ARCHIVE - 3/7/07:
February Green Day Report
Warning: if you missed the boat on this latest piece of Green Day news, the following will be extremely painful to read.
Pinhead Gunpowder Mini-Tour Recap!
In the first ten days of February, 2008, after seven years in obscurity, Billie Joe Armstrong and Jason White’s pet side project, Pinhead Gunpowder, was resurrected for a series of no less than five shows played at small clubs throughout CA.
In short, it was fucking insanity, people!!!
Pinhead Gunpowder kicked things off with a show February 1st at La Conga Bar and Grill in San Pedro. The venue was tiny, but they managed to pack in a few hundred people. Billie Joe came out onstage looking like as scruffy a punk as he’s ever been, and he did it without making it look forced (no Adeline Street on display here!).
All five shows were completely amazing, not just thanks to Pinhead Gunpowder, but thanks to the other wicked-ass punk bands on the roster. The crowds were also consistently amazing, sometimes skeptical of BJ’s punk chops, but always good-humored and enthusiastic.
Getting Back to Our Punk Roots
For anyone that’s only ever seen the post-“American Idiot” Green Day perform live, this was a whole new (or oldschool) side of Billie Joe. He quipped and traded insults with the crowd, and you could tell that he missed that casual intimacy, which is totally lost when playing huge arena shows.
At big shows, Billie has become notorious for wearing costumes, strutting around self-importantly, and doing a lot of showman-type posturing. Some of the old-timey punk rockers that are loyal to the club scene don’t dig this shit, but when you see Billie at these small venues, and compare his performances, his sincerity is obvious. On both large and smalls scales, he’s just trying to find some way to communicate with the audience.
Neo-Luddism
One of Billie’s more interesting communications came when he made the point, several times over, that audience members should put away the cameras and cell phones. He said that people should just enjoy the shows and leave with good memories. Direct quote:
“Speaking of memories, how many people out there got digital cameras? And cell phones? Let’s put ‘em away. You know what, YouTube can’t own everything, and its nice to have our own fuckin’ memories, something that goes into our brains and our hearts and our spirits. So we have this one opportunity, and let people misinterpret anything they fuckin’ want. I mean, fuck!”
Check out an ironic video clip of the speech posted on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91aI5ZhccMo
In fact, a few complete Pinhead Gunpowder shows have been posted online, because come on, Billie, you can’t stop the internets. Check the vids whilst they’re fresh:
Back to Gilman Street
That’s right, kids! Last month, I said it was going to happen, and then it happened. For the final night of their mini-tour, Pinhead cracked out a ‘surprise’ show at 924 Gilman Street. Green Day used to play this venue all the time before they signed to a major label and got banned for being sell-outs. When the band came onstage, though, there didn’t appear to be any hard feelings, with crowd members shouting supportive shit like, “Welcome home, Billie!”
Tre and Mike were also spotted hanging out backstage at some of the PHGP shows. Anyone that thinks the guys from Green Day don’t remember their roots should pretty much shut the fuck up at this point. Watching Billie up on stage, inches away from you, you definitely got the feeling that there’s nothing he’d like more than just to be able to play shitty little clubs until the day he can no longer hold a guitar.
The Other Side of Green Day
Billie Joe has more personalities than Axel Rose, and he can switch from oldschool punk to glammy surf rock in the blink of an eye. Which is exactly what happens when he flashes between Pinhead Gunpowder and the Foxboro Hot Tubs.
The Hot Tubs have been gaining a bit of notoriety as of late, climbing Billboard’s Modern Rock Charts with the “Mother Mary” single. And now, word on the street is that a full-length, 13-song album is soon-to-be released on the Jingletown Records label. Check it out here: http://www.jingletownrecords.com/
Pinhead Gunpowder and The Hot Tubs are about as different as two bands could be (minus the voice of the singer, of course), and the same goes for their philosophies on technology. While the Billie Joe of Pinhead seems to hate technology, calling out YouTube, cell phones, and digital cameras all in one blow, The Hot Tubs are being promoted almost entirely online. Weirdsville, daddy-o!
How Did Green Day Become The Hot Tubs
But you can’t blame Billie Joe for switching tracks so fast. He celebrated his 36th birthday this month, which for a punk, is prime time for a mid-life crisis, or at the very least, for an introspective review of the different facets of your personality.
For his part, Mike Dirnt has always had a bit of a hard-on for retro revival. After all, he owns a freakin’ diner! And he’s also a major backer of the clothing company Obedient Sons and Daughters, which specializes in the retro prep-rocker look.
And Tre Cool, well, Tre has always suffered from severe musical schizoid tendencies. You could tell me that Tre had started a alt-country band with Amy Winehouse and I wouldn’t be surprised.
Anyway, I know that none of this is making you feel better about missing Pinhead Gunpowder, so I’ll stop now and put you out of your misery. But don’t blame your friends at G--D. We warned you motherfuckers last month about those concerts, and we’ll be the first to tell you about all the shows you’re going to be too lazy or broke to see in the future, so stay tuned! |
