Green Day Gig Review: 27th/28th October 2009 – LG Arena, Birmingham

NOTE: As many of you know me well know, gigs are a lot more than just turning up and bopping your head. Therefore, I’m writing up the whole experience from Sat Afternoon, will the early hours of Thursday Morning.. For those of you who just want to read about the gigs themselves, Scroll down till you see the GIG STARTS HERE bit, or… Go check out the lameass NME review….

Monday 26th October 2009

3:00PM: That’s it, bags are packed, tickets sorted, T-Shirt found and ready, off we go… To work. Got a shift to work tonight at the academy. Could this be the slowest night of my life? The PC has Green Day on repeat till I get back… Just in case any of my shoes or jeans miss me….

10:45PM: SHIFT’S FINISHED! Off we go (by we, we mean myself and Emily), to the Train Station, to get the train to Birmingham International….

11:12PM: Why is it, the ONE time we want the shops on New St to be open for food, ALL of them are shut. Pathetic. Looks like it’s £2 for a drink today then

11:36PM: Birmingham International Station. Hello There! Thetunnel bit to get into the NEC is closed, so it’s the looooonnnnnng walk round to get to the LG arena.

11:49PM:Whooop! We’re here!!!! 5 people are already, me and Em both know that had we not had work, we would have been there before them though . Time to sort the sleeping stuff out. And I start to resent the fact that Em left her sleeping bag at home. who cares.. It’s GREEN DAY TOMMORROW!!!!

Tuesday 27th November 2009

12:01AM: It’s Green Day Today!!!!

12:09AM: Here’s something funny. Trying to take a photo of the LG Arena sign, and I forget that my LG phone….. has no Flash. cheers LG for that amazing lack of implementation on your phone!

12:40AM: Right Bed time….. Frigging cold, but who cares.. At least my feet are (Slightly) warm… Means I may get some sleep

4:00AM: It’s Soooooo cold!!!!!!!!!!! None of us are sleeping properly… I think it’s a mix of the fact that We’ll e seeing Green Day in 14 hours, and the fact that it feels like the big guy upstairs decided to chill some beers on earth tonight.

5:40AM: Right. The sleeping thing’s not going to work…. Me and one of the guys have decided to go to Subway in the station.

6:01AM: Right Subway say that they open at 6AM, yet the shutter is closed. they’ve lost two customers now…. We’ve Demanded a shuttle train to the airport to continue our food hunt….

6:18AM: WOW! Boots have a shop in the airport!!!! I can get food at a (Semi) Reasonable price! £3.49… Bargain of the morning….

6:34AM: OK, Subway wins. Hot food and coffee are needed, and it’s the only place around that does it….. Note for future though, they don’t accept vouchers, or offer student discount. How pathetic is that??? Rip off bastards!

8:00AM: Right that’s us fed, (Slightly) warmer, and stocked up on nicotine,. The queues up to about 15 people now… I bet you any money that about 4PM, a load of Emos will try and push in….

9:00AM: We’ve found a big big of sign making material, and have made a big free hugs sign, then signed it all… How cute . A load of buisnessmen are asking us who’s playing, and then giving us the whole “I don’t know who you mean but you’ll kill me if I tell you that” look. Not true. We wouldn’t kill them, but  keep them hostage till they promise to buy us merch instead..

10:30AM: Mental. The security people have just moved us to the real entrance, and a load of people who were at the back, just tried to run in front of us….. 6 of us with stern faces saying “Move” later, and everything is fine in the world again. They’ve taken the sign though

11:00AM: Activity time…. A tour  bus is lost…. We go to investigate. It’s not green day (Obviously), but instead ZEBRAHEAD! They’ve taken time off their main support slot on Bowling For Soup “Party In Your Pants” tour, to see Green Day on their day off… Interesting……

11:30AM: Luke Wilkins from Kerrang has given people the chance to go and see Green Day’s soundcheck… Only thing is, I’d soooo lose my place in the queue if I won…. Looks like I’m staying here then….

1:38PM: SMARKY!!!!!! One of my friends from The Linkin Park Underground is here. We’re both in agreement. Tonight is gonna rock….

3:00PM: Right We know that Green Day Are NOT in the building yet, and a few of us start talking.. Shall we go and hunt down the entrance?????

3:45PM: The Kerrang! winners have turned up, and the band are STILL not in… They’ve got to be here in the next half hour.. for sure. Two of the guys who won with Kerrang! haven’t got tickets for tonight. how much does  someone want to bet that they’ll be hunting the touts down come 5PM?

4:11PM: And here comes a tour bus!!!!!!!! Inside, we present to you, TRE COOL!!!!!!

4:13PM: And the next tour bus. This one parks RIGHT in front of the entrance door, and FOR FUCK SAKE, the other tour bus is blocking theview

4:14PM: Just saw a quick Glimpse of Billie-Joe’s head, with his new blonde hair…… As well as Mike Dirnt!

4:25PM: Back in the queue, where people fail to believe that we just saw the band get into the venue…..

5:05M:  Wait…. Whats that? We can hear the soundcheck from our position in the queue…. Cue a sing along to 21st Century Breakdown

5:35PM: Note for note, word for word (Including Billie Joe’s live  bits from the BIAB DVD), we just sung Jesus Of Suburbia in the queue…. SHEER EPICNESS (anyone who has a youtube video for this let me know)

5:45PM: The homecoming singalong fell however.. What the hell guys? It’s possibly the most underated song on the album? No idea what the Sweedish girls near us are singing though.. apparently its Tokyo Hotel.. GOD NO!!!!

5:46PM I’m Wristbanded up!!!!! Doors almost open!!!!!

GIG REVIEW STARTS HERE

6:02PM: I love power walking!!!! Teenage Kicks, the song that quite possibly paved the way for bands like Green Day’s mainstream existance is on, as we try not to walk too quickly . We are at the front of Billie Joe’s Catwalk, sat down, because apparently Security say it will crush us Less……

6:17PM: … Which fails miserably when everyone rushes to stand up

6:45PM: the seated areas are filling up stupidly slowly. is it because the security are slow in gettine poeple in, or because these people are just lazy and wanting to turn up late.

Prima Donna: I really want to say someting nice about this band, but there isn’t a lot I can say to be honest. They combine the arrogantness of so many of these “Overnight” bands wit the music of bands like KISS… They would proberbly be good at their own show, but supporting Green Day? Not so sure.

7:45PM: The Stage is on show!!!!!!!!!!! What a TV Screen…. They have something at the front of the stage attached to gas canisters…. Am I gonna get covered in confetti?

8:00PM: Some drunken bunny comes onto stage… and makes us do the YMCA dance.. Well. Why not???  Is he classified as a support act

8:10PM: WE BEGIN. (from here till the end of the gig, the review will be by song)

Song of the Century: Sing us a song of the century, That’s louder than bombs, And eternity…. HERE WE GO!!!!!
21st Century Breakdown: Tre comes out to the front, and gets oh so close to us, but not quite close enough to touch, Followed by Mike, and Then Bille. The Crowd go wild. Immediatly, we are into the world of Standing up, Chanting, and waving. Billie’s not going to let anyone get away with head bobbing. Not tonight..

Know Your Enemy: OK, things are slightly settled down after the opening song shove now, and my god are the band on form tonight! Billie literally has the crowd in the palm of his hand, in a state not seen since Freddie Murcury back in the 80′s.
East Jesus Nowhere: “And you will see, how godless a nation we have become”. This being the bands latest single was always going to be a polished performance, however there is still the rawness that makes Green Day who they are. cue a slightly more complicated clap chant, (Clap-Clap, Clap), but still pulled off by the crowd…. god this is awsome! Billie tries to get a girl on stage to “Sacrifse” (Her name is Kathryn), but she is too upset/scared to do so. How much will she regret that later in life? So instead, Billie gets ONE OF HIS SONS on stage. Every girl in the LG arena under the age of 14 has a new crush.
Holiday: And…. LIGHTS OUT!!!!!!!! Bille has one of these high high high voltage lights, which I’m sure has pissed off some mother for blinding her, but hey…. Should have got a standing ticket!! I wanna know how many of those he gets through in a tour the way he threw that down…..
The Static Age: Back we goto 21st Century Breakdown, and the Gas Mask image is on the HUUUGE Screen… WWE, if you wanna know how to do a Pyro/Stage set up, ask these guys…. This is one of my favourite songs off the album, and it was note perfect live.
Give Me Novacaine: Time to slow it down for a bit… Not that Billie is about to give us any rest. Hands are up in the air with authority.
Are We the Waiting: Will someone remind me to send a copy of this song to Westlife, with a note saying “This is how to write a ballad”

St. Jimmy: And here we go, back to the fast paced. Tell you what, for 16,000 people we shouted, 1,2,1,2,3,4 pretty loud. Big pat on the back for us….

Boulevard Of Broken Dreams: Still playing the new stuff, still pleasing the fans, still having EVERYONE captivated. We are all being given a lesson on how to rock a concert by this point. I could have used the word amazing a million times by now. but hey, people claim the word is overused.

