October 21st was a very apt date to be seeing Green Day in concert for their 21st Century Breakdown album tour. Having been a fan since the release of Dookie and having never seen the band live this was one gig I was really looking forward too. I wasn’t to be disappointed in what was a 2.5 hour spectacular performance by the kings of punk.
After a bizarre few minutes of someone dressed as a pink bear dancing to YMCA at 8.03pm Green Day entered the stage to the sounds of ‘Song of the Century’ blaring out on the loud speakers. This was to be followed by the song ‘21st Century Breakdown’ and also ‘Know Your Enemy’ and ‘East Jesus Nowhere’. All songs from the new album, and following in the footsteps of U2 in opening a concert where all the opening songs are new! The fans however were very happy with this with loads of hands in the air and most people singing along. For the entire concert there was the most amazing backdrop behind the stage which had changing images throughout the gig. It began with the New York skyline and other images included war pictures, roads, skulls and much more!
After those first four songs from the new album it would have seemed logical to start singing some of the older stuff. We would have to wait a while longer for that however. Next up was ‘Holiday’ from ‘American Idiot’. In fact the first 10 songs were made up entirely of the last two studio albums. The last in this section is my personal favourite Green Day song, ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. There was an amazing image in the back ground of the New York skyline with clouds billowing overhead during the song. During the song I found it very poignant when Billie Joe Armstrong walked from one side of the stage to the other while singing the lyrics ‘I walk a lonely road....’
Just after this Armstrong screamed ‘Are there any oldskool Green Day fans here?’ This caused the crowd to go wild screaming in delight as the band launched into what would be the oldest song of the night, ‘2000 light years away’. This middle set was made up of songs from the albums ‘Kerplunk’, ‘Nimrod’, ‘Dookie’ and ‘Insomniac’. Some fan favourites including the legendary ‘Basket Case’ were all well received while we were transported back to our teenage years and where the newer fans could appreciate the music that made this band the band it is today. There was also melodies of ‘Ironman/The Boys are back in Town’ and ‘Shout/Saints are Coming/Teenage Kicks/Shout’. Along with their own songs these were also well received.
The encore saw a return to songs from ‘21st Century Breakdown’ and ‘American idiot’. After performing the song ‘American Idiot’ to an excellent backdrop of a screen filled with loads of televisions, Armstrong announced that the final song would be ‘Jesus of Suburbia’. This song itself is like listening to a few songs as it is made up of a number of different parts. We would have been happy to leave at this stage having being treated to most of our favourites. However this was not the end. In what would turn out to be one of the nights highlights, Billie came back out and did a solo acoustic set of ‘Last Night On Earth’ from ‘21st Century Breakdown’, ‘Wake me up when September ends’ from ‘American Idiot’ and the final song and another oldskool favourite ‘Good Riddance’ from ‘Nimrod’.
While Billie Joe didn’t really interact that much with the rest of the band and session players it should be noted that they done an excellent job. Armstrong did introduce us to each of the band nearing the end of the night but most of the time he was too busy being a crazy fool and keeping us entertained. One of the bands highlights was seeing the drummer Trè Cool trying on one of the bras!
The music aside this concert had so much more that made it a great night. Billie Joe Armstrong is as crazy now as he was when Green Day 1st came out. He spent much of the concert acting the fool but it had us in hysterics laughing. When I first booked tickets I was very put out that I couldn’t get general admission tickets as I always prefer standing as close to the stage as possible. However I was actually grateful when Armstrong started soaking everyone at the front with water hoses and even a huge water gun. He also had a contraption to shoot t-shirts into the crowd. This crazy stunt was followed by something which unrolled bog roll into the crowd. During this and various other parts of the gig he enlisted the help of willing people from the crowd. One of the few lowlights of the gig involved Armstrong performing some kind of religious ritual on a child. This did not make for comfortable viewing and I could see I wasn’t alone in feeling like this. On lighter note however he also pulled fans on stage to help with singing some of the songs. One of these fans was really impressive and gave it his all.
During many stages of the gig Armstrong would wrap Irish flags around his shoulders. During one such moment the entire crowd started singing ‘Ole, Ole’. He responded to this by saying that is why the Irish are so much better than the Americans. This needless to say had the crowd cheering wildly. He even simulated at one stage wiping his ass with an American flag! After making a comment that he had never seen so many bras’s being thrown up on stage someone threw up a pair of jocks which Armstrong promptly put on his head. Another spontaneous moment saw him moon at the audience!
All the above packed into the 2.5 hours made for a totally enjoyable evening. Every time I go to the refurbished O2 I always impressed with the layout and how this time being a distance back we still had an excellent view. As we left totally fulfilled I was wondering if the rumours are true and will they headline Slane next year. One thing is for sure if they do I will be there.
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