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I was interested in seeing how a stadium show would differ from an arena show, let alone the club shows that I frequently attend. Gillette Stadium holds 68,000 people (though I'm not sure what the capacity of this show was, as the seats behind the stage were empty, but there were people on the floor). Stadiums are big enough to double as small cities (as we all know- thank you, Houston), and I found myself walking a mile (Sarah's mom drove us so I didn't get raped on parking, which was as high as $30) along with a small but eager group of people excited about seeing Green Day. I walked as fast as possible to ensure that I wouldn't miss Against Me!
They were playing their first song as we were walking to our seats, and continued to play as many songs as they could in the 20 minutes they had. There was no time for talking, which I thought was a good move, and there was little silence between songs.
The majority of their set was a mixutre of As the Eternal Cowboy and Searching for a Former Clarity, which was a good strategy considering those are the two most widely available albums. They did play "Pints of Guinness Make You Strong," which maded me happy.
Being lucky enough to have already heard their new album, I was very excited to hear how these songs would sound in an arena, as they have an arena rock sound to them. The sound wasn't all that great for Against Me! (though it got better for the other bands), making everything sound airy and far away, which they were. It was weird watching them on a big screen (which had a delay that didn't synch up the sound to the video), and then looking down on these ant type people actually playing. The crowd gave them a polite applause, but it was hard to tell how many people they won over. Though I enjoyed them thoroughly (I was slightly disappointed when they didn't play "Miami" or "Unprotected Sex With Multiple Partners"), their sound is much more suited for the intimate feeling of a small club.
After Against Me! played, we ventured out to the walkway for some food and bathroom. I made sure to check out the prices at the merch booths, which made me sick. The t shirts were $25 a piece. It really pisses me off that the more popular a band is, the more they gouge you on their merch. I know the venue is taking a piece of that action, but does Green Day really need to charge $25 a shirt after already getting $40 a ticket? American Idiot has sold over four million albums; how much more fucking money do they need? This is another example of the rich getting richer while the middle class pays way too much for T shirts.
Jimmy Eat World bores me live, and watching their set again did nothing to change my opinion. Their songs don't have the energy to keep me interested. I barely remember anything about their set except that the first three songs bled into each other, which was cool. Everything else went in one ear and out the other as I enjoyed some popcorn.
A half hour after Jimmy Eat World left the stage, the lights went out and the music from "2001" (or Ric Flair's theme song) blasted through the speakers. At the end of the piece, fireworks blasted and the members of Green Day took the stage to thousands of screaming people, opening with "American Idiot." Billie Joe was in full uniform-all black with a red tie and eyeliner that makes him look like a panda bear.
Green Day played a lot of extended versions of songs, so Billie Joe could get the crowd involvement going, which worked really well. They would do "heys," "hos," "woahs," and whatever else he asked of them. It seemed like Billie Joe went to arena rockstar school to learn the latest moves and crowd participation gimmicks. I would have rather heard more songs instead of this arena rock crap, but I guess you have to do more than play songs when playing to so many people. Everything seemed so scripted, making it look like they spent more time working on their moves and words instead of songs, which took away from the spontaniety that a live set should contain.
One thing that really bothered the hell out of me was when Billie Joe introduced the rest of the band. He called Mike Dirnt the best bassist in punk rock, then preceded to cover "Knowledge" by Operation Ivy. Anyone that has heard Matt Freeman play knows that that statement is total bullshit. Dirnt is a good bassist, but he doesn't compare to Freeman.
Their portrayal of "Knowledge" was pretty cool (you can find it on 1,039 Smoothed out Slappy Hours), and featured a drummer, bassist and guitarist from the crowd get on stage and finish the song out. That was a lot of fun to watch.
Green Day played most of their hits (leaving off some of the stuff from Dookie-d'oh), and had the crowd singing to every word. In addition to "Knowledge," they also covered "We Are the Champions," and did a rendition of "Shout" and "Stand by Me" as a bridge to "King for a Day." They ended the night with "Good Riddance," which was a nice ending to the show, though I wished they ended with all three members of Green Day on stage and not just Billie Joe. As the members of Green Day bowed to the crowd, a fireworks display could be seen over the stands, which was awesome. Green Day puts on an incredible live show that I was glad to have experienced.
Written by: RF