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Posted: 7/8/08
May Green Day Report

Seriously Solemn Moment of Reflection

I’ve been thinking. About Green Day. And what I’ve been thinking is this: Not only did Green Day never expect the success that came from “American Idiot,” they maybe never even really wanted it.

What do you think of that?

This idea has been pressing on my mind a lot lately because of the Foxboro Hot Tubs.

The Scoop

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the Tubbies played ten shows around the southern and western U.S. this month.

If you weren’t there, sucks to be you. Here’s a list of the rad shows you missed:

• May 15th at the Stork Club, in Oakland, CA
  
• May 16th at Toot’s Tavern in Crockette, CA
  
• May 19th at Juanita’s Cantina in Little Rock, AR
  
• May 20th at One Eyed Jack’s in New Orleans
  
• May 21st at the Loft in Dallas
  
• May 22nd at Emo’s in Austin
  
• May 25th at the Brick House in Pheonix
  
• May 26th at Soma in San Diego
  
• May 27th at the Roxy in Los Angeles
  
• May 28th at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach

The Smackdown

Because, admit it, Green Day are hardasses like that, every show had a set of very specific rules that kept the scene small and intimate. Tickets were 20 bucks, and they were only available at the box office on the day of the show.
There was also a two-ticket limit per person, which meant that everybody who wanted to see the Hot Tubs had to line up at ten in the morning to get into the show.

On top of that, the venues had a pretty strict NO PHONES OR CAMERAS policy. You know how Billie Joe hates technology.
Relive The Glory Online

Despite the band’s Luddite ways, there are tons of pics and video of the shows all over the interwubs.
I’d post some links here, but really, all you gotta do is go to YouTube or Flickr and search for “Foxboro Hot Tubs.” Hours of viewing enjoyment are already available.

For some really high quality pics, check out the Hot Tubs website: http://www.foxborohottubs.com/photos/.

The Dirt on the Hot Tubs

If you did see any of the shows, maybe you’ve got the same feeling as me about Green Day not really wanting to be the most rich famous rock band in the world.

Every show was at a tiny club with everybody crammed up against the stage. Green Day, er, the Hot Tubs, came out wearing wacky costumes and looking like greasy surf rockers. They pounded PBR, spitting and pouring it all over the crowd. Billie Joe crowd surfed and got people up on the stage, dancing and playing maracas.

They played all the songs off “Stop, Drop, and Roll,” plus some Network shit AND “Blood, Sex, and Booze,” which is a semi-obscure Green Day tune. The encore that closed the show was a mix of covers from bands that clearly inspired the Hot Tubs’ sound: The Who, The Kinks, Iggy Pop, and Cheap Trick.

Conclusion of Solemn Moment of Reflection

The thing that was obvious about the whole scene was that Billie, Mike and Tre fuckin’ loved it. They loved getting drunk onstage, partying with the crowd, and rocking out like they were any old shitty garage band.

With the success of “American Idiot,” Green Day didn’t just rocket to the top of their careers, they had to give up part of who they were.

Sure, they didn’t enjoy nuts fortune and fame in the “Nimrod” and “Warning!” days, but they also weren’t under pressure to be some kinda fuckin’ role models for the children.

Playing massive venues like Milton Keynes is a rare and awesome experience, but you can’t crowd surf, you can’t pound beers unless you want to be THAT kind of celebrity, and I can only imagine that the pressure is off the hook.
As the Tubbies, Green Day gets to fuck around, be themselves, and not stress about any of the big league shit, which is what makes me think that the success of “American Idiot” was probably a lot more than they bargained for.
The Moments That Make You Love Green Day
Highlights from some of the shows:

• Billie Joe introducing Mike Dirnt as “My best friend, Mike Dirnt,” and giving him a hug and a kiss.
• ALL the guys pulling fans up on stage and kissing them.
• Billie Joe surfing up onto the stage on an actual surfboard.
• Billie Joe blessing and absolving the crowd of their sins as “The Reverend Strychnine Twitch.”
• Billie Joe popularizing the term, “Sting!”

For a few first-hand accounts of the shows, check out the FBHT’s MySpace page, where the Reverend himself posted a few cryptic blogs about the mini-tour: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=259726344
Notice that most of the weird words he uses that seem to make no sense are the names of the venues and bands that opened for the Tubbies.

Burning With Jealously? Stop, Drop, And Roll!

If you, like a huge loser, totally missed out on the shows, you can try to fill the void by buying the actual Hot Tubs album, “Stop, Drop, and Roll,” which was officially released on May 20th.

The tentative date for the vinyl release is still June 24th.

Heart Like a Hand Grenade is Set to Explode!

Believe or nut, there’s even more juicy news coming at you from the distant reaches of Green Day history. Remember a million years ago when a documentary about the making of “American Idiot” was supposed to come out?
Yeah, well, it’s totally coming out NOW. Although no exact release date has been given, director John Roecker, of “Live Freaky, Die Freaky” notoriety, claims that the doc, entitle “Heart Like A Hand Grenade,” is finished and ready to be unleashed on the salivating public.

Other than that, if you’re still crushed about missing the Tubbies shows, there’s not a lot I can do for you. Word on the street is that some of the shows didn’t sell out, so if you really, really cared, I guess you could have been there.
Sting!