Who would have thought? Green Day, Jimmy Eat World and My Chemical Romance: Live
Dec 16 '05
The Bottom Line 'Do you have the time / To listen to me whine?'
Not in recent memory is there a band that has achieved the sheer ability to blow someone away more than the self-proclaimed kings of the ‘punk-pop’ genre. And as they headed out on world tour this year to promote their career’s real defining point, the American Idiot album, which I can see still on the charts two years from now, with two other fiercely reputed bands, the volatile, quasi-goths My Chemical Romance and the smooth emo-pop masters Jimmy Eat World, it was I daresay, pretty obvious to anyone who hadn’t been living deep under the ocean, this was going to be one hell of a fiery, semi-political, eventful and provocative tour, which would have spurred the smile on Billie Joe’s face in the twenty-two hours leading up to every particular show, provided even that he was doing the same damn thing every night in days and weeks to come, all around the world. I’m getting ahead of myself.
The stadium that was to hold three of MTV’s little darlings was only half full in the hours leading up to what I’ll label unhesitantly ‘the main event,’ but nonetheless the ear-piercing screaming when the black-clad New Jersey fivepiece My Chemical Romance strode out was nothing quieter than tumultuous. I sometimes find it difficult to fully comprehend the wild effect they had on some people way up front in the mosh pit, yet frontman Gerard Way’s intense rasps, and the band itself, were certainly impressive, playing in front of a red backdrop of their cover design draped across the stage. Their incredibly long-haired guitarist aped around, while the red-faced Way tried his very hardest at belting out crowd favorites from the outfit’s platinum sophomore Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, going quite red-faced in the process. “It’s still light, so the sunlight’d usually kill us, but, we’re gonna play ‘The Ghost Song’ anyhow,’ he declares in such a manner it’s a wonder the crowd didn’t erupt into taunts of ‘emo, emo.’ They only ended up playing for half an hour.
Intermission. I went down to check the merchandise, along with a backwash of about fifteen thousand other bustling, bored characters, and it wasn’t particularly well-stocked, as the sum of moshers in the queue, it turned out, had taken all the t-shirts about two hours in advance, and were apparently hanging around to create a dire lack of space. So I trudged back up to my seat to admire the band that secured my seat – the Arizona foursome Jimmy Eat World, who, disappointedly, were greeted by some more lukewarm applause. They’re a band that have always fascinated me – lead man Jim Adkins’ larger-than-life persona really carries on stage. The problem (though I hate to say it) with this performance, though, were the times when Adkins tried to spark up his songs unnecessarily. Standing in front of 60000 people and an eager moshpit can be a tad daunting, granted, but Jimmy Eat World are simply not a band with the vivacious zest of their other two partners that night, and sadly, some of this showed through in the set. They did put their ‘party-hard’ tracks, ‘Sweetness,’ the never-a-dull-moment guitar-pop lovesong ‘A Praise Chorus,’ and especially explosive ‘Get It Faster,’ all from their breakout Bleed American, to good use, but their rendering of ‘Work’ was a little overblown, when they should have just played it as is – a beautiful, twinkling emo ballad with a number of gorgeous ingredients, and Adkins threw profanes into the driving ‘day-in-the-life’ minor hit ‘Bleed American,’ as if he were trying to spice up the syrupy anthem for the testosterone-abundant moshers in the front row.
Anyway, only now am I getting to the time when you knew that the second biggest band in the world were just about to walk out on stage, as the amount of spectators in the stadium abruptly doubled in size. There are few if any bands left in the world that know how to move a crowd like Green Day. No, U2 does NOT count. What a magic moment – when Billie Joe Armstrong runs out onto the stage and stands there, arms in the air, like a king upon the mantle of rock, cradling it in his all-powerful hands and surveying the scene. Oh, and the noise when they opened with the defiant Bush-bashing smash ‘American Idiot!’ The crowd would frequently be jumping out of their seats and banging on anything in arm’s reach as Mike Dirnt, Armstrong and Tre Cool belted out almost every one of their hits, including most of their loved-to-death American Idiot album. Armstrong growled ‘Rock and roll is my f*ckin religion, goddammit!’ and was rewarded with another instant eruption of shrieks. If there was ever a rocker that let fame go to his head. Mind, that’s probably a good thing. Was he drunk? Hard to tell. Was he stoned? Probably. Were they absolutely, unquestionably awe-inspiring and unrelentingly authorative? Hell yes. 2 hours had crept by and the high-energy vibe wasn’t getting the least bit dull. Good use was made of the stage effects, too; fire shooting out of the stage, psychedelic lighting, many different camera angles of the three legendary band members for no less than four big screens, loud bangs and fireworks – it was all one dazzling, mind-blowing experience. When Billie Joe pulled a 12-year-old up on stage and asked the kid if he’d ‘ever had sex with a woman’ I feared they were going too far, but Armstrong gave him his guitar, so all was forgiven.
‘This song is for every racist bastard out there on the planet,’ the man screeches in dedication. ‘It’s also a big F*CK YOU to George – W – Bush,’ he pants as an afterthought, before lurching into the satirical, adrenaline-pumping ‘Holiday.’ He was cloaked in an American flag by the finale, playing ‘Homecoming’ and perhaps their best known, ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)’ with an obligatory singalong. Before exiting with yet more fireworks, he asserted to us all with a glare ‘remember you are the leaders. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do!’ What a way to leave one breathless.
If I was a little underwhelmed by the supporting acts and overwhelmed by the star attraction, it’s only because the other two didn’t have the vibrancy, the bravado that Green Day had from seventeen years in show biz, nor the expensive stage tricks. Please heed my warning then, that if you do not take the chance to see this surging powerhouse, you are missing out on a lot more than you may think. Don’t use Bullet In A Bible as your excuse – there’s just no substitute for the raw power these three guys radiate when they’re in front of you. Even if you’re not a big fan of any of the band’s studio offerings, you (as the cliché goes) will probably be ecstatic with their live gig. American Idiot itself refuses to develop beyond a sporadic enjoyment for me, but the fact is Green Day really are much better live. I’m exhilarated just to think about it. Take my advice – it’s a concert you’ll not soon forget.
FURTHER READING:
(A couple of these reviews I wrote way back when I joined, so the quality may be a little bit dodgy here and there)
Green Day - American Idiot
Jimmy Eat World - Stay On My Side Tonight
My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
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blackstar40
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