‘Life ain’t pretty . . . I can testify to that s--t,” opined Billie Joe Armstrong early in last night’s Green Day concert at Barclays Center.
The last eight months have seen him suffer a drink- and prescription-drug-fueled meltdown onstage in Las Vegas, enter an outpatient rehab program, and have his band’s big return come to a screeching halt before it could even get into second gear.
You get the feeling that his testimony on life’s ugliness would indeed be compelling, but Armstrong would never dream of ruining anyone’s night out with such self-pitying.
Instead, he and his Berkeley punks turned in the kind of 2 1/2- hour celebration that has long been their calling card. But before the real pleasure, the band understandably felt the need to deal with the unfinished business of “Uno!” “Dos!” and “Tres!” — their triple whammy of new records that got lost behind the darkened haze of Armstrong’s personal issues. Although Green Day could have done with some quality control on those albums, they front-loaded the show with a smart selection of new songs and proved that the power pop of tracks like “Stop When The Red Lights Flash” and “Stay the Night” could compete with their hit-filled back catalog.
Once the dust has settled, these newer tunes will undoubtedly become part of the