Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA
September 4, 2010
According to the Umlaut Archives this was my 21st time seeing Green Day dating back to the first time I saw them at a warehouse art space in The Mission in 1992. I'm too old to worry about if it's "okay" to like Green Day or if they're "Metal" or not; I dig 'em. Also, since Skychick isn't into The Metal, Green Day are one of those bands that we have in common so we can actually attend a concert together once in awhile. Awwww.Fast forward to the 21st Century and Umlaut saw the first warm up show of Green Day's current tour cycle last April at The Indepedent and tonight was the sold out final show of the band's U.S. Tour. I was still on a METAL high from my 48 Hours of Carnage earlier in the week so I thought I'd be a smartass and wear a SLAAAYEER hoodie to the show... but almost immediately upon entering Shoreline there was a kid wearing a Cannibal Corpse shirt. Nicely played, young man... nicely played. You are indeed more Metal than me.
The Local Heroes hit the stage right at 8:00pm and stayed onstage for a solid 3 HOURS... which was basically the same amount of time all 3 American Carnage bands were onstage combined. Say what you will, but Green Day gives their fans complete value for money at their shows.
Apologies to my photographer friends, but I thought it was cool that the band allowed kidz (I assume fan club members) to fill in the empty space in between the rail and the front row of reserved seats. It brought some sense of immediacy to the otherwise sterile Shoreline environment. However, the lack of space for the photographers made for them having, like, the worst night ever. Oh well, dudes. Sometimes the kidz rate higher than the zoom lens.
The setlist was basically the same one the band played on last year's arena tour, but with some old song audibles mid-set that weren't part of the printed setlist. Kudos to the band for pulling out 'Going Back To Pasalacqua'. As they've been known to do, Green Day also busted out some Classic Rock covers which included Guns 'N Roses, Led Zeppelin, and The Who this time. I cracked up because Jason on guitar at stage right did the trademark stage move from each band during each song: The Axl shimmy, Jimmy Page's duck walk where he held his Les Paul at his side, Pete Townshend's stomping around in a circle and then the windmill with his pick hand. Music Geeks shall inherit The Earth!
As he does at every show, Billie Joe pulled fans onstage at various times during the set, which is not something every band can pull off succesfully. Tonight's lucky fan who sang 'Longview' with the band was given the guitar Billie Joe was playing... and for those cynical people who think a stunt like that is fake, we met the young lady backstage after the show with her new guitar.
You can't fake starstuck happiness like the look on her face. No band takes care of their fans like Green Day.. seriously... and that's why Umlaut digs them so much. Adults and kidz leave a Green Day show with a smile on their face... and there's something to be said for that in this day and age. Umlaut may prefer Death Metal... but experiencing "joy" at a show gives me perspective to appreciate "the dark"... I guess. Oh, and guess what... Rob of Death Angel and former Death Angel guitarist Gus Pepa sat in the same row as us with their families. So, yeah, Umlaut wasn't the only Bay Area Metalhead in the house.
The End of The Tour after show was pretty tame; Slayer had Jaeger backstage and Green Day had pizza... but there were beerz. We hung for awhile with The Talent and Skychick saw Tre Cool break dance... and then we were back at Casa de Umlaut by 1:00am.
As always, THANKS to Tour Manager Doug for sorting my +1 into his All Access World. 'Til the next tour, my brother!
I didn't do a merch audit and actually didn't even think about doing one.. On the way back to the car, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. That's kinda all I have to say about this night... Not Metal but a completely F-U-N show... and now Summer 2010 is over.
Click HERE for Photo Ray's shots from the show.