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Okay, oh my god. I'm still a bit shaking as I'm typing this and I'm not sure I fully realized or processed it yet. I still feel in shock. I arrived in Cologne earlier today, where I'll be attending the concert tomorrow. I walked around the city square for a bit and went into the Starbucks at the central station, high-key hoping that Mike would show up. Because you know, coffee. Alas, he didn't so I walked to the arena, marveled at it a bit and went to my AirBNB, which is only like 5 minutes from the arena. Not much later my friend I'm going to the concert with tomorrow sent me screenshots of Instagram from a girl who just met Tré and Billie at the dome. And that really isn't far from my room either, so I put on my clothes as quickly as possible and put on my make up and power-walked in the direction of the dome. A hockey game or something had just ended in the arena so of course I was held back by hundreds of loud sports fans, but I pushed my way through and soon enough I was walking on the bridge with the love locks. I kept thinking "Oh no, I'm too late, they're already gone" and kind of desperately kept walking but deep inside I knew that this was the day. And was on the lookout for a blue head because Tré would be the easiest to spot. So I walked and walked and suddenly... a tall blonde guy walked past me, laughing about something with his all-in-black group. I just stood still and stared at him in disbelief as he walked. At first I didn't realize it was Mike. I saw him walking towards me but I thought "Nah, that's not him. That's some German guy who just looks like him. Keep walking." But I stared after him, looked at his Converse, looked at his Oakland Coffee cap and I freaked out a little bit. I panicked and texted @I don't care who practically yelled at me to follow them and ask them for a pic. So I followed them, but of course I was terribly awkward (and probably a little creepy) about it. They walked and stopped like two times. I stopped too and averted my eyes like some kind of freakish amateur stalker. I just couldn't build up the courage to ask my idol for a picture. Then I saw that one of them, a rather short one (guess who), had separated himself from the group to take a picture of the love locks and of the train that was just passing by. It was then that I realized that this was Billie standing on his toes to look over the fence. (Such a cute sight, I will never forget it) So I waited until he was done (No, I didn't photograph him. I might be a freak but even I'm not that rude to photograph him without his knowledge) and turned away when I (in an embarrassingly high-pitched voice) asked "Sorry?? Can I take a picture with you?" There would have probably been better ways to approach him but cut me some slack, okay? I was out of breath from power-walking and two of my idols were right in front of me. So he turned around, looked at me for a second and held his black analog camera (the one with film inside) to his face and photographed me. I just stared at him like "What is he doing? Out of both of us, who is the celebrity?" but I let him do it. Then he said something like "Come here, turn around", confusing me even more. I did what he said and turned my back to him completely but he said "No no, stand like that" and gave me instructions on how to stand and positioned me. So there I was, my body facing the love-locks-fence and my face facing him while he adjusted his own position and snapped a few photos of me. I'm so glad I dyed my hair bright red on Friday, or else I think he wouldn't have done it. He then smiled and said "Okay, wanna take a selfie?" and I said "Yes, please!". I held out my arm but then quickly gave it to him, saying "Can you take it? My hand is shaking too much" and he took like three selfies of us. I thanked him, he grinned again and said "Pleasure, have a good one!" and walked away. I cradled my phone for a bit and stared at the picture in disbelief and absolute joy, just like the kind of freak I am. I still wanted a pic with Mike but he was already a bit ahead and I felt very weird following them again. But another guy was taking a pic with him at the moment and I knew I would hate myself forever if I didn't approach him. I waited until they were done and he was just about to go again when I stopped him (I hope he wasn't annoyed). I asked "Mike? Can I take a picture with you too?", he said "Sure!", I asked "Can you take it? Your arm is longer than mine". (Who the fuck says something like this?!) He said "Be careful, I tend to drop people's phones". He fumbled a bit with my phone to switch to the front camera (I forgot) and then snapped two pics of us. I thanked him (so much), he said "Have a nice day!" and I let them go. I don't think Tré was there (maybe he was and I didn't recognize him, after all I didn't recognize Billie at first either), but I saw Jason Freese walking there too. Maybe Jakob as well, but I'm really not sure. I walked around aimlessly for a while, confused about everything and in shock. So yeah. This will have been the best weekend of my entire life. Maybe he'll recognize me tomorrow

Yes... I met Jason White outside their hotel in Oslo back in 2010. He came out all alone (probably just to draw som fresh air). There were a few "fans" around the hotel, but none of them even recognized him as a Green Day member... Kinda funny, as he's always been really interesting and cool to me. I got a picture with him, of which I have lost the original, and the only copy I have was the shitty compressed version I used to have as my profile picture on here. But that's ok now, CAUSE I MET BILLIE, MIKE AND TRÉ LAST WEDNESDAY!!!! I know, I know, Billie hates phones and selfies at shows, but I couldn't help myself

