Green Day Lollapalooza - Parkways Foundation Stage Chicago, IL August 7, 2010

After watching Lady Gaga’s disappointing show the night before I knew that Lollapalooza needed a shot in the arm to really get it back in the groove. The day had been filled with some of the great names in mainstream punk rock like AFI, Against Me! and Social Distortion, so it was fitting to end the day on an aggressive note like Green Day.

Green Day has been around since the late 1980s and an essential part of pop culture for high school children the world over. Their songs reached the hearts of millions of teenagers looking for an outlet to vent their rage, frustration and general angst. With classics like “Minority”, “American Idiot”, “Basketcase” and many others they truly are the voice of a generation.

You could feel a buzz throughout the festival as the band prepped the stage to play. Those lucky enough to be up close for Social Distortion were smart enough to stay put and ended up with the best seats in the house for two shows in a row.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with Green Day. On the one hand they have a whole slew of great songs but that doesn’t always mean a good show. And then the show started with a bang. Strutting onto the stage like the cousin you always wanted to be Billie Joe Armstrong was instantly in control of the crowd.

Armstrong is a master showman. Few musicians realize that a concert is not just a bunch of people standing there watching you play; it is a conversation between audience and artist. Green Day understands that, going so far as to bring audience members on stage multiple times throughout the show.

“They told me we only had the stage until 10 p.m. tonight,” Armstrong shouted to the crowd “but I don’t care what the fuck they say we’re going to play all night!” Armstrong was there to cause mischief and have a great time doing so. At one point early in the show he put a little girl, who couldn’t have been more than five years old, on stage with him. Getting on his knees so she was actually looking down at him he looked right at her and said “Wanna start a fucking war?!” and then blasted into a pulse pounding version of “Holiday.”

Armstrong then took it one step further. The first three chords of “Basketcase” played in the background as Armstrong strutted from one end of the stage to the other. “Who knows the lyrics to this song?” he asked the crowd of a couple thousand “I said, who knows the lyrics to this fucking song?” he then picked out a boy of no more than 17 years old and brought him on stage. He must have been freaked out at first but then, miraculously, took control of the stage singing the entire song perfectly. By the end he was jumping on the speakers talking to the crowd just Armstrong. He’d probably been practicing for something like this his whole life never imagining t would actually happen. Even I was impressed. Armstrong was so blown away that he even gave the boy his guitar as a parting gift. It’s safe to say he made that boy’s life.

The night before Lady Gaga took over the stage claiming that she spoke for all the outcasts of the world and that she hated material possessions. Yet it was Armstrong and Green Day that seemed to genuinely care about the crowd. Gaga posed and ranted but almost never looked at the audience.

At one point, about halfway through their two hour set, Armstrong said adamantly “Thank you Chicago! Thank you all!” this caught many off guard since such a statement usually means the show is over. Sensing the confusion he immediately responded, with true passion in his voice “oh no I’m not done yet! You paid your hard earned fucking money to watch me play and I am going to give you everything I have. It is my honor, my fucking privilege to play for all of you tonight.” And with those words I became a life long fan.

Throughout the course of the band not only talked to the crowd but gave back as well. Out of nowhere the members of the band came out holstering huge air guns filled with t-shirt launching them into the crowd. These had some power to them too. They didn’t just hit the first 10 rows the shirts went all the way to the back of the audience. Later on they brought out giant hoses and sprayed them into the air. Lollapalooza is about having fun and no one does it better than Green Day. If you were anywhere near the show that day you were involved in a large-scale party that you would never forget.

The climax of the night came during an extended cover of “Shout” by the Isley Brothers. A standard at almost every Bar Mitzvah, wedding and party on the planet it was perfect to take the concert to the next level. The band did a quick costume change and it wasn’t long before the audience became absolutely giddy. During the famous chorus of where everyone gets down on the ground Armstrong suddenly broke into a long string of covers. He started singing the first few lines of everything from Frank Sinatra’s “Chicago” to the Beatles’ “Hey Jude” leading the audience in at least three renditions of the chorus before going back to “Shout.”

Lollapalooza had found its groove again and the night became a euphoric rush of music. Green Day managed to keep an already tired audience on their feet and moving for a full two hours without slowing down once. You don’t have to be a basket case to know that Green Day knows how to throw a party right.

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