Over the weekend, revolutionary pop-punk rockers Green Day hosted an intimate, sold-out show at NYC’s famed Irving Plaza—the venue they first headlined back in 1994. The nearly 5 hour event presented by Nokia and AT&T featured fans of veteran and new age status, alongside the industry’s elite.
Opening the night was up and coming punk band, Lipstick Homicide. This young–average age of 17– female fronted trio entertained the early entry VIPs with their highly saturated bass-punk riffs.
Just after 10 PM, Green Day took to the stage and were well received by a packed house. Opening their 30+ song set list with “Welcome To Paradise” off of their ’94 release, Dookie, fans across the generations showed their appreciation.
Those unable to attend this auspicious event were treated to an live broadcast of the first few songs–allowing the band to connect with fans far and away.
While the set featured hits like “Holiday,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Basket Case,” and “Carpe Diem,” missing was the typical political commentary from front man, Billie Joe Armstrong. Then again, with a set list longer than both political conventions, there was hardly time to comment on anything– well except for Sharon Osbourne– followed immediately by the interlude of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” and Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.”
Yes, among the Green Day catalog were a variety of cover transitions include “Highway to Hell,” and “Shout.” Armstrong made no joke about bringing the party to New York as he sported a feather boa, sunglasses, and bunny ears and was joined by a saxophonist in a wizard hat. (Not lying.)
While fans packed in the pit chanted desperately for “86,” the band made their best attempt to recall the notes, before giving up and vowing to make up for it with “Stuck With Me.”
As the clock ran well past midnight, the crowd began to realize that Armstrong’s warning of, “I don’t have any place to be tonight… so we’re going to go all night,” would become a matter of fact.
The band would clock-out at two hours and thirty-seven minutes note-to-note, capping the marathon set off with an encore of “American Idiot” and “99 Revolutions.” While many would suspect a band that’s been around for over two decades would have a reserved presence on stage, this simply was not the case. Any doubt of Green Day’s ability to rock was put to rest, as the sweat poured accross the stage at Irving Plaza.
So, why the marathon club show before the band embarks on a North American arena tour– including returning to Brooklyn in January at the new Barclays Center? Well, the band has a new album Uno! arriving in stores on September 25th (which surprisingly wasn’t mentioned from the stage). The release will be the first of a trilogy of albums set to hit stores over the next 6 months–Dos! on November 13th and Trè! on January 15th.
LIPSTICK HOMICIDE:
