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Lazy Days for Green Day in November

November 2007 was the month of Green Day just getting to hang out and be regular guys. Since Billie Joe told Rolling Stone that fans were just going to have to wait for the next album, the guys have been able to relax a bit and do their own thing.

Billie Joe NOT Raising Punk Kids

Early this month, Billie Joe was spotted rockin’ out with Adrienne, Joey, and Jakob at a Hannah Montana concert. Hooray for dorky family events! Obviously, the whole area FREAKED OUT when he walked in, but he just went with the flow and had a great time. According to this blog post: http://jennnster.blogspot.com/2007/11/hannah-montana-greenday.html, Billie was really cool about signing autographs and taking pics with fans.

The Jonas Brothers, who were also onstage that night, blogged about how crazy it was to see one of their guitar heroes backstage after the show: http://greggarbo.blogspot.com/2007/11/band-on-bus.html. It must be super, super weird to be playing a show, and have a musician there that is way more famous and recognized than you could ever hope to be. According to these bloggers, Green Day has an wack-freakin-tacular amount of 8 and 9 year old fans!

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

It must also be weird for Billie’s kids, Joey and Jakob, to have such a famous dad. But according to Adrienne Armstrong, they don’t mind the lifestyle. In a recent podcast interview - http://vickiehowell.com/podcast.html - Adrienne told Vickie Howell about what it was like taking the whole family on tour.

Joey and Jakob often join their parents on the road, and because Green Day has been touring with the same crew for so long, everyone looks out for the kids. They even get to skateboard around onstage during soundcheck and shit. But, says Adrienne, they’re still too young to realize that this isn’t what regular life is like. Lucky little buggers!

Adrienne Armstrong Podcast Interview

During the same podcast, which is DEFINITELY worth checking out, Adrienne talks about her and Billie’s work with the NRDC, about eco-conscious crafts, and about knitting. Yes. That’s right. It’s a podcast about knitting, which we are, apparently, taking back as a cool pastime.

If you’re having trouble wrapping your head around the whole ‘knitting is cool thing,’ check this out: http://www.vickiehowell.com/yarns/ROCK.html. Vicki Howell, crazy knitting lady extraordinaire, has a line of yarns called ‘Rock,’ and one particular shade of green is named ‘Billie Joe!’ Bet you didn’t know Billie had a type of yarn named after him! Fuckin’ twilight zone shit.

Atomic Garden, the Store, Not the Bad Religion Song

Also in this interview, Adrienne reveals a bit about her new store – Atomic Garden. Atomic Garden is a ‘green boutique,’ which means that everything there is crafted with ecological sustainability in mind. Located in the Rockridge area of Oakland, the store sells clothing, furniture, books, spa products, and other luscious goodies. There’s a pretty good post about it here: http://morewaystowastetime.blogspot.com/2007/11/retail-therapy-atomic-garden.html.

Word on the street is that the store will soon feature crafty stuff designed by Adrienne and her business partner, Jamie Kidson. So if you, like so many of us, straddle the fence between punk, glam, and hippie, you may soon be able to own your own piece of rock fashion history. Let me know if you pick up anything cool!

How Do You Translate ‘Dirnt’ to Italian?

So, Billie’s doing dad stuff, Adrienne’s knitting, and Mike has been doing some chillin’ in Italy. An Italian Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band, called the Mupsters, posted pics on their MySpace this month of themselves partying and clowning around with the Dirnt. Check ‘em out here: http://profile.myspace.com/mupsters.

The Mupsters also posted a YouTube video of Mike fucking around on an acoustic guitar while they partied at someone’s house:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQpO0g2dSGc. Now, I don’t speak Italian, but I’m guessing that “tutt'ora non ci credo,” means something like, “you are not going to believe this!”

Also on the Mupsters’ MySpace is a signed pic of Green Day from Mike. This is probably the most interesting piece of the story, as Mike wrote on the pic, “It’s not easy being green.” Kermit the Frog said it first, but I’m guessing it means something different coming from Mike. Hmm, maybe all the pressure of fame is getting to our intrepid bassist…

Punk Documentary No. 124, 856, 348      

When you’re as famous as Green Day, it’s pretty hard to just enjoy going regular guy stuff for any length of time. As proof of this, Billie Joe is going to be shedding the ‘regular dad’ role and doing an interview later this month for the upcoming punk documentary, One Nine Nine Four. Check out the preview here: http://www.onenineninefour.com/.

Of course, what the website claims and what will actually go down are two different things. A punk documentary with new Billie Joe interview footage? I’ll believe it when I see it, motherfuckers!

And Now for the News Related To But Not Directly Concerning the Actual Lives of Green Day

• Kerrang voted Green Day’s 2005 Milton Keynes performance the #2 “Most thrilling, most memorable and most insane live show the UK has ever seen.” The guys were out-rocked only by Muse’s 2007 show at Wembley Stadium. Pffft! Who judges these things, anyway?
• People magazine quoted Dave Grohl as saying that, on a recent tour, he took his mom along, and he’d go backstage after the show to find her hanging out and drinking beer with Billie Joe. Mama’s boy!
• During the Macy’s Day Parade in New York, the Marching Ravens played a cover of ‘Holiday.’ It’s actually really worth watching the video to hear ‘Holiday’ arranged for, and being played by, a huge brass band. The funniest part is the announcer saying, “Here’s the Marching Raven’s playing ‘The Holiday.’” As if it’s some sort of traditional Thanksgiving tune! Ha! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrsiCvQbstk
• Rudy’s Can’t Fail Café was on the CBS show, “Eye on the Bay,” this month. The show is about the best places to get a burger in the Bay area, and the video is worth watching for anyone who wants a glimpse inside of Mike Dirnt’s restaurant: http://cbs5.com/video/?id=21042@kpix.dayport.com.

And that’s all the news what’s fit to print this month in the world of Green Day. It’s nice to see the guys leading semi-normal lives for a change. Hopefully they enjoy it while it lasts. We can’t wait around forever!