New Green Day Fan Discovered
I've just worked out that I have been to three large outdoor music events in my life. In 1990 I went to the Feile in Thurles, the first Trip To Tipp where I saw That Petrol Emotion. I stood there in the middle of a Gaelic pitch waiting for them to appear, thinking 'never again' as I stood through a series of dull bands.
In 2002 I saw Oasis who were in Derry in body, if not actually in spirit. 'Ho hum' seemed to be the feeling shared by both audience and band.
So I was only playing the role of parent/purser/driver on Wednesday in Dublin , where Green Day were in Marlay Park, with 'special guests'.Ìý We missed Joan Jett because I didn't leave Derry early enough (said oldest daughter) but were in just in time to see Paramore throw rock n roll shapes and tell us that , "Oh My Gaahd", they'd just gone platinum in Ireland. The singer was very excited about that fact. Obviously she missed high school the day they studied European population figures.
I couldn't wait for Paramore to be over as I had spotted an impressive range of food stalls at the back of the field and had worked out that I had just enough euros with me to cover dinner and T shirts, as long as we preferred salad to actual food. It was while I was perfecting my argument that the 15 euro T shirt actually looked cooler than the 35 euro version that the sound of The Ramones 'Rock n Roll Radio' came over the PA system.Ìý That was the pre-show tape chosen by Green Day and I thought 'maybe this is going to be OK'.
It was actually better than OK. It was great. I won't review it as I don't know enough about their music but it was brilliant entertainment, consisting basically of Billie Joe Armstrong running up and down the stage, playing guitar and shouting 'Are You Ready To Go Crazy' every ten minutes. If you've been to these big productions before, you'll probably be blase about such things as big screens, video projections and great balls of fire. What you might not have seen is a band with charm, warmth, humour and , most important of all , punk rock roots. A video projection of old newspaper cuttings of early US punk bands like Gang Green and MDC was shown at one stage during the show. No comment was made, it was one of several backdrops projected against a wall of speakers. But it gave me a warm glow and a thought that behind the million selling records, stadium shows and pyrotechnics, a punk rock band is still lurking.Ìý
Ìý
In 2002 I saw Oasis who were in Derry in body, if not actually in spirit. 'Ho hum' seemed to be the feeling shared by both audience and band.
So I was only playing the role of parent/purser/driver on Wednesday in Dublin , where Green Day were in Marlay Park, with 'special guests'.Ìý We missed Joan Jett because I didn't leave Derry early enough (said oldest daughter) but were in just in time to see Paramore throw rock n roll shapes and tell us that , "Oh My Gaahd", they'd just gone platinum in Ireland. The singer was very excited about that fact. Obviously she missed high school the day they studied European population figures.
I couldn't wait for Paramore to be over as I had spotted an impressive range of food stalls at the back of the field and had worked out that I had just enough euros with me to cover dinner and T shirts, as long as we preferred salad to actual food. It was while I was perfecting my argument that the 15 euro T shirt actually looked cooler than the 35 euro version that the sound of The Ramones 'Rock n Roll Radio' came over the PA system.Ìý That was the pre-show tape chosen by Green Day and I thought 'maybe this is going to be OK'.
It was actually better than OK. It was great. I won't review it as I don't know enough about their music but it was brilliant entertainment, consisting basically of Billie Joe Armstrong running up and down the stage, playing guitar and shouting 'Are You Ready To Go Crazy' every ten minutes. If you've been to these big productions before, you'll probably be blase about such things as big screens, video projections and great balls of fire. What you might not have seen is a band with charm, warmth, humour and , most important of all , punk rock roots. A video projection of old newspaper cuttings of early US punk bands like Gang Green and MDC was shown at one stage during the show. No comment was made, it was one of several backdrops projected against a wall of speakers. But it gave me a warm glow and a thought that behind the million selling records, stadium shows and pyrotechnics, a punk rock band is still lurking.Ìý
Ìý
Comment number 1.
At 28th Jun 2010, Harry May wrote:Green Day's Insomniac is a great album. Any album that has a track titled 'Bab's Uvula Who?'has got to be a winner.
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