Photos, reviews and videos from Green Day's surprise Halloween show!

More details and pictures are filtering through from last night's Green Day Halloween show at The Studio at Webster Hall. The more we hear, the more incredible it sounds!

According to Rolling Stone: "The show was also being documented for a film about the band's creative process on the new album." They have a great recap of the show. You can read it here.

Here's a few more articles about the show:

The Village Voice blog, Bowery Boogie, The Audio Perv & Examinar.

Adrienne Armstrong recently posted these pictures on twitter of herself, Billie Joe and Jason White in their costumes:

 

Here's a picture of Mike Dirnt's set list for the show:



*Update* - Lot's of pictures here thanks to thatgirlallison.

Green Day covering Misfits song "Hybrid Moments" courtesy of banittles YouTube channel:



And... Hitchin' A Ride:



There's some more short video clips on Danny20n's YouTube channel.

*Update* - AUDIO: Monster Mash! Thanks to @AHSchwartz:

Green Day - 01 - Monster Mash Up 


Thanks to all the GDC'ers and peeps for sharing

Highlights and setlist from Green Day's surprise "Halloween" show in New York

Green Day's surprise Halloween show in New York has finished! Early reports suggest they played for around 2 hours and started with Billie Joe singing parts of Basket Case and Good Riddance to the tune of "Monster Mash". They went on to cover the Misfits song "Hybrid Moments" (3 times!) and then a bunch of their new songs including "Carpe Diem", followed by a "greatest hits" set.

Billie Joe is described as being dressed as Jack Skellington from the "Nightmare Before Christmas", Tre as a fairy/ballerina, Mike as a zombie, and Jason as Mad Hatter.

Here are other songs that we've heard were played:

*UPDATE

Hybrid Moments x 3 (Misfits cover)
Carpe Diem
Stray Heart
Stop, Drop and Roll
Fuck Time
Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Bill Monroe/Elvis cover)
Welcome To Paradise
Geek Stink Breath
Hitchin' A Ride
She
Going To Pasalacqua
1,000 hours
Murder City
Letterbomb
2000 Light Years Away
Paper Lanterns

GreenDayMind on twitter has posted a photo of Mike Dirnt's setlist. You can view that by clicking here.

Head over to the thread on our forum for more updates and pictures that are surfacing from the show. We'll be bringing more updates and recaps here through the day.

Sounds like it was an amazing night!

Updates on tonight's Green Day Halloween show!

Green Day's surprise Halloween show is taking place tonight in New York. We're getting news in as we speak!

Apparently, the "surprise guests" for tonights show are Gerard Canonico, John Gallagher Jr. and Michael Esper - also know for their parts in the cast on Broadway in American Idiot.

Also, we gather that Green Day sound-checked earlier with "Supermodel Robots" (The Network) and "Stop, Drop and Roll" (Foxboro Hot Tubs).

Looks like there are plenty of surprises in store... stay tuned for updates through the night.

Update:I'm hearing that Billie is dressed as a Zombie & Tre as a fairy... no word on Mike yet!

You can visit this thread on our forum for up to the minute discussion about tonight's show!

(picture credit: thatgirlallison)

Full touring cast for the American Idiot Musical has been announced

Yesterday, during all of the madness of the surprise Green Day show, the full touring cast of the American Idiot Musical was announced over onAmericanIdiotTheMusical.com.

Playing the lead role of Johnny will be Van Hughes. Many Green Day fans who have already seen the musical during its run on Broadway will be extremely excited since Van played the role of Johnny after John Gallagher left the musical, and Van has been apart of the crew all along.

Other returning cast members include Leslie McDonel, playing the part of Heather and Krystina Alabado as an ensemble.

New cast members who will be playing lead roles in the musical are Jake Epstein, who will play the role of Will, Scott J. Campbell playing the role of Tunny, and Gabrielle McClinton playing Whatsername.

We're still waiting an announcement on who will be St. Jimmy...

You can see the full cast listing over on AmericanIdiotTheMusical.com and read full bio's on each of the cast members by clicking here.

Green Day playing "Halloween" show at Webster Hall in NYC tomorrow, October 27th

BIG NEWS just in! Green Day are playing a halloween themed show tomorrow night at The Studio at Webster Hall in NYC!

Ages 19+ and they encourage you to wear your halloween costume.

You can get tickets from the venue's site, TheStudioatWebsterHall.com. Tickets are $20, will-call only. Doors open at 9, show starts at 10:30pm.

Update - The ticket site says the show is already sold out!

2nd Update - The Idiot Club says to "stay tuned" for a contest for free guest list tickets.

Green Day last played at Webster Hall shortly after the release of 21st Century Breakdown.

"Green Day Rocks" trending worldwide on Twitter!

Green Day is trending on twitter worldwide right now with "GREEN DAY ROCKS"

At last! I think this might be the first time the band's name has trended worldwide for a solid period of time on the social networking site. "Green Day Give Us Hope" also trended briefly a few days ago following Little Steven's Underground Garage Show.

