Gillian G. Gaar - Green Day: Rebels With a Cause

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To my mother, Marcella Gaar, for always being there

Theyd been superstars all along. The only difference was that now the whole world knew it.

Lawrence Livermore, Metal Hammer Presents Green Day, 2005

D ate: September 24, 2005. Place: SBC Park, a 41,000-seat outdoor stadium in San Francisco, California, where Green Day will perform yet another date on the seemingly never-ending tour promoting their wildly successful album, American Idiot. So far, the records racked up sales of nine million worldwide, and the previous February won a Grammy award for Best Rock Album. Its been hailed as a stunning return to form for the band: the album of their career, in the words of the London Times. Its also surprisingly from a group previously regarded as bratty punk rockers something of a political statement, marking the first time the band members have spoken out extensively about several issues on the minds of many Americans today: the machinations of the Bush administration; the war on terror; the US invasion of Iraq; and how all this has been distilled, dumbed down, and relayed to the nation via reality TV. As Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Days lead singer and guitarist, told a reporter at the time of the albums release, The countrys divided, and theres a lot of confusion and its not only confusing for my kids, its confusing for adults, too. Everybody just sort of feels like they dont know where their future is heading right now, you know?

But today isnt just any date on the tour. The San Francisco gig, held the same day as yet more anti-war protests are being held across the country (including one in San Francisco), is the closest the band will come to doing a homecoming show. (Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt having made their live debut at a now-closed rib joint in Vallejo, some 30 miles to the north.) And at a time when other stadium acts are charging as much as $300 a ticket, Green Day has kept their ticket prices relatively inexpensive (around $50). Opening acts Flogging Molly and Jimmy Eat World have each received a warm welcome, but its obvious who the crowd has come to see. Giant screens on either side of the stage, bearing the Verizon logo in a nod to tour sponsor Verizon Wireless, display text messages from the attendees: Green Day Rocks and Scream if you love Green Day! along with jokes (Go Dodgers! which elicits boos from fans of the San Francisco Giants) and personal pleas (Im sorry Jan. Everyone makes mistakes. Call me.). Its also predominantly a young crowd, including plenty of kids and pre-teens who have come in the company of their parents, like the seven-year-old girl who walks by in a pink Green Day shirt and matching boots, holding her mothers hand. Fans who havent been following the tour through online websites debate what the opening song will be: American Idiot or Welcome To Paradise?

In the run up to Green Days set, the music playing over the PA system is mostly punky pop/poppy punk like Devos Whip It and The Go-Gos We Got The Beat. Five years ago, Billie Joe sang on stage with The Go-Gos in San Francisco and went on to co-write the song Unforgiven for the groups 2001 reunion album. Not too many in the crowd seem familiar with Bikini Kills Rebel Girl (whose lead singer, Kathleen Hanna, makes a cameo appearance on the American Idiot album), but The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) gets a lot of cheers. Then a familiar trumpet fanfare brings the crowd to its feet. Its the Village Peoples YMCA, of all things, and as the song reaches the chorus, the audience stands and obligingly spells out Y-M-C-A with their arms en masse, as someone clad in a pink bunny suit bounces out on stage, goofing around, chugging beers, winding up the already expectant crowd even more.

Then comes a song by one of Green Days chief influences, The Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop. Its a song Green Day themselves have played in concert, most notably in a short tribute set at the 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony when The Ramones joined the other illustrious names already in the Rock Hall. When the song comes to its abrupt end, the lights go out and the crowd snaps. Those in the stands rush to the front of the seated sections, and those on the field push even tighter together in the standing-room area in front of the stage. Everyone unleashes their emotions in a fusillade of screams probably audible on the Berkeley shoreline, The Contra Costa Times later observes. (Contra Costa county being where Billie Joe and Mike originally hail from.)

Now the music is Richard Strauss majestic Also Sprach Zarathustra, better known to modern audiences as the theme from Stanley Kubricks sci-fi classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as the music that welcomed Elvis to the stage for most of his Seventies-era shows. (As it happens, Billie Joes first album purchase was an Elvis record.) The screams reach a fever pitch when the members of Green Day finally appear the core trio of guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tr Cool augmented by Jason White and Mike Pelino on guitars, and Jason Freese and Ron Blake on horns, keyboards, and assorted percussion. The ensemble blasts into American Idiot.

When Tr first hits his drums, the red curtains at the back of the stage drop to reveal three huge vertical red banners, two of which have the zapped man logo used in the cover artwork for Warning. The middle banner is emblazoned with the now-iconic cover image from American Idiot: a hand gripping a heart-shaped grenade (but which Billie Joe said looks more like a strawberry in the program for the spring and summer 2005 tour).Two additional large banners with the zapped man logo flank the stage. The band members are all dressed in black, with little individual touches adding a bit of colour: Billie Joe and Tr wearing striped ties, Billie Joe wearing a white armband with the words Rage on his right arm and a black wristband with the red heart grenade/strawberry logo on his left wrist, and Mikes trousers having a thin white stripe down each leg.

After the songs first chorus, Billie Joe shouts out, San Francisco! to massive cheers; hell go on to yell the citys name at some point during just about every song in the set to the same enthusiastic response. He also begins the audience interaction that will continue throughout the show. During the instrumental breaks he dashes from one side of the stage to the other, singing,