So I had a few preconceptions about this gig, it was at The Dome which as everyone knows is cursed, next it's a bloody huge hall with 20,000 capacity. The band are definitely past their sell buy date and their last album is a bit iffy. And I get to go in the seats and not on the pitch for what is essentially a pop punk jump around concert.
On the positive side, I have good people with me and alcohol is encouraged.
As support bands go this lot were the worst I've seen in many a year, imagine The New York Dolls with a very degenerative mind disorder and no songs.......never mind. Bloody awful is enough.
The intro music from 21st Century Breakdown starts, the lights dim and the city backdrop appears behind the huge stage. It's about 8.15pm and they are scheduled to play till 10.50pm, this is going to be a long night....or so I thought. The sound quality in the arena is astonishing, it really shouldn't be that good, for a start 20,000 people should have some effect on it.
Green Day were up and running, quite literally crisscrossing the stage to start with and then Billie Joe just legged it into the crowd and halfway into the stadium guitar in hand....and still playing. OK we've seen it before but not at the start of the concert. From this moment onwards everyone was smiling and crucially everyone was included. Playing an inclusive punk rock gig to 20,000 people is some trick to pull off.
Yes they used all the tricks in the book
Big wavy hands
Big clap alongs
Audience members on stage singing songs and then stage diving
Shooting a child
Fireworks and Flames
Really loud bangs
Cover versions
A gun which delivered T Shirts to all areas of the arena.
More audience people on stage
Moshpit creation
Drumsticks a go-go
but most of all the music worked. The dull latest album took on a whole new life and filled the stadium it seemed designed for...it may well be a different kettle of fish at Leeds Festival on a windy evening but that didn't matter tonight. The hits were thrown in at regular intervals as if to keep everyone on their toes.
These vids from the night are amazing quality too.
Know your enemy with crowd surfer at the end oh and BJ goes walkabout again.
We danced, we sang and we waved our arms in the air with the best of them. A three song encore and then back on to finish with a one man 'Good Riddance' (time of your life).
Over two and a half hours and breakneck pace...fantastic
Apparently 'it was always going to be THAT good dad!!'
'Shooting a child'?
ReplyDeleteWas that one just slipped in to see if we were paying attention?
You don't get to many arena gigs do you, it's bloody tricky to keep audience attention at times.
ReplyDeleteThey do this right after chopping the hand of the next body surfer and just before kneecapping a granny.
his name was nick
ReplyDelete