(no subject)
Fuckin’ Crockett.
So, do you like Green Day? I love Green Day. I’ve enjoyed just about everything I’ve heard from them. I think Billy Joe has that uncanny ability that certain songwriters possess that everything they write may not be the best piece of music ever, but always catchy, and always pretty good. He’s in the same league as Paul McCartney, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty in my opinion. Only he’s of my generation, so when I had the opportunity to see them live the other evening in a small venue in the small California town of Crockett, I was pretty excited.
To be fair, it wasn’t exactly Green Day. It was The Foxboro Hot Tubs, which is a small side project of Green Day. The same kind of music, but it was the Green Day guys just posing as an alter ego band with two additional members. They were to be playing at Toot’s Tavern in downtown Crockett at 8:00 pm. There weren’t any real tickets to go on sale, just cash at the door, whenever they felt like opening the venue that day. Lesley got off work early in Richmond, just so she could get in line for us. When I got off work, I was to drive to meet her in line or inside, however it worked out. Now, we live in Sacramento. Les works in Richmond and I in Walnut Grove. If you’re familiar with California geography, none of this shit is close, so it wasn’t exactly convenient for us to see this show, but what a chance to see the members of Green Day doing there thing in a bar that holds about 200 people.
So there’s the background. It’s Friday afternoon, and Lesley gets in line outside of Toot’s about 4:30 pm, or about 45 minutes after leaving work early. I’m still at Giusti’s. It’s about 100 degrees outside. About 6:00 pm I leave Walnut Grove for the one hour drive to Crockett with a box of fried chicken for us to eat in line waiting for the doors to open.
I finally pull into this small East Bay village that’s located just under the Martinez bridge overlooking the water behind the C & H sugar factory. Crockett looks like one of those towns that time forgot. Old buildings, hills, low rent with a bar for every ten residents and a few art galleries due to low rents. Cute town if you’re just driving through. I’d never been there before. It took about ten seconds after rolling into town to see the commotion. Toot’s had a line around the block, and I thought I’d never find parking. But as luck would have it, there was a spot right in front of a bar around the corner from Toot’s. I felt blessed as neighbors were selling parking for $10 in their driveways around town. As I was walking up I saw Lesley standing with Kevin and Michelle. Michelle is a friend from her work, and Kevin is her beau. They were about 100 or so people from the front door in line, so I felt pretty confident we’d get in. I’d say in general there were about three hundred people in line when I walked up. There were also about 20 Contra County Sheriff patrolmen and women standing around the block. It seemed almost ridiculous to see so many cops for what amounted to such a rather small crowd. I figured that they weren’t sure how many people would show up for The Foxboro Hot Tubs shows since it’s really a Green Day concert, and Green Day has played shows for crowds that are double the population of Crockett. So they needed to be prepared. Nonetheless, everyone in line had a pretty good time laughing about the seemingly unnecessary police personnel standing ready to put any evildoers down. The vibe while waiting in line seemed for the most part positive. There was a hot dog vender working the line selling sodas, bottled water, and wouldn’t you know it, hot dogs. There was also a pizza place across the way serving anxious Green Day fans and police alike. It was a mixed crowd, but pretty much what one would expect. Mostly people in their twenties with a few thirtysomethings (like myself) in line. A lot of tattoos and piercings and dyed hair, but a lot of people who enjoy the music but can’t commit to the fashion scene as well. There was a guy who was from one of the opening acts walking around with a haircut that was shaved bald on top in the style of say a 48 year old tax accountant, but his remaining hair was dyed pink on one side and black on the other. He was wearing hot pink sweats and over sized sun glasses and looked every part the guy in an alternative rock band. Let's say he looked like a modern, punk version of the Seventies Elton John.
Suddenly, a couple of cops rolled buy on camouflaged four wheeled ATVs and big helmets. Rather than being the slightest intimidated by that, the crowd just cheered for the coppers as they drove by eliciting an embarrassed grin from both of them. Like a said, what a positive vibe the atmosphere had.
To be continued.