| GREEN DAY - Murder, 'Inferno... and Guns. |
| Written by Sarah Mudgway |
| Saturday, 19 December 2009 10:34 |
 It’s not often these days that I feel young at a concert, but walking towards Vector Arena last night in anticipation for Californian three piece pop-punk heroes GREEN DAY; I was surrounded by an eclectic mix of attendees. However, that’s the beauty of the band - their ability to span generations. The kids who loved them in the early 90’s have turned into adults, and apparently a lot of their own youngsters now have an appreciation for Green Day – and with last nights polished performance it’s easy to see why. Kicking off an epic two and a half hour set which spanned the entirety of their musical catalogue, Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt along with three session musicians; effortlessly and flawlessly worked their way through their set - all with a smile on their face and an enthusiasm and energy, a lot of younger bands struggle to maintain for an hour long set. Green Day opened with a block of songs from their latest release ‘21st Century Breakdown’ - starting with ‘Song Of The Century’ followed by the title track, then single ‘Know Your Enemy’ - Billie Joe immediately shined as a frontman who can perform as well as entertain. Jumping off stage during ‘Know Your Enemy’ and walking the entire length of Vector Arena to shake hands with those at the back, is not something many musicians these days feel comfortable doing. During the next song ‘East Jesus Nowhere’, one “biblical named” boy Joseph was handpicked by the band to come onstage and be ‘sacrificed’ by Billie Joe himself. If I were that kid, I’d be bragging about that moment for the rest of my life - just imagine the schoolyard stories: "What did you do this weekend?" "Oh, just hung out on stage with Billie Joe and Green Day.. you know, nothing special..."  Working their way through ‘Holiday’, ‘Static Age’, ‘Give Me Novocaine’ and crowd favourite ‘When I Come Around’, the concert was well rehearsed and with the added bonus of super soakers, toilet paper guns and pyrotechnics; it was definitely a show designed for maximum audience enjoyment. However, what really shined the most throughout the entire set was how much the band members seemed to enjoy the show themselves. In their 20+ year career so far, the band has enjoyed enough success and musical accomplishments that a solid live performance is only to be expected. However, a legitimate appreciation for the fans, as well as a sincere enjoyment for what they do is harder to come by. I can only hope that if I somehow end up in the same job for twenty years, I still share that same passion and enthusiasm Green Day so obviously carry for theirs. After a few more tracks from ‘American Idiot’, old-school Green Day fans were rewarded with a blistering chunk of songs - including my personal favourite fast-paced fury ‘Jaded’, alongside ‘Hitchin’ A Ride’, ‘Brain Stew’, ‘Basket Case’ and ‘Welcome To Paradise’; all under a fluorescent green banner featuring the logo from their 1994 album ‘Dookie'.  Notable mention has to go to the pink haired firecracker of a fan, Anna. Promising she knew all the words to ‘Longview’ she was pulled up on stage by Billie Joe and given full control of the microphone, as the band took a backseat to the only out-of-tune singing the audience was put through the entire night. That being said, being thrust in front of 12,000 plus people would be enough to make most people freeze up and hide behind the speakers... but Anna; who admitted she couldn’t sing, gave it her all and shined in her few minutes of rock-stardom. A medley of covers later, including a very awesome ‘Hey Jude' - and the band exited the stage. But not before playing an extended version of summer anthem ‘Minority’ off of their 2000 album ‘Warning'. A few short moments later and they were back for two more encores, the first of which consisted of ‘American Idiot’ and the epic 9 minute anthem ‘Jesus Of Suburbia’. The second encore featured Billie Joe taking centre-stage, armed with a mic and acoustic guitar, to play ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’ and closing track ‘(Good Riddance) Time of Your Life'.  The show was a pop-punk musical extravaganza which included something for everyone. Green Day proved that while they don’t take themselves too seriously, giving anything less than 100% was not an option and for those lucky enough to be in attendance, it was the perfect show to close out a year of pretty amazing music.  |