Green Day Rocks - Keep it trending! :)

Photo of Billie Joe in New York with "Trekstock" - supporting young people with cancer

Trekstock is a charity involved in "fundraising for research into cancers that affect young people through the creative industries." One of their representatives met Billie Joe in New York last weekend and posted a picture on twitter of him holding one of their "Trekstock" badges.

"Trekstock was founded in 2006 and aims to raise awareness of cancer in young people, and to ensure those affected receive the information and the support they need. Profits from this raffle will fund the lifesaving research into the specific types of cancer that affect this age group, including Hodgkin's lymphoma."

Head on over to the Trekstock website for more information, and here if you'd like to donate.

Tre Cool in Nitpick Six list "The Six Best Drum Fills"

Tre Cool has been listed in Riverfront Times Blog "The Six Best Drum Fills" for his part in the entrance to Green Day's Basket Case:

"Speed is a virtue. Green Day drummer Tre Cool understands this, but unlike his more famous and more proficient pop-punk cohort Travis Barker, Cool usually keeps his technical abilities in his back pocket in the name of taste. The entrance to "Basket Case" is his best instance of letting loose in Green Day's twenty year catalog. And it's absolutely effective, boosting the dynamic of the song as he interrupts Billie Joe Armstrong's palm muted intro. Toward the second half of the fill, he goes into Animal-from-Muppets mode. It's as if his hands have taken over and his brain is thinking "oh my god what am I doing I can't believe I'm playing this!" And then Cool crashes a cymbal and pushes forward into his signature midtempo beat, Earth's axis realigns, Pluto is a planet again and all is right in the universe.."

You can see the full list here.

Green Day's Milton Keynes show(s) from 2005 listed in Daily Mail's "10 of the Greatest Live Performances"

In British newspaper's The Mail on Sunday 'Live' magazine, Jo Whiley (British DJ and TV presenter) made Green Day's performance at the Milton Keynes Bowl in 2005 her No. 2 in "10 of the Greatest Live Performances:"

"This was the perfect show, in a way. They played all their hits, delivered them perfectly, with everyone singing along. There were even rose petals showering the audience at the end of the gig - not exactly what you'd expect from Green Day. They always have some live novelties - like getting three kids up on stage to 'make a band', which never fails to excite. It helped that this was a gloriously hot sunny day, but to play Milton Keynes Bowl and own it, to fill the space completely, was pretty impressive."

It's a pretty good snippet about the performance, although I don't remember the "rose petals showering the audience" part!

The 'top ten' also features performances from the likes of Queen, Pulp and The Flaming Lips. David Bowie took number 1 spot for his performance, also at Milton Keynes Bowl, in 1983. You can see the full list here.

(picture credit: James Looker)

Green Day lose out in the Q Awards for "Greatest Act Of The Last 25 Years" to U2

The Q Awards, which we posted about previously, were announced today in London. Green Day were up for the "Greatest Act Of The Last 25 Years" category, but the award went to U2.

Well, we all know they got that one wrong! It doesn't say where Green Day came in the list, maybe they were the runner up, but the first one to lose the race... (see what i did there?)

You can see the full list of award winners on QTheMusic.com.

Green Day set to appear at tonight's 14th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, to honor Will Ferrell

Green Day are set to appear at tonight's 14th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in Washington DC, to honor actor and comedian Will Ferrell. We think Green Day will be performing at the event, so it'll be interesting to see what they play. Of course, we'll update you all as soon as we find out!

The award ceremony is also being taped for broadcast on PBS on 31st October.

You can read more about the event at the Kennedy Centre website.

Stay tuned for updates!

*Update* - Only Billie Joe was at the event and performed Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life). Here's a a photo of Billie arriving at the Kennedy Center.

Video of Green Day's interview in NYC. They talk Foxboro Hot Tubs, Rodeo Queens, and Occupy Wall Street

Green Day was interviewed yesterday on Little Steven's Underground Garage show, celebrating their 500th episode. Green Day showed up (Tre, Mike, Billie Joe, and Jason White) to talk about their influences in music, the Foxboro Hot Tubs, Rodeo Queens, and the Occupy Wallstreet protests going on in the US and around the world.

You can visit the shows website at UnderGroundGarage.com.

Apologies about a couple skips in the video and quiet audio. It was recorded from the live stream, which had a couple hiccups.



You can subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/GreenDayAuthority

Our editor Jimmy attended the interview and took some photos. You can see his pictures along with some others inthis album of our pic vault.

Video: Green Day's "Bullet In A Bible" from Milton Keynes, Lego Style!

Well, like anything to do with Green Day... this is awesome! Legolord121 has posted this video re-enactment of Green Day's momentous performance at Milton Keynes - or "Bullet In A Bible" - in 2005. With one exception... It's in Lego!

It's worth checking out, they do a really great job of capturing the atmosphere and set up of the actual show:



I especially like when it pans around the back of the (lego) audience, just erm...like Bullet In A Bible! Leave us your thoughts.

