FOUR YEARS?! What have I been doing?
I have a lot to catch up on, but for now, let's take a look at the most recent 90s-related event, Green Day at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
My history with Green Day is long, but not detailed. Like most 90s music fans I first heard them when "Longview" premiered on MTV. Being 14 or 15 at the time, I was totally into it. These guys are talking about masturbation! On TV! They get me!
By the time "Basket Case" in all of its pop glory came around, I was instantly hooked. Here was easily-digestible punk rock, safe for a suburban/rural kid to subscribe to without having to commit fully to a punk aesthetic. No piercings, tattoos, dyed hair, or TSOL shirts necessary.
Except... Green Day were never a punk rock band.
I'd always known this superficially, but I'll admit, it wasn't until this past weekend that I fully understood it.
Is this punk rock? Not at all.
But the real moment of reckoning came when Billie Joe started on a political diatribe, or what passes for one in his mind. He kept blaming "politicians" for dividing us, when all we need to do is unite.
This was a very familiar refrain. I'd heard it a lot 20 years ago. The politicians, man. They're all to blame.
Except... they're not. And this is a woefully simplistic view in our current political climate.
At one point in the show Billie Joe made the strongest political statement he would the entire night: "Fuck racism, fuck sexism, fuck homophobia, and most of all, fuck Nazis."
I agree with all of this. But then, to follow it up minutes later by blaming "politicians" does nothing to advance this agenda. There are a lot of people who hold political office that are fighting for those values constantly. To lump all politicians together is either incredibly naive or ignorant, and only serves to foster an attitude of "us" (the regular people) vs. "them" (politicians).
The main problem with which is THIS IS EXACTLY HOW WE GOT IN THIS MESS.
The main reason Donald Trump (mentioned by name only once all night, when Billie Joe says he travels a lot more than than him) was elected President is a long-held belief the government is not working for you, and only one of "us" can fix that. Nevermind that Trump is farthest thing from a Green Day fan you could find.
But, by not calling out Trump by name (even in Green Day's home state of California, the bluest in the country) the band doesn't alienate anyone. No one can boycott their shows if their diatribes are safely in the middle. The anti-Hollywood right can't complain about Green Day on FoxNews or Breitbart. They're innocuous. They pose no threat.
Which is fine, except it's not when you're calling yourselves "punk." Because while punk can be reduced down to a style of music, of which Green Day sometimes fall in to, it's also an attitude and a lifestyle and mostly, it poses a threat to the status quo. The was the whole idea in the first place. A fireworks show in a football stadium and a 10-minute medley of call-and-response hits like the Isley Brothers' "Shout" and "Hey Jude" does not pose a threat to the status quo at all. It only feeds it.
I remember an MTV News interview the Green Day did while on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour. The band used an old Bookmobile as a tour van (long before #1 hits and stadium shows), and said it was great because they weren't bothered in there. "No one reads anymore," was the quote from Billie Joe. Which is as empty and false a statement as "the politicians are the problem."
Ultimately, I walked away from that show with 2 realizations:
1) The Rose Bowl sucks and is a terrible place to see a concert or anything.
2) Green Day are phonies. And they always have been.
Anyway, here's the setlist:
Know Your Enemy
Bang Bang
Revolution Radio
Holiday
Letterbomb
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Longview
Youngblood
2000 Light Years Away
Armatage Shanks
Hitchin' a Ride
When I Come Around
Welcome to Paradise
Minority
Are We the Waiting
St. Jimmy
Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover)
Basket Case
She
King For a Day
WEIRD MEDLEY (Careless Whisper/Shout/Always Look on the Bright Side of Life/Satisfaction/Hey Jude)
Still Breathing
Forever Now
ENCORE 1:
American Idiot
Jesus of Suburbia
ENCORE 2:
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
