd had assembled and there was some good applause when they finished. Makes you wonder how the crowd would have liked them had they, you know, seen the whole set.
Now onto Green Day.
Before the show I did a little research on the tour. I saw the first leg of it last year at the Garden, which was a great show with a very mediocre opening band (The Bravery). I have never been a fan of shows in sports arenas. They just. don't. work. Standing in front of your "seat" (a folding chair on the basketball court), unable to see a thing due to the lack of an incline in the floor, watching the show on a jumbotron as opposed to on a stage, hearing the sound echo randomly about the acoustically challenged walls.... *sigh*
So I was excited for this one. It's the Comcast Center. The last show I saw there was the Blink 182 reunion tour, which was amazing to say the least. This would be the biggest show I'd seen Green Day perform (...in person. I don't count Milton Keynes), so I was ready for a spectacle.
My research showed that they had returned from the European leg of the tour and had done a show in NJ two days prior to ours. There they played a *30 song setlist* followed by 2 encores, totaling 35 songs. Freaking epic. I'll post a link to that setlist here for comparison. What I would like to note about this setlist is the following: There are 3 pre-Dookie songs billed, including "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?", a song from my favorite album, Kerplunk, which was performed this time featuring Davey Havok. I just squee-ed a little. Also of note, they played "When I Come Around." Of all the times I've seen Green Day perform, they never play this song. Ever. They hate the song. The record company forced them to add it to Dookie as a safe single to make it to pop radio. It confused me to see them compromise their principles like that, performing that song despite their hatred for it. But maybe this isn't them selling out. After seeing the show I did last night... it became clear that they have reached a level of appreciation for their fans that allows them to play to the crowd, even the unwashed masses that only know the radio singles, without seeming douchey about it.
OK, so here we go. The pink bunny is drinking heavily and stumbling through the YMCA. The Ramones blare on the speakers as the teenyboppers pretend to know who The Ramones are.
Aaand the show:
1. Song of the Century
2. 21st Century Breakdown
3. Know Your Enemy
4. East Jesus Nowhere
5. Holiday
6. ¡Viva la Gloria!
7. Give me Novocaine
8. Letterbomb
9. Are We the Waiting
10. St. Jimmy
11. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
12. Scattered/Dancing with Myself (cover)
13. One for the Razorbacks
14. 2,000 Lightyears Away
15. Hitchin' a Ride
16. When I Come Around
17. J.A.R.
18. Iron Man/Sweet Child of Mine/Highway to Hell
19. Brain Stew
20. Jaded
21. Longview
22. Basketcase
23. She
24. King for a Day/Yackety Sax/Shout/Break on Through (to the Other Side)/Sweet Emotion/Satisfaction/Hey Jude
25. 21 Guns
26. Minority
Encore
American Idiot
Jesus of Suburbia
Last Night on Earth
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
As you can see, the first 11 songs are from American Idiot onward. With some obvious exceptions you will find later in the encore, the first part of the set felt: 1. Just like the first leg of the tour, and 2. Like a plug for the musical. The combination of showmanship, energy, and an amazing set behind them led to this feeling less tiresome than one might expect. It helped of course that tens of thousands of people were extremely into it. The drunk frat boys behind us immediately started slurred chants of "Play something old school!" for the first half an hour. Of course, when Billie Joe strapped on his replica of Blue it appeared that the frat boys would get what they want. And they did. Billie Joe asked the crowd if there were any old school fans in the crowd. The teenyboppers went wild. I was about to say something snarky about how they weren't born yet when Nimrod was released, but I can't really say much, as my favorite album was released 4 days before my 4th birthday. They proceeded to play "Scattered," from the Nimrod album, which I have always regarded as my least favorite Green Day song.
*Insert rant about how Nimrod was their 5th full length album and therefore should never be referred to as "old school."*
Before the concert, Cassie and I were discussing favorite/least favorite Green Day songs and albums. We both agreed that there really isn't a "bad" Green Day album. We agreed on this after she pointed out the merits of Warning to me and I reminded her that "Suffocate" was released in the US on Shenenigans, not Nimrod. Anyway, I was telling her that, as a rather obsessed Green Day fan, my favorite songs change periodically. First, it was "Basketcase." In middle school, "Brain Stew." In high school, "Holiday." Lately I've reverted back, and for the past few months now I've been obsessed with "One for the Razorbacks." If you haven't ever heard this song, you should. It's great. It's before they sang about religion, before they sang about Bush, before the kids, the drugs, and the teen angst. This was when they still sang about girls. And not allegorical ones.
