Getting Schooled in Punk Rock
What do Billy Idol, The Clash, The Ramones, Lynrd Skynrd, Queen and the Everly Brothers have in common? Rock fundamentals you say? That too, but we’re referring to the epic (yes epic) performance that Green Day put on at the Warfield last night. Thanks to some lightening fast clicking abilities by our friend, SFist was able to check out Green Day’s “secret” show at the Warfield. We knew that we were in for a treat as we walked up to the Warfield and noticed several fire trucks positioned behind the stage, and accurately predicted that pyrotechnics would be in full effect.
Turns out that Green Day’s fans range from thirteen-year-old girls to fifty-something banker types. After a respectable set by the Network (is it true that Green Day and they are in a feud??), Green Day got on stage at 9:50. True to form Billy Joe Armstrong demonstrated that he really is one of the nicest punk rockers you’ve ever met by pulling two tween girls out of the pit and letting them watch the show from the side of the stage. After saving young damsels in distress he proceeded to reminisce. Turns out last night was the first time that Green Day has headlined at the Warfield. Last time they were there they opened for Bad Religion. My, how times have changed. Billy Joe recounted seeing Primus perform there and thinking that Primus was pretty much the biggest band ever.
Green Day started out by playing their American Idiot album in its entirety. Although we’ve heard it’s some sort of Rock opera (or oratorio), we kinda thought that it wasn’t the most original set list, even though we enjoyed every second of their playing it. The crowd couldn’t get enough of it. Every single person seemed to know all the lyrics. Green Day have always been terrific entertainers. Unlike some of their punk forefathers, they’ve never seemed to disdain their fans. We’ve always thought that rappers do the best job of getting a crowd involved in the show, but last night Green Day proved that skinny, eyeliner-wearing, white kids can get people moving.
After they finished the American Idiot set, and what we’re guessing was the taping of some sort of “Live at the Warfield” DVD for fans (there really were tons of flames), Green Day moved into songs from Dookie and Warning for their first encore. SFist has often chuckled at the presumption of many acts that seem to plan for two encores. Last night was one of the rare times when it was clear that there was no way the crowd would leave until Green Day came out again. That’s when it got good.
Green Day came back on stage around 11:15. We were expecting that they’d finish with some of the key Dookie songs they’d neglected ("She," "Welcome to Paradise"), and that’s the way they started out. Then Billy Joe started asking how long they’d been playing and made it clear they had way more in them. Thus it began: "Rock the Kasbah," "Sweet Home Alabama," " We Are the Champions," "Blitz Krieg Bop," "Dancing With Myself," "Shout!," "Stand By Me," "I Fought the Law." Those were just a few of the songs that Green Day careened through in a frantic hour-and-a-half-long encore that made it clear that they love playing and have become great musicians in their own right. SFist was especially happy when they busted out a few of their older songs, like "2000 Light Years," which never really got its day in the sun. Everyone took turns playing different instruments, with Tre and their rhythm guitarist taking turns as lead vocalists. When SFist finally stumbled out of the Warfield at 12:45, we were satisfied-- Green Day really gave it all to their home town.
If you can name some of the covers they did, that we missed, put it in the comments!