Billie Joe Armstrong is without a doubt the best frontman in rock right now. Forget the pretenders, the wannabes, there is no-one on his level when it comes to crowd interaction and effort put into a show and Green Day are one of the most entertaining bands out there. Forget about Green Day of the past and the over indulgence of some festivals and tepid reports. Green Day in 2017 are back, more vital than ever and on top of their game. We were lucky enough to be seeing them on one of only 3 UK dates this summer and even more fortunate to be in the (more) intimate setting of the only arena gig in Sheffield and for two and half hours we jumped, danced and sang along and generally witnessed what punk rock was and has always meant to have been about.
Before we go into the Green Day set a bit first about the tour support US punk veterans Rancid. I was pretty excited to see them added to the bill and was looking forward to seeing them. I would recommend getting in early and getting down the front to see them. In some ways, it was never a place I would imagine seeing a band like Rancid, in a large arena, and it felt a little weird as clearly a lot of people present were not too familiar with their catalogue. For Rancid this is probably not a bad thing as it allowed them to play quite a lot of their recent releases and not just all the old classics. They were a great choice to open and went down well with the Green Day audience and I imagine there will be a lot of people checking them out today for the first time who are going to delve into a world with a massive back catalogue of punk classics.
So, what is it that makes Billie the best front man and Green Day one of the best bands out there? It comes down to four core values for me: crowd interaction, showmanship, the band and crowd’s shared punk values, and having an incredible back catalogue to fall back on.
- Crowd Interaction: Before the band even appeared on stage the PA was getting the crowd going with Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” (as well as the Tre Cool Bunny) but as soon as they burst onto the stage Billie was getting the crowd to sing along and sing back to him. What other band would be as confident as to invite a member of the audience to sing the last verse of the first song with them? That just takes amazing confidence and a knowledge that you have a set of fans who will only encourage that person. This they did three times in the show and each time to incredible effect. I don’t think there was a single song throughout the show where Green Day did not involve the audience in some way and this is in contrast to Gun N’ Roses, for example, who only spoke once during their recent London show. The love between the band and crowd was palatable. [During the Hyde Park performance on Saturday, the band invited a fan on stage to play guitar… then gave her the guitar! – Mosh]
- Showmanship – The energy of the band is non-stop and this reflects onto the audience who then feed off it. You want your punk to be loud and in your face and Green Day provide this but also with spadefuls of irony and fun. If they are not dressing up for “King For a Day” or playing a medley of hits like “Hey Jude” and “Teenage Kicks”, then they are encouraging the crowd every step of the way to sing to jump and jump some more. Brilliant night.
- One of the aspects that I like most about Green Day is that at the core value of it all they are still a punk band. They still believe that music can change the world and they still believe in fairness for all, tolerance for all (getting the band to join in in anti-racist, sexist sand homophobia chants). For me in a world that is increasingly online to get back to that core value of shared love can only be a good thing. That aside, I love the way that to an extent it always still feels that Green Day are just some lucky chancers playing at being The Clash and somehow getting away with it. What Green Day also do is bring generations together. The crowd’s age span is huge and shows their continued appeal.
- For a band celebrating 30 years in the business they obviously have a lot of songs to choose from and they got it right. What was especially pleasing being how well the Revolution Radio songs sat alongside the classic back catalogue. “Still Breathing” and “Youngblood” were two of the highlights of the show for me. They had the mix right, with a large dose of what they themselves describe as “Old Skool” Green Day and, as you would expect, a large part of the American Idiot era.
I can’t wait to go and see Green Day again. They are back, they are big, brash and more vital than ever and the love shared in that arena shows that they are needed now more than ever. If you are going to see them in Glasgow tonight you are in for a treat!
Guys, it’s “Blitzkrieg Bop”, not “Blitzkrieg Rock”. ^^