Green Day
The Rave
Milwaukee
Jan. 24, 2001
Billie Joe feels the chord.
Oh yeah!
Oh yeah!
Story & photos by Phil Bonyata
Born of the post Nirvana punk scene, Green Day has become something that they've probably least expected - irrelevant. Sure their message of alienation and "boredom of the 'burbs" still strikes a resonant chord with many Gen Xers, but the meaning hasn't grown or evolved into something more than just griping. Its a lot easier to bitch than to offer solutions.
Green Day exploded onto the Rave's stage last night and into the waiting arms of their many lovers. Boring Green Day is not!
Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong shot out of the gates looking like a kangaroo that just finished off a pot of concentrated espresso and jumped right into the three chord party pleaser "Nice Guys Finish Last." These guys have got the Ramones inbedded in every recess of their craniums. The band's stage demeanor owes an unpaid debt to Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. One minute they're jumpin' around like pissed off monkeys that want nothing more than to free themselves from their cages and then, on a turn of a dime, they're frozen zombies laying emphasis on lyrical content. Effective and at the same time very comical. Extremes with no gray areas are always exciting but usually you've forgotten why you liked what you just saw after a short time passes.
"2,000 Light years Away" from Kerplunk was an infectious primal scream. Hard, quick, take no prisoners. Insanity ruled and many in the Rave's sardine can surely felt good to let go - not to care. If only for a brief moment. With no time to pop up for air, the trio charged into numbers like "Warning," Waiting" and "Macy's Day Parade." Their real charm exposed. It might be that being irrelevant is exactly where they want to be. "When I Come Around" had it's guns finish off the audience only after every bit of moshing energy had been spent on the Rave's sweat drenched floor.
