NEWS: GREEN DAY

Tickets available to the general public now. More info: AmericanIdiotonbroadway.com

The Original Broadway Cast Recording of "American Idiot"

UPCOMING DATES

September 10 -- Billie Joe performing on anti-cancer telethon
September 13 -- Green Day perform at New York Jets halftime show.
September 19 -- Billie Joe and Michael Mayer interviewed in NYC. Tickets: HERE.
October 8 -- Green Day begin South American Tour.

08-29 - NEW PHOTOS FROM DALLAS

New photos from Dallas uploaded to our online gallery: HERE.

08-29 - WIN TICKETS TO PHOENIX

08-29 - TWITTER

Billie Joe's recent message on Twitter:

Denver! Highlight- cigarettes and valentines - twice! - awesome as fuck?

Join the Official Green Day Twitter: HERE.

08-29 - CIGARETTES AND VALENTINES

08-28 - TWITTER MESSAGE FROM BILLIE JOE

Billie Joe posted this Twitter message:

Dallas! Highlight- letterbomb and my mom was at the gig I got 2 tattoos tonight. Good bye texas! You will be missed

Join Green Day's Official Twitter: HERE.

08-23 - OAKLAND PRESS

INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP — It may be the most mainstream of rock bands these days, even a Tony Award winner in the rarefied confines of the Great White Way, but a punk rock spirit still drives Green Day — and certainly put some fire in the group's electrifying marathon of a concert Monday night, Aug. 23 at the DTE Energy Music Theatre.

Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong did, after all, promise the crowd "the best (expletive) show you've ever seen" and seemed determined to make good on that from the get-go of the two-hour and 45-minute affair.

Following AFI's spirited opening set, Armstrong established the band's own semi-anarchic ground rules by ordering fans to "get out of your seats and dance in the (expletive -- he says a lot of those) aisles" and commanding security guards to get out of the way as they gleefully rushed to the area in front of the stage. It may have been the first time Green Day was playing to a metro area venue with reserved seating in front of the stage, but Armstrong and company were not about to adhere to those kinds of rules.

But even more pronounced than the punky attitude of non-compliance was a vaudevillian sensibility to do anything to please the patrons, which resulted in one of the most entertainingly over-the-top rock shows you can imagine.

Pyrotechnics? Check. Kissing up to the crowd? Check -- with Armstrong even declaring that "we're relocating to Michigan. Michigan is (expletive) perfect!" Pressing the flesh? Indeed -- showing the flesh, too, as Armstrong mooned the crowd at one point. Confetti, water guns, toilet paper, T-shirt guns, soccer-style cheers -- all present and accounted for.

And schtick -- lots and lots of schtick.

Green Day has, in fact, mastered an ability to be nothing less than goofy without damaging its credibility, something few — make that none — of its peers has managed to pull off.

Nothing exemplified that better on Monday than the group's performance of the bouncy "King For a Day," with the band members — including auxiliary guitarist and Michigan native Jason White — donning silly hats and glasses and multi-instrumentalist Jason Freese dressing as a saxophone-playing Elvis Presley.

Each of the musicians took a turn singing the bridge portion of the Isley Brothers' "Shout" before everyone fell flat on their backs to play a medley that included the Doors' "Break on Through," Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'," the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and the Beatles' "Hey Jude."

Earlier in the night Green Day delved into a Guitar Hero-style rock-o-rama, rolling through riffs from Black Sabbath's "Iron Man," Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll," Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," Kiss' "Detroit Rock City" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," among others.

Armstrong brought several fans on stage during the show — including a couple of youths who weren't yet born when Green Day had its first hits in 1994 and a young woman who exuberantly sang the entirety of "Longview," while "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?" was the trigger for a wholesale stage invasion that left a couple of women hanging onto Armstrong even as he began the next song, "2000 Light Years."

What kept everything from lapsing into pro-forma cacophony was the quality of the music and the performance of it. Punks though they may be, Green Day can play: Armstrong's guitar skills are understated, though he capably aped Eddie Van Halen during the riff medley; while bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool make sophisticated dynamics look relatively easy.

And the songs are smarter than the average punk nihilism, whether it's the cleverly phrased angst of "Longview," "Jaded," "Basket Case" and "Brain Stew" or heartfelt acoustic paeans like the show-closing couplet of "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)."

Some of Monday's musical highlights came from Green Day's ambitious socio-political rock operas, "American Idiot" and "21st Century Breakdown" — notably the anthemic "21 Guns" and the title track of the latter and "American Idiot's" suite-like "Jesus of Suburbia," a powerhouse that belies any notion of punk rock as simple music.

But Green Day does that with a grin, a sneer and a middle finger, and if the band truly did want to relocate to these parts, the 13,000 or so at DTE on Monday would be at the front of the welcome wagon

[Full review at Oakland Press]

08-23 - PRESS RELEASE

GREEN DAY SHINES LIGHT ON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OAKLAND IN UPCOMING SHORELINE BENEFIT SHOW

August 23, 2010 OAKLAND, CA Green Day has announced that they have created 30 VIP ticket packages for their hometown show on September 4th at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA, to benefit the Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland, the band announced today.

"My sister Anna works at Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland, so I am aware of the incredible work the hospital does, and how essential it is to support this community-based hospital," says Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong. "Children's Hospital and Research Center is a hospital where any child can go and get the best care, regardless of whether or not their families have insurance."

Founded in 1912, Children's Hospital Oakland serves children from throughout Northern California, is a global research leader, and has one of the most active designated Level I pediatric trauma center in the western United States.

Green Day is donating 30 pairs of tickets that include VIP Parking, VIP passes that include access to the band¹s pre-show soundcheck, backstage area, After-Show party, as well as a souvenir laminate and goody bag.

www.chofoundation.org/greenday

www.greenday.com

08-22 - KROQ

IT’S KROQ’S GREEN DAY!

Sign up to win a pair of tickets to the sold out Green Day show at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, August 31st.

We will randomly select 70 people to win a pair of tickets.

Before entering to win, you must be willing to participate in an on-site beach clean-up for Heal The Bay at Dockweiler State Beach on Saturday, August 28th at 10am. Dockweiler Beach is located just south of Playa Del Rey (by LAX). If you’ve ever flown out of LAX, you’ve been 500 feet over Dockweiler Beach.

Enter at KROQ.com: HERE

08-20 - BILLIE JOE ON TWITTER

I want to start a new sport that's a combo between MMA and ping pong.

Join the Official Green Day Twitter: HERE.

08-19 - TORONTO STAR

Now that’s how you throw a party!

Within the first 24 minutes of Green Day’s sold out three-hour marathon at Molson Amphitheatre Wednesday night, singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong had:

a) Engaged the audience in several sing-and-clap-a-longs;

b)Run through the crowd with his guitar so the people in Section 300 could get a close look at him;

c) Invited several folks onstage to share the microphone, and

d) Sacrificed a virgin.

And then the show really kicked into gear.

For Armstrong, dressed in a black shirt, white tie, red-striped jeans and running shoes, the Green Day philosophy for the evening was share and share alike. He made the fans work as hard – if not harder – than the six musicians in front of them, rallying the crowd right from the very first notes of “21st Century Breakdown,” and refusing to let up for the next 180 minutes.

Taking no prisoners, he demanded that the audience members “stand the f$%* up” and “get those hands in the air,” and often had them serenading the band through such classics as “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams,” “Minority,” and a goofy medley that incorporated Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” Survivor’s “Eye Of The Tiger” a few chords of Rush’s “La Villa Strangiato,” Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell,” as they engaged in a little tomfoolery.

“This is your night!” Armstrong yelled, and a series of deafening explosions followed – a pattern that would be repeated throughout the evening, as Green Day delivered more pyro – fireworks, fireballs, what have you – then you’d find at a dozen KISS blowouts.

And when it came to the music, the band – which included core trio members Armstrong, Mike Dirnt on bass and the ever sturdy Tre Cool on drums supplemented by guitarist Jason White, keyboardist Jason Freese and rhythm guitarist and singer Jeff Matika – delivered everything but the kitchen sink in terms of what any Green Day fan would want to hear.

There were more than 30 high-octane punk-flavored rockers and ballads, including healthy chunks of American Idiot that included a meaty version of “Give Me Novacaine” and a soaring rendition of “Are We The Waiting,” (with a searing “American Idiot” and a jubilant “Jesus of Suburbia” driving the encore home); a generous sampling of Dookie via the pent-up “Basket Case,” a reflective “When I Come Around” and a motoring “Longview” that wasn’t sung by the band at all, but by a guy in a white vest that Armstrong had invited from the crowd.

The man in his 20s more or less remained in tune as he realized his rock ‘n roll dream, entertaining 16,000 people with some slight coaching by Armstrong. For his efforts, Armstrong gave him a black and white electric guitar that matched his suit.

Green Day also dipped as far back into its history as Kerplunk!, and as they ripped through “2000 Light Years Away,” more than 30 people mobbed Armstrong on stage at his invitation, crowding around him as he sang the chorus into the microphone, cameras flashing from on-stage participants shocked to find themselves sharing such intimate space.

But if there was a message that Green Day seemed intent on delivering, it was that rock and punk music is not for the elite; it’s for everyone.

As for the virgin sacrifice, it was a nine-year-old kid named Sawyer whom Armstrong conscripted for “East Jesus Nowhere,” “saving” him by placing his hand to his forehead and “shocking” the sin out of him.

But that’s really what the night was about: having fun and sharing the true spirit of rock ‘n roll.

It was a five-star gesture that the audience members aged 6 to 60 truly appreciated, and, as far as concerts go, simply one of the best.

[Full article at Toronto Star]

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