Wornears
04-21-2005, 05:39 PM
Well, my 17 and 20 year old daughters gave my 50 year old butt a present and took me see Green Day last night in Charlotte. Thought it might be fun to offer a review from some worn ears and a wizened concert goer; and see if others have had similar experiences.
I last saw the Mike Love version of the Beach Boys at a private reception last year, so it's been some time since I've been to a real, pay a ticket, find a seat show. Probably 15 years.
What a hoot! I really like GD's latest album American Idiot, and have always enjoyed how they don't take themselves, or other bands, that seriously.
Plus, they've perfected the three-chord power/pop song and have moved into The Clash/The Who territory with their latest and this tour is supporting it. So, I'd at least know some of the words to the songs being played. I don't think I've heard so much sound out of a three piece since ZZ Top during the Tush tour in the mid-70s. Wish I'd had an SPL meter with me. Their drummer (Tre Cool, get it?) is outstanding, and after playing together for 16 years these guys are tight, tight -- if a punk band can be characterized so.
What was particularly interesting was how many "older" (near my age and up) moms and dads were there with their teener daughters and sons. The guy in front of me (pushing mid-50s, with gelled up hair and two 12 year olds) shouted back to me, "they're (GD) sure not The Grateful Dead, are they?" Well, no. I'd hesitate to call it a "family" crowd, but it would be the closest one could expect out of a clan that must have bought out every bit of black mascara within a 40 mile radius of Charlotte, NC.
Billy Joe Armstrong, lead singer and guitarist, is a great rock front man, and I've seen a few. I think the guy is pushing the far side of 30 and he pogo'd around the stage like a nuclear dynamo. Not as slithery as Jagger, but the guy must have run 10 miles. Plus, any "punk" band that plays a credible and crushing version of the Isley Brothers "Shout," which has Armstrong eventually flat on the stage with a red cape draped over him -- a tip to James Brown -- to be restored to prancing vigor by the crowds' belting out the song's signature line -- they're worth the ticket.
A novelty to me, and a sure sign of old fartness, is that now you wave your open cell phone to show your appreciation of a particularly cool song -- the blue glow mixes with the outnumbered butane lighters. Hell, I remember lighting up wooden matches!
Armstrong may not be Springsteen in his prime (most of the kids there would say Bruce who?) when The Boss and E-Street band used to do 1.5 hours, take a 30 min break and come back for another hour, and three encores with the lights up. Damn, you just wanted to be let go after one of those concerts!
But these punks punched in for almost a full 1.5 hours with real American rock'n'roll music. Do your kids a favor and take'em.
I last saw the Mike Love version of the Beach Boys at a private reception last year, so it's been some time since I've been to a real, pay a ticket, find a seat show. Probably 15 years.
What a hoot! I really like GD's latest album American Idiot, and have always enjoyed how they don't take themselves, or other bands, that seriously.
Plus, they've perfected the three-chord power/pop song and have moved into The Clash/The Who territory with their latest and this tour is supporting it. So, I'd at least know some of the words to the songs being played. I don't think I've heard so much sound out of a three piece since ZZ Top during the Tush tour in the mid-70s. Wish I'd had an SPL meter with me. Their drummer (Tre Cool, get it?) is outstanding, and after playing together for 16 years these guys are tight, tight -- if a punk band can be characterized so.
What was particularly interesting was how many "older" (near my age and up) moms and dads were there with their teener daughters and sons. The guy in front of me (pushing mid-50s, with gelled up hair and two 12 year olds) shouted back to me, "they're (GD) sure not The Grateful Dead, are they?" Well, no. I'd hesitate to call it a "family" crowd, but it would be the closest one could expect out of a clan that must have bought out every bit of black mascara within a 40 mile radius of Charlotte, NC.
Billy Joe Armstrong, lead singer and guitarist, is a great rock front man, and I've seen a few. I think the guy is pushing the far side of 30 and he pogo'd around the stage like a nuclear dynamo. Not as slithery as Jagger, but the guy must have run 10 miles. Plus, any "punk" band that plays a credible and crushing version of the Isley Brothers "Shout," which has Armstrong eventually flat on the stage with a red cape draped over him -- a tip to James Brown -- to be restored to prancing vigor by the crowds' belting out the song's signature line -- they're worth the ticket.
A novelty to me, and a sure sign of old fartness, is that now you wave your open cell phone to show your appreciation of a particularly cool song -- the blue glow mixes with the outnumbered butane lighters. Hell, I remember lighting up wooden matches!
Armstrong may not be Springsteen in his prime (most of the kids there would say Bruce who?) when The Boss and E-Street band used to do 1.5 hours, take a 30 min break and come back for another hour, and three encores with the lights up. Damn, you just wanted to be let go after one of those concerts!
But these punks punched in for almost a full 1.5 hours with real American rock'n'roll music. Do your kids a favor and take'em.