Murder City: Desperate to make an impression the band are not. By this point, many of the crowd could go home and still call this the best gig of their life. And the guys are still warming up

Hitchin’ A Ride: And with a 1, a 2, a 1,2,3,4, we head back in time to Nimrod. Such a tune!!!!
At The Library: Whoop! Something old!!!!! You can tell the hardcore from this song. You also remember how long the bands journey has been over the years, and the good old days when writing about sex and wanking was the theme for the band.

When I come around: Always an anthem this song, and justice done again tonight…… Not a lot to say here, as it’s all just awsome!

Iron Man + Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover): It takes someone either very good or very Stupid to cover these two songs… I’ll give you a hint. GD were not in the second catagory this time…
Brain Stew: All the way back to insomniac we go, and the few blank faces around me showed the difference between the new fans and the old… This has always been a personal favourite of mine. Hard to describe why, but it just sounds so fucking dirty!

Jaded: Staying with the old stuff, and you can tell how much the band like playing this.

Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover): OK. Officially it’s a cover, but the band covered it back in what… 1991? That albums older than Em!! Awesome. Though some of the crowd were VERY  confused by this point, as they didn’t know this far back. Three people who get a big shout out here are the people who got on stage to play in the mini band… Especially the girl who played guitar.. did anyone else see that cheeky smile as she did that solo? good on you girl!
Basket Case: OK, Dookie, and one of the REALLY popular songs. This gets those who are a bit less hardcore back into the mix, and provides a 16,000 person Kareoke machine. However  a lesson was learnt here. If you start singing the song before Billie, he gives you a HUGGGGEEE evil! Also did anyone see the game Tre has with one of the sound guys at the beginning of the song, which basically involves him playing a note with a stick, then lobbing it at the sound guy for him to catch, before picking another one out, and doing it again, all in time to the  music? (And they call drummers stupid….)
She: Proper tunage here! love the backdrop for this sng, with all the stickers and all that…. class!

King For A Day/Shout/Living After Midnight/Stand By Me/I Fought The Law/Teenage Kicks/Satisfaction: If anyone says thatbands have no fun on stage, this is the song to prove them wrong. SOOOOOOO much fun, and one of the best of the night in my honest opinion. Billie wore a pink ear warmer hat at one point, and made for the photo oppertunity of the year. This very well could fill a support act slot by it’self at most shows, and leave the audience calling for an encore… So nice to see them play Teenage Kicks, one of my favourite songs of all time, and oh how funny was Tre? At one point Billie starts coughing, and I scream “STOP SMOKING BILLIE”. Whilst it may be hypocritical of me, Tre seemed to like it….
21 Guns: By the end of this song, there were NO dry eyes in the house. An amazing song as it is, the pryo in the middle, with sparks falling onto the stage, made pretty much everyone have a tear in their eye. I know I had more than one in mine. I’ll put it up for live song of the Year.
Minority: Time to expereince Billie’s harmonica skills here. Always a favourite one of the best tracks to end part one of the show on.
Encore Break: Was it me, or was the guy doing the Green Day thing on the video screen taking the piss by varying the speed all the time?
American Idiot: Shall we have a singalong then? Nice and to the point this.

Jesus Of Suburbia: OK. I’ll admit it. This was WAYYYYY better than our rendition outside. I’ve got my new tattoo design now . Just sheer class. One of the songs EVERYONE wanted, and an amazing rendition. Better than MK? Hell yes!!!!
Encore 2 Break: Getting a bit sad now, knowing that Day 1 will be over soon…… Then Billie comes out with his acoustic guitar

Last Night on Earth: WOW. What a performance! So emotional, and perfect done acoustically.
Wake Me Up When September Ends: Is this better as a full acoustic version in comparison to the older live version? I honestly can’t tell you.I don’t think the two should be compared. It was emotional, heartwarming, and the passion coming directly from one man and his guitar transferred to everyone in that arena.

Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life): I want to be short and sweet on this one. Guys, I have had the time of my life. Thank You. See you tommorrow!

Ending: Tre comes out and lobs all his sticks in the air…. Epic.

11:13PM:  Whats this? Me and Em queing up for tommorrow? Damn right we are!

Wednesday 28th October

12:07AM: We have company… Just two people, but company enough

12:45AM: we’ve been moved back to where we were last night, as they needed to move some stuff out of the venue through that path….. Meh………

1:05AM: Hope it’s not gonna rain tonight. My head is right below the edge of the roof…

4:30AM: Moved back to the place where we started queuing after the gig….. Meh… EFFORT

8:30AM: Good Morning LG ARENA!!!!! Feels a bit De Ja Vu here, a better nights sleep than last night, but my neck is in fucking agony… Meh.  Could be worse I suppose. Emily Toddles off to go and get some Breakfast…..

