Green Day rouses fans with exciting, involving show
By Daily Bruin Staff
July 22, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 COURTNEY STEWART/Daily Bruin Trav
Demsey, drummer for the alternative band The Living End,
lays down a funky beat at UC Irvine’s Bren Event Center on July
21.
By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Green Day may have left punk rock long ago when they became a
mainstream band, but they still don’t believe in following
the rules.
Their show, held Saturday night at UC Irvine’s Bren Events
center, was a testament to their rebellion against the typical show
structure, where bands come on, play their set, say a few words and
leave.
Unafraid to stop between, or even during songs, the band
elicited a strong response by involving the crowd.
Green Day’s singer, Billie Joe Armstrong, took requests
from the audience, sprayed those on the floor with a huge water
gun, and spent much of his time getting the crowd to chant, scream,
clap and jump with him.
The energy was more important than the music, and everyone could
feel it. All Armstrong had to do was raise his arms in the air, and
a deafening cheer would fill the arena. If he held up his hand and
counted on his fingers, everyone would count with him.
 COURTNEY STEWART/ Daily Bruin Green Day’s lead singer
Billie Joe Armstrong sings a snazzy tune on July
21 at the UCI Bren Event Center. They were only three men on a
simply decorated stage, and yet they commanded as much attention as
a showier band.
This was in stark contrast to openers, The Living End, whose
solid and energetic set was underappreciated by an audience too
disinterested to even stand up.
Even hits like “Prisoner of Society” and their
newest single, “Roll On,” got little more than the
bobbing of a few heads among those in the stands.
On the floor was more action and in the mosh pit a few people
closest to the stage were being crushed until security
intervened.
The Living End’s singer, Chris Cheney, seemed frustrated
by the lack of excitement in the crowd, and as the set ended he
knocked over the microphone stand and briskly walked off.
Green Day, too, ended their set with a little destruction, but
the feeling was more of playfulness than anger.
Drummer Tre Cool threw his drums against microphone stands, as
bass player Mike Dirnt hit his instrument against the amplifiers.
Roadies came on and salvaged enough of the drum kit for the encore,
and Dirnt returned with a new bass.
The high energy that characterized the set was probably due to
Armstrong’s insistence that the audience get involved.
Even though it slowed down the pace considerably, repeatedly
asking for song requests and dragging out the middle of several
songs to get the audience to chant along made everyone feel more
like a part of the show.
Armstrong also selected a drummer, bass player and guitarist
from the audience to come onstage and play a song, as he bounced
around and directed them. Once again, it stopped the action, but
Armstrong’s banter with the crowd and the fact that ordinary
concert-goers were imitating the band members provided ample
entertainment.
Aside from handing over their instruments to a few kids from the
mosh pit, Green Day defied convention by starting and ending their
encore with their two quietest songs: “Good Riddance (Time of
Your Life)” and the lesser-known “Macy’s Day
Parade.”
Just as “Good Riddance’s” appearance on the
album “Nimrod” was a step off the beaten path, and one
for which they were abused by punk fans, its placement as the first
song in the encore Saturday was surprising.
Similarly, selecting “Macy’s Day Parade,” a
song that has received no radio airplay, was unusual, but
rewarding. Most of the crowd stayed and listened intently, before
giving one last emphatic cheer, round of applause, and filing
out.