So, after my least favorite Green Day song, they played my favorite. I almost squee-ed myself right out of the theater. Unfortunately, at this point in the show, Billie Joe invited the kids in the pit to join him on stage. This was amusing for a number of reasons.
1. Most Green Day fans who get GA tickets nowadays are overweight teenage girls.
2. No one on stage knew "One for the Razorbacks."
3. Poor Jason White was standing in the corner while every other band member was swarmed by hormonal teenagers.
This seems an appropriate time to discuss my feelings about audience participation at these kinds of shows. It sucks. I hate it. Make it stop.
I understand that, for the kids who get to come up on stage, it's awesome. It really is. But for the rest of us... for the love of all that is holy, make it stop.
Here is how they used audience participation in this show: They "sacrificed a virgin" during "East Jesus Nowhere," they had a *horrifying* fat chick bleat out "Are We the Waiting," and they gave a free guitar to a crazy green man who messed up the verses of "Longview." Eh, whatever.
After no one on stage knew the lyrics to "2,000 Lightyears Away," and the drunken "old school" frat boys realized they weren't so "old school" after all *insert rant about stupid fans who think that Dookie is the band's first album*, the stage crew ushered off the mob of teenyboppers and the show went on as usual. Songs 15-23 covered a range from Dookie to International Superhits. At this point in the show, right around the spontaneous medley of randomness in the middle, Billie Joe started ranting about how this was a huge show, we paid a good amount of money to see it, and that they were going to perform "all fucking night." He claimed to have lost his mind and that no one would be able to stop him. Hm. This is suspicious. Here's a guy with a wife and kids, a parade of former drug addictions, and 22 years of being an international star under his belt... ...telling us he's not even close to done after 17 songs. I suspect there might have been more than enough coke in the tour bus. The guy was bouncing around on the stage like a madman. Right after touring in Europe. Right after performing 35 songs in Jersey. I'm both horrified and impressed by this point.
And here comes the customary "King For a Day" medley. You've got Billie Joe wearing a chicken hat and a feather boa, Mike Dirnt with cat ears and Lady Gaga glasses, Jason White with a pirate hat, Jason Freese with a giant balloon hat, and, last but most certainly not least, Tre Cool with a giant floppy straw hat, old lady glasses, a bra, and a boa. They proceed to play the wonderful drag anthem that is "King for a Day" while a rainbow colored Green Day logo appears above them. The song breaks into "Yackety Sax" as Jason Freese shows off a bit, and then "Shout" begins. Each band member (except for Jason White and his eternal shyness) took a turn at vocals while Billie Joe took over the other instruments. It was highly entertaining. Turns out Billie Joe can drum, but he can't play saxophone to save his life. As per usual, the song disintegrated into a medley of the most random songs imaginable, including "Hey Jude."
The show finished with "21 Guns" and "Minority" (their customary closer), and all the way through to the end, the entire crowd, even the cheap seats, was on its feet with arms in the air. It looked really amazing. There were even more *actual lighters* in the air than cell phones, which is good to see.
Of course the encore began with "American Idiot" and the epic journey that is "Jesus of Suburbia." It closed with the ballads, "Last Night on Earth," "Wake Me Up When September Ends," and of course "Good Riddance." All three of these start with Billie Joe solo on acoustic. The first two end with the rest of the band. It was quite amusing watching them sneak on and off the stage behind Billie Joe during the first parts of the songs.
It was a strange show, to say the least. I had seen this band many times, in 4 states, in clubs, stadiums, arenas, amphitheaters and festivals. I didn't know they had a show like this left in them. After the past 6 years, in the post-American Idiot era of their career, I thought they were on autopilot. Last year, they were. The Garden was a good show, but it didn't seem... like them. This show was all Green Day. They were having a blast, the crowd was having a blast, and I was having a blast. I'm really glad to see that they still have it in them to put on a show like that, a show that caters to every demographic of their fans, from the Dookie-head frat boys, to the American Idiot generation of teenyboppers, to those of us who are familiar with an EP called 39/Smooth.
Summary of my feelings on the setlist as a whole:
Songs I was surprised they didn't play:
Last of the American Girls
Welcome to Paradise
When It's Time
Extraordinary Girl
Nice Guys Finish Last
Before the Lobotomy
Songs I wish they hadn't played:
Scattered
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Know Your Enemy
Songs I was hoping they would play and didn't:
Who Wrote Holden Caulfield? (featuring Davey Havok)
Macy's Day Parade
Songs I would have never expected but happened anyway:
When I Come Around
One for the Razorbacks
J.A.R.