Blink 182's Mark Hoppus asked if Green Day or Blink started "pop punk"

Blink 182's Mark Hoppus appeared on UK morning sports show Soccer AM this weekend. One of the questions he was asked was whether Green Day or Blink 182 started "Pop Punk."

Hoppus is asked the question at around 3:50, to which he quickly replies that Green Day were before them. The Blink bassist then goes on to jokingly claim that Blink 182 did in fact invent the genre. It's a pretty entertaining interview, he also talks more about his band and other stuff he's up to at the moment:




Thanks to Chad Kasim for sending this news.

Rumors about Robert Pattinson playing the lead character in the American Idiot movie

Some big sites, like MTV.com have been reporting that Robert Pattinson (from Twilight) is rumored to play the lead role in the American Idiot movie. Where did all this come from? No new information about the movie or casting has taken place, but the rumor has come from a 2 year old quote where Billie Joe said this in response to who he'd like to see play Christian from 21st Century Breakdown (he wasn't even talking about the lead character of American Idiot):

"I'm gonna say maybe that kid in 'Twilight,' [Pattinson]. He's a good actor. There's still more to come with that kid."

Attention was given to that quote as it was included in the new 'Pop Up Video' for 21 Guns, which you can watch here. You can read the original interview with Billie Joe on Spinner.com.

Producers for the movie have not released any casting information. Blogs have made a story just for the hell of it by taking an old quote and creating a rumor since the American Idiot movie is in the works now (and it wasn't at the time of that 2009 interview, as the musical was still barely getting started). It was only a couple months ago people were speculating Taylor Lautner was in talks for the role.

So to clarify and hopefully put the rumor to rest, all these stories popping up are not based on any new information. Just pure speculation.

"Happy Birthday Nimrod" - Awesome fan video to celebrate the album's 14th anniversary

Some members on our forum got together over the last couple of weeks to put together a video to celebrate Nimrod's 14th Anniversary today. As well as fan photo contributions, the video lists all the album's chart positions around the world. There's also some little known facts about the album towards the end... some of which i bet you didn't know! (A couple are wrong actually - well done to those whose spotted them. "God Told Me To Skin You Alive" is from Insomniac's cover art)

Still, it's really awesome! Check it out...

Vote for Green Day vs. Evanescence in Fuse's "Battle of the Fans!"

Fuse is doing a Battle Of The Fans tournament with Green Day currently up against Evanescence. Our boys are currently slightly behind with around 45% of the votes, so it's time to step up Green Day fans!

This is round 3 (semi-finals) and voting for this round ends at 6pm on October 18th. It looks like one of those where you can keep voting, so if you have the time to kill, you can go on a personal crusade to make sure Green Day go through to the final! Vote here.

American Idiot on Rolling Stone's list of "best albums of the 2000's"

Green Day have featured in a number of these "top 100 lists" lately. This time, 2004's American Idiot has been ranked at number 22 on the Rolling Stone list of the "100 best albums of the 2000's."

Here's what they have to say about the "mid-noughties" smash hit:

"The Nineties' most irrepressible punk brats grew up with a bang. They also proved they could take on the kind of gargantuan old-school concept album that nobody else seemed to have the guts to try. Not only did they pull it off, they made one of the era's lasting albums, raging against political complacency of mid-decade America with a Who-size sense of grandeur. From the nine-minute epic "Jesus of Suburbia" to the punk nugget "Extraordinary Girl/Letterbomb," they zeroed in on the rock audience's political outcasts and misfits as Billie Joe Armstrong snarled, "Welcome to a new kind of tension/All across the alien nation."

Radiohead's Kid A took the number 1 spot. A bit of a surprise i thought. You can see the full list over at Rolling Stone site here. What do you think is the best album of the 2000's?

Green Day 21 Guns Pop Up Video

As we posted late last week, Green Day's video for "21 Guns" was featured on VH1's newly revamped TV show "Pop Up Video".

The video features popups with facts throughout. Most of them I think that most of you guys already know, but I am sure there is one or two in there that you never knew before.



Thanks to Holly J. and Kim M. for sending this news.

Green Day and the Gays

The members of Green Day have always been advocates for various social causes, including the environment, various diseases, and countless other organizations. They have also advocated for the gay community. In honor of National Coming Out Day, I've decided to write a piece summarizing their involvement with the gay community and how they personally influenced my own coming out story more than six years ago.

When Green Day released Dookie, the album containing "Coming Clean", a song about Billie's confusion over his sexual identity in his late teen years, the label wanted them to pick an up-and-coming pop-punk band that would satisfy the masses and blend well with their sound. In contrast of their first wish and as a tribute to Gilman Street, they brought the Pansy Division on their first major-label tour, a band that is notorious for being openly gay with songs such as "Cocksucker Club" and "He Whipped My Ass in Tennis (Then I Fucked His Ass in Bed)." 

