Sorry SoCal, Green Day likes the Bay Area WAY more than they like you. That’s right, Billie Joe said it. Not like it’s any surprise, the band got their start in the East Bay so he didn't say it just to appease. Green Day still calls the Bay Area their home, and as Billie Joe said it, they haven’t become one of those “assholes” who’s moved to that "shit hole, Hollywood.”
Mike Dirnt, Billie Joe Armstrong and Tré Cool have been pretty busy in the last year as they watched their musical “American Idiot” come to fruition on the Berkeley Rep stage as well as on Broadway while continuing to tour worldwide. But the show last night at the Shoreline Amphitheatre was their last on the American tour and the boys will get a short respite before a 10-date South American tour in October. They "saved the best for last."
Billie Joe was having a blast: giggling, rubbing his red-and-black-striped-clad-butt for the audience, throwing himself around the stage, attempting to break dance, inviting folks onstage and graciously letting them hug and kiss him and then encouraging them to stage dive. His interaction with the audience was one of the most interactive I’ve seen at an arena type show like this one, harkening back to their days at 924 Gilman in Berkeley.
The highlight for me was the young lady who was invited to come onstage to sing “Longview” in its entirety. Wherever you are lady in green, you are my hero. After a running stage dive from Tré Cool’s drum kit platform, Billie Joe gave her a guitar for her good work. You go, girl.
Billie Joe had been announcing from the stage during this tour that they were recording the shows for a live album, but Saturday he said that most of the cuts would probably end up being from the Bay Area show. Is he biased? Probably.
He thanked this crowd for the last 22 years. But Green Day is moving onward and upward, crossing genres while still continuing to put on one hell of a fantastic live show. So we thank you, guys, for the last 22 years. Keep it coming.
Note about the Shoreline Amphitheatre: watching a show from the lawn when everyone is standing will pretty much guarantee that you won't be able to see the stage over the heads of the folks in front of you. I have a feeling this is due to the settling of the dirt underfoot over the years. As long as you are cool with not being able to see the stage and just watching the screen, you'll be a happy concert-goer.
Comments
2 things
1- What about the half hour or so of crap that they did in the middle of the concert, when finally it was getting exciting, they ruined it for me by doing this.
2- Indeed, by design, there is no way to see the stage from the lawn, It is just not steep enough. Unless you arrive early and get in the first row. The guy who design the venue is completely incompetent.
The laying down on the stage bit could have been done away with according to my husband, I had a blast though and loved every minute of it!
1) You mean that crazy dress-up part toward the end? I was confused by it, but I thought it was fun and silly.
2) I enjoyed the part were Billie Joe was lying down, he was obviously having fun. I enjoyed the giggling. And when performers are having fun, I get a kick out of it.
3) I imagine that at one point the lawn was steeper. You know that that Amphitheater is built on an landfill, and have had gas leakage problems in the past. The lawn has probably settled over the years, almost making it concave. But yeah, certainly whomever designed it didn't think too far in the future.
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