9:30AM: I have to go and drop our stuff off in a friends hotel…. Walking seems weird after being sat or stood in one place for the majority of the last two days..

10:45AM: Fail of the two days? Possibly. One of Em’s friends got to the NEC, and THEN realised he left his ticket at home. Back he trots then, see you later rob

10:55AM: These 1W Speakers are shocking. Either we all shut up, or mobile speakers, for the first time ever, are going to win.

2:00PM: Emily’s Mom is here, bearing gifts of Sausage Rolls and drink. How nice is that!!!!!

2:30PM: The queuing systems (Slightly) better than yesterday. At least we get to have some of the overnight/early morning campers at the front of each of the three queues.

3:30PM: We go off on a tourbus hunt again. Only 6 of us this time, so if they do turn up, in a god mood, we stand a better chance of saying hello….

3:50PM: We meet the guy who is the Bunny every night for Green Day. I’m not allowed to give you his name, otherwise I’ll get into trouble, but he seems impressed we figured out who he is. He’s also a bit dumbfiunded by the fact that we’ve been here all this time…. Us British you know, we’re diehard!

4:00PM: One of Green Day’s tour people is out the back, doing cartwheels and handstands, We cheer, she gives us a curtsy.

4:15PM: Where the fuck are Green Day? We know they are on their way, but we cant leave it too much longer, or Emos will steal our place in the queues.

4:22PM: We start to head back, dissapointed

4:22.30PM: Then run back as we see a tour bus! This one has Billie in it, wearing a black flat top hat.

4:26PM: Along comes Mike, however he parked up in fornt of the door as well. Do they REALLY think 6 fans are gonna hurt him?

4:30PM: TRE! FOR FUCK SAKE HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!

4:32PM: Just as we start to head off again, Tre turns up. this is an inside joke for sure….. We’ll get you back later though

4:45PM: Thats the pre-gig wee out the way, and back in the queue, me and Mia, from Milk-And-Beans, are SERIOUSLY stocking up on nicotine.

5:10PM: And it’s the soundcheck! We can’t hear it as well as yesterday, as we’ve been moved back, added to the fact that some of the crowd today, are quite frankly, cocks. We hear what we can though…

5:25PM: WTF are people singing Yellow Submarine for? This is Green Day, not the friggin Beatles!!!!!

5:40PM: hello wristband, Hello door, This seems slightly familiar.

6:00PM: DOORS OPEN!!!!

6:00.20PM: Some bastard has just stopped me for no reason. Pillock. Have to speed walk a bit quicker now.

6:01.05PM: Whats this? Me and Em, in EXACTLY the same place as yesterday? Damn right we are!!!!

6:15PM: the emos seem to think that if they stand up first, they can trample us to the front. No Way…. We learnt from last night. Funny thing is, Security had no idea what was going on, as they were talking to people rather than doing their job. So 4 of them have to jump over the barrier

6:16PM: Ahhh.. The two monotone faced Sweedish girls are to the left of the Catwalk. wonder if they will A: Smile, and B: Do more than just take Youtube memories tonight? I had so much fun jogging them yesterday while they tried to take their millionth photo…

6:24PM: We saw. P…. Wait. Bunny Man!!!! In his non bunny attire!!! Cue an insiders chant of “Who are ya!!!”

6:30PM: Some prick in the crowd… Being a cock to the girls around him…. Must resist the urge to lamp him…

6:55PM: We’ve been given these cards to download a free Prima Donna LP. Have they realized that none of us will pay for the album, and will do anything for publicity??? No Idea (Note here: They are probably better than I make them out to be here, it’s just that they were the wrong band to be supporting Green Day, although after being told that it COULD have been Fall Out Boy, I suddenly become slightly more appreciative.)

7:30PM: Prima Donna’s Been and gone, same set, nothing much to report apart from the fact that we decided to give the singer a few nipple twists and reacharounds when he came down to say hi…. Well why not!!!!

For the next bit of the review, I’ll only review the songs where something significantly different happened to the night before.

East Jesus Nowhere: Not only did Billie ge two kids on stage, but they actually wanted to take part!!!! Epic

Give Me Novacane: “That guy was here last night, the guy with the blue hair, come on, come up here, I want everybody to see you… Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the new face of Rock And Roll right here….” !!!

King For A Day: Billie in Pink AGAIN. you can tell he’s eeing if he can pull it off for the next tour.

Christie Road: CHRISTIE FUCKING ROAD!!!! Sorry, had to say that..

The End: Fucking tired, dehydrated, sweating more than a prostitute during  half price sale,  but they were the two greatest gigs I have ever EVER seen. Not a lot more I can ssay here, but:

“Thank you for the time of our lives”