Throughout the tour, many fans were unsupportive of the Pansy Division's homosexual message, to which Billie and the gang took no liberties. They were often known to chastise the crowd, thereby sending out a pro-gay message that many young fans took to heart. In a 2004 interview, Billie Joe said that "We ended up getting letters from kids saying that Pansy Division opening for us changed their lives."

Billie Joe was quoted in an interview with Advocate in 1994 as saying "I think I've always been bisexual ... It's a beautiful thing." He also said that homosexuality in general should "... be something that's just accepted." As was previously mentioned, "Coming Clean" is about his struggles with his own sexual orientation. In 2010 he told Out magazine that he wasn't sure if he'd still say he was bisexual, "but I'd never say that I'm not. I don't really classify myself as anything. And when it comes to sex, there are parts of me that are shy and conservative. I want to respect my wife."

In terms of coming out stories, mine in particular relies pretty heavily on Green Day. I decided at some point when I was about thirteen that I should tell my mom that I'm gay. Nervously, I asked her to come into my room. We sat down on the bed, and after I repeatedly asked her if she would always love me no matter what, I pulled out the Dookie album art. I flipped open to the page where the lyrics to "Coming Clean" are and told her that I wanted to get the skeleton tattooed when I turned eighteen. When she asked me why, I responded that the phrase coming clean had a lot of significance to me, and I made her guess as to why. She eventually did, and the rest goes down in history (I feel I should mention as a side note that she was and is incredibly supportive. Go Mom.)

Green Day's message has always been supportive of the outcasts, and I'm sure that I'm not the only gay person to have taken something away from their music. Throughout the years, they've really helped me accept myself and helped me to tell people who I am.

... Now go come out to someone, after watching this live video of "Coming Clean."

Billie Joe to be interviewed on Little Steven's 500th Underground Garage show in New York

Billie Joe will be interviewed along with some other special guests on Little Steven's Underground Garage 500th show next Friday, 21st October.

The show has been running since April 2002, set up to celebrate 60 years of Rock 'n' Roll. To celebrate the 500th show, a live recording is being held at The Hard Rock Cafe at Times Square in New York. If you're going to be in the area, you can apply for free tickets to the show:

"Freaks, misfits, and outcasts come join us to celebrate this milestone October 21st - Live at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.

Little Steven will be there spinning songs from the 500th episode along with interviewing some special guests including Billie Joe Armstrong, Debbie Harry, Darlene Love, Steve Buscemi, Tim Robbins, Jesse Malin, Garland Jeffreys, and Vinny "Big Pussy" Pastore, plus video tributes, and some surprises!!!"

For more details about the show and how you can enter for free tickets to the event, clickhere.

Song of the Week: "Walking Contradiction"

This week's Song of the Week is the exceedingly clever Walking Contradiction, in celebration of the 16th birthday of Green Day's second major-label release, Insomniac. Walking Contradiction was the 4th single released off Insomniac, and reached number 21 on the Billboard Modern Rock and the Billboard Alternative Songs charts in 1996, and its music video was even nominated for the 'Best Music Video, Short Form' Grammy Award in 1997.

The thing I love most about this song is Billie's word-play in the lyrics - the way that one line will (not very surprisingly) contradict another - it's all rather clever. The lyrics also seem to be semi-autobiographical; there's certain lines in the song that, if you read them a certain way, seem to point reference to Green Day's success ("my wallet's fat and so is my head", "losers winning big on the lottery") and the controversy surrounding their signing to a major label ("the shit's so deep you can't run away", "constant refutation with myself, I'm a victim of a catch 22"). It seems that Billie's saying that he's the contradiction - making it big in the mainstream music world while still identifying with the strictly DIY, not-for-profit underground punk scene - it's like he doesn't belong in either world, hence he "aint got no right(s)".

This week's video is a live performance of Walking Contradiction from The Late Show with David Letterman filmed in 1996. It's a great performance, but the highlight has to be Billie's face at 0:57. Enjoy!


(video credit: x86Jadedx )

Green Day's Insomniac turns 16 today

On October 10, 1995 Green Day released their fourth studio album, Insomniac. The album was the follow-up to their major label debut, Dookie, released only a year before.

The album was much darker than Dookie, as the band wrote and recorded songs that captured their experiences jumping from the underground punk scene at Gilman to signing to a major label, and everything that went along with it. Big changes to their personal lives (marriage, children) also played a role in the creative process.

The album's release was highly anticipated as Dookie shot Green Day to world-wide fame, and singles from Insomniac did well on the charts. "Geek Stink Breath" reached #27 in the US, while "Brain Stew" reached #35 (the video of course, was released as with Brain Stew and Jaded combined). The album itself made it to #2 on the Billboard Top 200 and went on to sell over 2 million copies in the US alone.

