You know what’s great about living on Oakland, CA? You never know when you are going to end up at a Green Day concert. This was the second time that I saw Green Day play without even knowing that they were going to be performing until early evening that day. I highly recommend keeping your ears open fellow bay area folks, because these are their best sets. And, anyone that made it out to Live 105’s Not So Silent Night were treated to the best.
Labor Day weekend is filled with musical adventures in the Bay Area… Including two of the very, very few worthwhile summer shed shows that seem to be timed out perfectly for the weather getting good. Here are the highlights:
So much notoriety on this bill! Every single act on this bill has been a major part of musical history, yet none of them have experienced much in the lines of commercial success. We have The Paul Collins Beat, featuring Paul Collins of The Nerves. Classic power pop band best unknown for originally recording “Hanging On The Telephone,” later made in to a monster hit by Blondie. (If you ever listen to Sound Opinions, their version is the one they sometimes play before going to the listener feedback portion of the show.) Pansy Division’s claim to fame is being the all-gay pop-punk band with innuendo filled lyrics that Green Day selected as the opening act for the big Dookie tour in 1994. It seems that the parents weren’t very happy with them in the Midwest. The Avengers were the band that opened for the Sex Pistols at Winterland Ballroom in 1978, which of course was the last show the Sex Pistols ever played. (We do not discuss the Sex Pistols reunion.)
There’s this fun little website called The Top 13 Albums Project. For the last two years, they’ve invited anyone who’s interested to enter their top 13 albums for the year into the database. They then compile all of these lists into one master top 13 list for the year. Why 13? I have no idea. All I know is it tends to be a pretty good look at what the blogs are loving that year. Fleet Foxes and The Boxer by The National were the top albums in the last two years. Now, they’re doing a Top 13 of the decade, and in order to participate, you need to submit your list by October 2nd. Of course I’m participating. Follow me now as I run through my personal list. Continue reading “Choosing My Top 13 Albums of the Decade”
I hadn’t planned to attend tonight’s Green Day show at the Uptown in Oakland. I knew it was happening, but I wasn’t going to get there early enough to get in line, skip Franz Ferdinand, and spend another late night with Green Day. I wanted to, but I was just going to do something different.
Billie Joe's Setlist did not match the actual setlist. Thanks to http://www.flickr.com/photos/geekstinkbreath for allowing sharing of his photo!
When the email came through announcing that Green Day was playing the Independent (a 500-or-so capacity venue in San Francisco) that same night, I bought tickets before I could consider whether I could actually go. How did I get the email fast enough to buy tickets? I thank Blackberry push email. Thanks Blackberry!
When I arrived, there was still a lengthy line at will call. There were folks walking up and down the line offering big money for tickets, but I decided $200 a ticket wasn’t worth both missing the show and the ribbing I would take from people for missing the show. (My price was going to be $500 a ticket, but I wasn’t going to ask and no one was going to offer.) Besides, you wouldn’t be reading this if I had taken the money, and you–the readers–are very important.
As expected the show leaned heavily on the material from the new album. Thanks to the photo above and Wikipedia, I was able to determine the likely song titles for everything they played. The setlists and my full review are below:
