A few nights ago Tim and I had the best date night in probably our entire relationship. A few weeks ago, we found out that Green Day, one of our favorite bands, was coming to a small venue near us. This is highly unusual for a mega band to do a club tour but for some reason the band decided to hit a few clubs on their way to the SXSW conference.
We waited in line for hours as everyone had to check-in to get banded before entering the show due to their various attempts to thwart scalpers for this small show. Once we got inside and scoped out the perfect spot, Tim grabbed a soda for each of us and we people watched because we opted for balcony spots over the pit area. Right about start time, we were informed that Green Day would be a little late because the venue was taking too long and people were still outside waiting to get banded and the band didn’t want anyone to miss the show due to the venue’s slow check in process.
Thankfully the musicians’ instrument techs dubbed themselves Classic Hugo and the Dirty Dick Beaters and put on an impromptu performance to keep the audience entertained. After four songs, they left the stage to prepare for the show and the speakers were again playing random songs until one song—probably the only song that could result in a sing along— started, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.
Green Day takes the stage
Moments after the sing along, the standard introduction song for Green Day started and you could feel the energy jump by leaps and bounds. Or was that just the people around us jumping? Surprisingly they did not start their set with the standard Welcome To Paradise instead opting for 99 Revolutions from one of their newest albums Tre!.
Then during the second song, Know Your Enemy, a young fan was enticed by Billy Joe Armstrong to drop from the balcony to the pit below. Upon successful jump, the boy was brought on stage where he not only got a hug from Armstrong but he sang a few lines of the song before jumping back into the pit to crowd-surf his was out.
The entire band put on a fantastic club show and interacted with the energetic fans in a way you just can’t get from a large stadium performance. They pushed the audience to sing along and even asked if anyone knew a Texas song before sideman Jason Freese sang a bar from the only one he knew, Deep In The Heart of Texas. Silly, sincere and they had as much fun performing as the fans had watching.
Green Day Set List
- 99 Revolutions
- Know Your Enemy
- Stay the Night
- Stray Heart
- Stop When the Red Lights Flash
- Letterbomb
- Oh Love
- Holiday
- Boulevard of Broken Dreams
- Burnout
- Brat
- Disappearing Boy
- Highway to Hell / Brain Stew
- St. Jimmy
- When I Come Around
- Basket Case
- She
- King for a Day / Shout / Stand by Me
- Minority
Encore
- American Idiot
- Jesus of Suburbia
- ????? – Unreleased – Unfinished
- X-Kid – 1st Live
- Brutal Love – 1st Live
Check out these photos!
14 replies on “Green Day. Small Venue. Best Night Ever.”
[…] The first album they released in 2011, Don’t Be A Dick, was a decent album for being their first but they have come a long way with this one. Surprisingly it is very good. Normally every album always has a song or two that I don’t really like but I cant say that about Lost At Seventeen as every song is really good. Lost At Seventeen was produced by Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. […]
[…] founded by Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt of Green Day which just so happens to be one of our favorite bands. Amrstrong and Dirnt love coffee but wanted to have a personal connection with the farmers while […]
[…] guess, Tim and I are huge Green Day fans and we were thrilled when they came to a nearby city for a small club performance. So when I caught wind that their Broadway show, American Idiot The Musical, was coming to the same […]
[…] The first album they released in 2011, Don’t Be A Dick, was a decent album for being their first but they have come a long way with this one. Surprisingly it is very good. Lost At Seventeen was produced by Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. […]
[…] while also being the tour manager for Green Day on several recent tours. Jason has recently joined Green Day as the fourth member after touring with them for over a […]
What fun!! I’ve only seen Green Day at music festivals. I still remember when I was 11 they were playing this hole-in-the-wall local club here and I wanted to see them. My parents thought I was way too young, and they were probably right. It might have been 18 and old club. Looks like you had an awesome time!!
This concert originally started as an 18+ but they tossed out the age restriction before tickets went on sale. We saw lots of teens and a handful of preteens that were probably pretty grateful that the restriction was lifted.
I am a fan of Green Day, and I would have loved to see them in a smaller venue setting! I’m so glad you were able to get out and have fun!
The small venue was perfect. I don’t think a large venue would have had the same energetic atmosphere. I’m glad we got away for the day, too.
Wow, this brings me back!! Green Day was my first concert without parents way back in 1994 when I was in the 8th grade. I loved them!
That was around the time I first heard them, too. My mom would never have let me go to a concert so young. She was a little over-protective. She was worried about me going to this concert and I’m over 30.
Wow, what a fun time!!! Not so sure about the safety of jumping off a balcony, but I guess people will always do crazy stuff, lol.
It was probably as safe as the people crowd surfing in the pit. The pit was so jam packed that if one person moved their neighbors moved, too. And the balcony was probably as high as the high dive jumping into a pool.
Looks like you had a blast!! 🙂 This is the reason I like attending concerts here in my hometown, their easier to interact with the band! Get better seats & spend less on the tickets! Glad you had fun!