Insomniac also featured it's infamous cover titled "God Told Me To Skin You Alive" by artist Winston Smith. Fromthe artist's website: 

"The col­lage on the album cover was cre­ated by Win­ston Smith and is called God Told Me to Skin You Alive, a ref­er­ence to Dead Kennedys first album, "Fresh Fruit for Rot­ting Veg­eta­bles". Inter­est­ingly enough, the cover art con­tains an image (the den­tist) that was orig­i­nally used in a col­lage fea­tured in the insert book­let art of Dead Kennedys' album Plas­tic Surgery Dis­as­ters. There are also three skulls on the entire album cover- one for each mem­ber of Green Day. One of the skulls requires you to view the piece at an angle. The hid­den skull is taken from Hans Holbein's 1533 paint­ing The Ambassadors."

To celebrate the album's 16th anniversary, put aside 40 minutes of your day to listen to the entire thing from start to finish

Green Day's video for "21 Guns" is going to be featured on VH1's "Pop Up Video"

Green Day posted on Facebook the other day that their video for the song "21 Guns" was going to air on VH1's newly revamped TV show, "Pop Up Video".

From what I understand, the show plays the video and throughout the video random Green Day related information and facts popup. You can see an example of what we can expect with OKGO's "Here It Goes Again" by clicking here.

The show airs this Monday, October 10th at 12:00pm EST on VH1. We will post on Facebook and send out a Tweet an hour before the show starts reminding you guys. It seems that VH1 puts all the videos from this show onto theirwebsite, so if you miss the show, it seems like you will be in luck and be able to watch it afterward.

Green Day Poster in the new Kerrang issue

This news is a little late, but a free poster of Billie Joe is included in this past week's issue of Kerrang magazine. Unfortunately Kerrang doesn't mention Green Day anywhere in the actual magazine.

Other free posters that come with this issue include Falling In Reverse, Gallows, Mariachi El Bronx, and You Me At Six.

You can pick up a copy of Kerrang at your local newsstand or buy a copy directly from Kerrang on their website by clicking here.

Billie Joe getting a new tattoo

Looks like Billie Joe has got some new ink done recently! The work was done by artist Matt Thompson at I Will Tattoo studio in Costa Mesa. Costa Mesa was of course the location of Green Day's surprise show in August.

The image appears to be of a poison-skulled bottle wrapped in vine, with a shining candle light at the top.

Members on our forum are talking about what it could mean. spark in the night suggested a line from Green Day's Murder City..."like a bottle of your favorite poison."

"that line + religion? religion is like a bottle of your favorite poison?"

That's a pretty good shout, any other ideas?

Green Day's American Idiot in VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 00's"

Green Day's song American Idiot has been placed at number 13 in VH1's "Greatest Songs of the 00's" - this is for a TV special that has been airing on VH1 all this week, hosted by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy.

Since tonight is the last night of the TV special, American Idiot is likely to be featured in the final countdown, so catch it if you can on VH1.

Only one song was picked from each artist. Otherwise a couple of other Green Day track's might have made the list, such as Boulevard Of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends.

Green Day lyrics featured in new artwork exhibition in London

Lyrics from Green Day's American Idiot are featured in a new artwork exhibition at the Stolen Space gallery in London.

It's a pretty cool looking piece. This was posted on NME.com:

"Lyrics from classic songs from the likes of Muse, Green Day and Radiohead have been turned into artwork and are on display as part of an exhibition to celebrate 200 years of Warner/Chappell Music.

The exhibition is currently taking place at the StolenSpace gallery in east London, with all the prints on display also available for sale. Profits from any sale are being donated to charity. You can see examples of the artwork at the top and bottom of the page."

You may remember Green Day hosted their "Art Of Rock" commissioned show at the Stolen Space gallery in October 2009 during their UK tour (example piece below).

Happy Birthday Adrienne Armstrong!

 we'd like to wish the beautiful and amazing Adrienne Armstrong a very happy birthday.

One of our visitors sent us a picture of this awesome Kerplunk Birthday cake her sister made recently. Let's all have a virtual slice to celebrate!



Happy Birthday Adrienne!

Official Green Day 2012 Calendar available on Amazon

Amazon UK have the official 2012 Green Day calendar for sale at a reasonably priced £5.99 (about USD $9).

You can purchase the calendar here.

I understand that you can order from outside the UK from that link, while the amazon.com site currently says they're "out of print."

It's also available on another UK Website Calendar Club with this description...

"The Green Day 2012 Official wall calendar has 12 fantastic images of the pop-punk legends. Since the world wide smash of Dookie to their latest offering of their live album (that due to obvious reasons will remain nameless here, but involves awesome!) they have sold in excess of 65 million records, which firmly puts them in the rock legends category. So enjoy the year with the Berkeley Trio."

Judging by the preview pictures, it looks like the calendar is a collection of a few live shots from the last tour as well as some of the promo shots for the album 21st Century Breakdown.

Hopefully 2012 will bring more good stuff from the Green Day world!

Video of Green Day playing at "The Nappy Dugout" in Vancouver from 1992

I came across this bootleg video from 1992 and thought i'd share it. It's a pretty good quality recording of the trio playing 2,000 Light Years Away and Only of You back when Green Day were on Lookout! Records.

It's great looking back at the band performing with much of the same style and vigour that we see in today's live shows. Judging by the crowd crammed into the venue, it was around the time Green Day were on the cusp of breaking in to the mainstream, which of course they would soon do with their album Dookie.



Enjoy!

New pictures posted on greenday.com from the secret Green Day show at 1-2-3-4 Go!

GreenDay.com has posted some new pictures from the secret Green Day show that took place a couple of weeks ago in Oakland. The pictures are now available on the official site.

There are also some recaps from the lucky few members who got to attend the intimate show. Idiot Club members can click here to see those and the rest of the photographs.

Here's GDC'er Abbey Fox's reaction:

"Seriously, HOLY SHIT. Intimate setting, kegs flowing, new amazing setlist, older favorites, and a cool as fuck fun hot sweaty mess of a crowd made for a memorable night. Being able to see Green Day create music in a small setting last night was a gift to a fan-freak like me. Thank you Billie, Mike, Tre, Jason, Bill and the gang. Whaddya say we do this again...soon!"

Sounds good to me!

Green Day take over at top spot in Sodaheads "20 Best American Rock Bands of the 1990's"

Since we posted about the Sodahead Poll a couple of days ago, Green Day fans have carried Green Day to number 1 spot in the pole! It's not clear on the site when (or if) the poll ends, but right now Green Day are comfortably on top with 48% of the votes. It's a bit of a surprising turnaround since the poll was centred around Pearl Jam.

You can still vote here. It also features Green Day's music video for Basket Case.

Go Green Day fans!

Dookie and American Idiot on Spin's Top Album List

Spin Magazine recently released their list of the Top 125 Albums of the Past 25 Years. The magazine opened in 1985, and wanted to highlight the albums they felt they were the best of the best since their initial launch. Green Day landed two albums on the list: Dookie at Number 42 andAmerican Idiot at number 119. *insert stunned face here.*

Here is what Spin had to say about Dookie and American Idiot respectively:

"Green Day was still just a snide, snotty punk band when they made Dookie. But that doesn't mean Green Day wasn't good -- or grand. "A free lunchtime concert in Boston was cut short when roughly 40,000 more fans than expected showed up," wrote SPIN's Craig Marks, in a 1995 cover story about the band's surprising rise. And much of that rise came on the strength of Dookie, which ranted and bounced with the kind of spirit that Billie Joe Armstrong displayed in his SPIN interview: "Billie Joe doesn't say anything. He just grabs my glass mug, takes one more deep gulp, and then spits the whole thing out high up the window."

"The punks that once sang about the joys of masturbation decided to get serious in Dubya's America. "It's about the confusion of where we're at right now," Billie Joe Armstrong told SPIN in a November 2004 cover story. "My education was punk rock -- what the Dead Kennedys said, what Operation Ivy said. It was attacking America, but it was American at the same time." The album took on an unexpected form. "It started out as a joke," Armstrong said in an earlier Q&A. "All of a sudden it started taking on the characteristics of a rock opera." And -- how American can a punk-rocker get? -- it's even ended up on Broadway."

I think the list was compiled trying to stand out from other similar lists, so as a result, I feel like there were some oversights and bad choices. That is my opinion, of course.

Happy birthday Warning!

Eleven years ago today, Green Day's sixth studio album Warning was released. This album really shocked many Green Day fans and the press due to it's non-Green Day sound of the songs. But, in my opinion, is one of the best albums the band has released due to the differentness of it.

Warning spawned four singles throughout 2000 and 2001. Those singles were Minority, Warning, Waiting, and Macy's Day Parade.

Billie Joe to guest star on Showtime's "Nurse Jackie"

Looks like Billie Joe will be guest starring in an upcoming episode of the Showtime series "Nurse Jackie."

A couple of tweets about it, plus a photo with the shows lead actress, Edie Falco, confirms this. There was also a mention of it in a local newspaper, but I can't seem to find it now.

The picture on the right is from the executive producer of the show@Richie_Jackson:

"Edie & our new cast member @BJAofficial! Wait till you see the season premiere! "

There's also a tweet from a Los Angeles radio station @987LA

"LOVE this. @BJAofficial (Billie Joe Armstrong) gonna be on new season of Nurse Jackie!"

Filming for the show just started recently, and the premiere won't be until Spring 2012 (the last two seasons have started in March). So we have a bit of a wait.

Video of Weird Al performing "Canadian Idiot" on Comedy Central last night

Last night on Comedy Central, comedian Weird Al performed a parody of Green Day's American Idiot, although he performed a version called "Canadian Idiot." It's an entertaining rendition with almost as much energy and pizzazz as a Green Day show! It was performed as part of Weird Al's concert special "The Alpocolypse Tour"



Thanks to Greg for sending this news.

Sodahead poll "What Was the Best Rock Band of the 90's?"

Sodahead.com has a poll asking for the best rock band of the 90's. The poll is attached to a story about Pearl Jam turning 20, so no surprise they're in the lead by about 1000 votes.

However, you can vote for Green Day who are listed alongside other bands like Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Green Day is currently 5th place with only 184 votes.

From Sodahead:

"The band's 1994 major label debut, "Dookie," defined mainstream punk rock in the mid-'90s. We're pretty sure we had "Basket Case" stuck in our heads for three years."

Vote here

Green Day listed in "Top 10 Hard Rock Smackdowns" when Billie Joe drop-kicked a concert goer

Loudwire.com listed Billie Joe's infamous drop kick in to the crowd at number 9 in their "Top 10 Hard Rock Smackdowns" - it also features some other high profile acts that have got into a scuffle in the past, including Nirvana, Axl Rose and Black Flag.

This was from a show in Filmore, California in 1997 (thanks Peter) on the Nimrod Tour. If you haven't seen it before, it's well worth a watch!

Billie Joe mentioned in Rolling Stone's article discussing the breakup of R.E.M.

In a recent Rolling Stone article talking about the breakup of R.E.M., an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, Green Day's longtime producer and friend, Rob Cavallo told Rolling Stone Billie Joe's reaction to their break up when he was talking to him on the phone the day after.

"Billie said R.E.M. were the first underground band he saw that conquered the mainstream. He was 13 years old, and it changed his perception of what rock could be."

If you are interested in reading the full article you can do so over on RollingStone.com by clicking here.

Recent picture of Billie Joe with photographer Bob Gruen in New York

Looks like Billie Joe has been racking up the air miles again! He was in New York City this week, pictured on the right with friend and photographer Bob Gruen.

Bob Gruen was signing copies of his new book Rock Seenyesterday in New York. According to Gruen's facebook community page, Billie Joe came by on Tuesday as they were finishing Bob's "Teenage Bedroom" installation for the signing session at the Mark Jacobs store.

New picture of Green Day dressed up in Q Magazine

Here's a good quality scan of the picture of Green Day inside the new Q Magazine 25th Anniversary issue. Some interesting outfits being adorned by the Californian trio. Billie seems to have grown a few inches, while Mike is digging the cowboy look and Tre seems to have some kind of flamboyant x-men superhero thing going on!



This page also gives a brief bio about the band and "key career moments" for the trio over the years. It's all in the run up to Q's celebration of the greatest acts of the last 25 years. You can still vote to create your top 25.

You can order the Green Day covered 25th Anniversary issue from Q magazine here.

Gibson's "The World According To Billie Joe Armstrong"

Here's another recent article featuring Billie Joe, this time on Gibson.com. It looks to be a collection of quotes taken from previous interviews, as we read about Billie Joe's views on Green Day and and music in general.

Billie Joe also talks about his feminine side, getting naked on stage and his views on what it means to be a punk artist. Here's a few excerpts...

On getting naked during performances, as told to NPR.com in 2004:

"I used to do it a lot right after Dookie came out. I was arrested for it in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I did it at Madison Square Garden, 'cause I didn't know if I was ever going to play Madison Square Garden again, so I said, well, there's one way to remember this occasion - to be the guy who was naked on stage at Madison Square Garden. And then it came down to a point where everywhere we played, the cops started showing up and started saying, 'If this guy gets naked on stage, he's going to be arrested immediately."

On maintaining his youthful passion, as told to Time.com in 2010:

"It's about trying to mentally keep yourself in a place where you're never resting on your laurels. That's the fountain of youth. It has nothing to do with the wrinkles on your face, or how fat you get or if you get gray hair. It's your zest for life."

On the notion that Green Day isn't "punk" any more, as told to Time.com in 2010:

"Our main goal is to write great songs, and that comes before genre. The thing about punk is that there are purists. Once you start going outside of that, they don't think what you're doing is punk rock. My range of favorite songwriters goes anywhere from the Sex Pistols all the way to Lennon and McCartney. So that's what Green Day is - there are no rules."

You can read the full interview at Gibson.com.

"We are the desperate in the decline" - Green Day's message and Occupying Wall Street

Earlier this morning, I saw a video of an innocent girl being maced and neglected by the NYPD during the Occupy Wall Street protests. I had heard about them prior to seeing this video, but I honestly hadn't educated myself on the situation very well. As I read informational articles and editorials theorizing why so many young adults my age and slightly older were protesting, I came to two conclusions: this is my story and Green Day, with songs like "21st Century Breakdown" and "See the Light", helping to narrate it.



Like many of the fans who started listening to Green Day during the American Idiot era, I am now a college student, laboring away reading arguably pointless texts and writing endless theses about things that in no way correlate with my life or future intended career path, just as the generations that preceded me did. The thing that differentiates me from said generations is that all of this work may inevitably lead to absolutely nothing. As The Guardian's David Graeber put it, we are

"...kids who did exactly what [we] were told [we] should: studied, got into college, and are now not just being punished for it, but humiliated - faced with a life of being treated as deadbeats, moral reprobates."

Occupy Wall Street represents a recapturing of our futures from the bureaucratic minority in order to ensure that we will be able to access the basic privileges that our parents and grandparents were afforded.

Where does Green Day fit into this picture? As I read articles, editorials, and first-hand accounts of what is happening and why, I couldn't help but hear Billie Joe declaring that "we are the class of ['13], born in the era of humility," and that "we are the desperate in the decline." Suddenly, the second verse of "21st Century Breakdown" resonated with me like it never had before. Billie is singing directly to us - he is reflecting the anguish and frustration of the generation of young adults that his own son belongs to, the generation of young adults that will soon be entering into the workforce with no strings to grasp at. He is saying what our entire generation is screaming at Wall Street - that we want to "[make] it as working class hero[es]", that we will not settle for "the scars on [our] hands [as] a means to an end", and that we will question and provoke the "heroes and cons" who have lead our lives down this path. Billie Joe attempted to give us an outlet for our collective frustration, encouraging us to "scream, America, scream"; something which the so-called Facebook Generation is finally ready to do.

21st Century Breakdown offers another song which also correlates with our generation's struggles and attempts to motivate us away from our laptops and into action. "See the Light," the last song on the album, is future-oriented and optimistic, as opposed to American Idiot's past-focused bitter resignation in "Whatsername." I believe that the difference is intentional - American Idiot was written and released at the height of the Bush administration, whereas21st Century Breakdown was released right after Obama was elected. These two points in American history reflect almost polar-opposite views of pessimism versus optimism; the Jesus of Suburbia lamented over losing his opportunity years ago, but the narrator of "See the Light" wants to "pound the pavement to take the liars down," - in other words, they're willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that they "see the light" and "don't... lose [their] sight." The songs ends with a very reflective piano melody that suggests encouragement to not only find what is wrong with the world, but to fix what is wrong with the world.

Although it is clearly not the motivator of the recent protests (or even on anyone's radar except mine), Green Day's messages, especially on the 21st Century Breakdown album, resonate with me and motivate me to continue to inform myself about the Occupy Wall Street protests and to potentially take a more active role myself. Their words continue to reflect my anxieties about my future; a future that is entwined with "the class of '13" and compounded by "the Bastards of 1969"; a future which will hopefully result in the reclaiming and achievement of opportunities currently thought to be long gone.

Mark Zuckerberg mentions (not for the first time) he's a big Green Day fan

You might've heard in the past that Facebook King Mark Zuckerberg is a self-confessed Green Day fan. I remember seeing him mention it at one of his previous conferences, and he found an opportunity to bring it up again in a presentation at the F8 Developer Conference in San Francisco last week.

You can see it below. It's pretty interesting to watch, but if you want to skip to the Green Day part, that starts at around the 6 minute mark.



I'm pretty happy to see him talking about Green Day, although it's a funny situation given the band's stance on the social networking site in the past.

"The Music That Changed My Life" - new interview with Billie Joe in Q magazine.

Our good friend Marie at Green Day Inc in Brazil sent me this transcript of a recent interview with Billie Joe for the 25th anniversary issue of Q Magazine. We find out a bit about what the Green Day front man has been up to this summer, as well as more about his musical influences and tastes, among other things in this interesting interview.

Here's a little snippet that i enjoyed...

Q Magazine:

"Have you ever been star-struck?"

Billie Joe:

"I ran into Joe Strummer at an airport once. His band was playing in Minnesota and I was pushing a baby carriage. I was there to go visit my family. There he was standing right behind me so I turned around. He talked to my son Joey. He was saying, "Oh, my name's Joey too." That was pretty amazing."

It's a good read. Head on over to Green Day Inc to read the rest of the interview.

You can order the issue with Green Day on the cover from Q Magazine here.

Fans call for "Big 4 of 90's Punk Rock Tour" including Green Day, The Offspring, Rancid, and Bad Religion

Fans on Facebook are banding together to ask Bad Religion, The Offspring, Green Day and Rancid to do a tour together, dubbed "The Big 4 of '90s Punk Rock" tour.

Their reasoning? Facebook page says,

"The goal is to recruit as many members to the you-know-what as possible in order to get all those bands to listen to what we have to say. We want old school punk back. We would love to see this touring lineup record any live concert for a DVD just like Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer did. Another goal is to get the four back together and save punk once again."

Noble cause, I suppose. Just to make sure everyone is aware, none of the bands have agreed to anything like this. We don't really know what Green Day's plans are over the next year or when they plan to tour again. I just decided to post this because I think it's kind of a cool idea and I know some people would be really excited to see it happen.

So while I don't think it's terribly likely to happen, you guys should join the Facebook group if you'd like and be part of the discussion there. There's also a discussion going on in our forum if you're interested.

Here's an article from Ultimate Guitar.com about the group, and another from Rockaaa.com.