I know this is an old thread but wanted to share that I also have severe panic disorder. It has prevented me from ever being able to go see a concert, ever, and I'm age 31 now. Glad to say I'm going to fight it hard core and his tour in march I will be going to. first concert and kind of comforting knowing such famous good people also have the disorder and able to fight through. Also on a side note a really good person I know has had similar issues and trying to make a movie with a few famous people on board. He stays at home with his mother and sister to fully support and take care of them with their physical/mental disorders. Would like to spread the word and help with the movie which aims to support and bring awareness to bullies and social anxiety and similar mental disorders/disabilities. check out the story at igg.me\at\zeebonewton

Got to sing Longview with them in Malmö yesterday. I was completely into the moment and just appreciated the fact I was there with my heroes - I forgot selfie, kiss and everything else because it didn't really felt like it mattered. The smiles on Billie's, Tré's and Mike's faces made my life complete and I easily consider 2017-01-28 as the best day of my life! I can also understand why the band have such an incredible amount of energy when they're on stage - Green Day fans are amazing! Y'know man.... You were simply amazing!

I don't know if this is worthy of its own thread or not so just posting it here instead. Just to give some background first as not sure if this got much publicity in the States. Back in 2009, a group was started on Facebook because people were fed up with X Factor (the UK version of American Idol) being Christmas Number 1 every year. There was no longer any excitement leading up to Christmas about who would get the number 1 spot as it had just become a given that it would be X Factor, so a group was started to get 'Killing in the Name' by Rage Against The Machine to number 1 instead by getting as many people as possible to download it the week before Christmas. Against all odds, the campaign was successful and RATM became Christmas 2009 number 1. Back to the purpose of this post. There are a lot of people in the UK at the moment who are unhappy with Trumps views on immigrants and women, and especially his recent Muslim ban. A petition has recently garnered over 1.2 million signatures already to prevent Trump from having State Visits (not to be confused with banning him from entering the country as a head of government). Obviously the UK government are not going to agree to this, as it's just foolish to turn on our biggest ally following Brexit (but don't get me started on that 😂). As a result, a new page has been created, campaigning to get American Idiot to number 1 in the UK during Trump's state visit. Link here. The page is already gathering followers more quickly than the RATM page did, so I was interested to see your guys opinions on it. Despite having 3 number 1 albums, if successful this would be Green Day's first number 1 song over here. JUST FOR THE RECORD - I did not create this page, I just thought it was something worthy of discussion on a Green Day forum

I love all of your stories Well, I've met Tre after the show in Berlin, but it's nothing special compared to your experiences. Anyway he was so nice and asked me to teach him few words in Polish

OMG @Billie Hoe, what a wonderful story! Congratulations, this is SO great! The pics are beyond cute. At least I'll recognize you tonight

I'm so happy for you! That is amazing I can only imagine. Also, your hair is awesome by the way. -And Billie uses a film camera too!!! I'm not the only one

I counted the beats of the starting drum roll in Nice Guys Finish Last. They're 13. What a meaningful number to open a song like that! Also, my favorite album opener, Somewhere Now close second.

In my drama class the other day, the teacher named one of her imaginary characters 'Billie Joe'. Let's just say I kinda lost my cool (just a tad) and my friends practically disowned me!!

I like the song Nightlife

All these years later and its still always a fun listening experience to play all these wonderful songs!

Before the Lobotomy is one of my favourite songs in the entire world. Masterpiece.

Freese is the man! What a funny guy, great musician too!

You're in the cool club! Film cameras are great. I'm too lazy and use a phone, though.

Dude give it a rest if you have a random thought that doesn't have anything to do with Green Day post here

@Billie Hoe That was the loveliest story. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks! And congrats to you as well. To be honest I don't remeber that much of the actual time on stage. It almost feels like one of those dreams that only last for 2 minutes, yet leave this big impact on you. Very weird feeling, but definetly awesome! I think I ran up the steps in front of Tré before I got the microphone but I don't know why - I mean, he was busy playing drums x) My girlfriend tells me BJ kept notioning and telling me to "get down" I seriously never heard him say that! Haha! Funfact for the gear-nerds: the vocal monitoring on stage was aboslutely terrible - because they all use in-ears monitors! I'm not complaining at all - I fell like I'm on top of the world still - but I think the band doesn't have a single monitor on stage! I could hear bass, drums and guitar alright, but the only vocal sound I could hear of myself was from the PA, which is in front and far above the stage

I love these pictures.

I just arrived in Cologne by train and now I'm sitting in a Starbucks, hoping that Mike will show up.

Wow that's the best speech / statement he's probably ever given.

We know...we just try to forget it most of the time

Christie Road is one of my least favourite Green Day songs. I don't hate it, but I know it's a hardcore fan favourite and it's never appealed to me that much.

You're completely right. RevRad is a logical step in an evolutionary process that leaves the highly detailed concept records behind. The Trilogy was more an experiment than anything else, though some good songs (Stay the Night, Lazy Bones, Brutal Love, DRB) came out of it. RevRad is the road back from hell, a very personal record grounded in the reality of today. It'll be interesting to see how the 13th records will turn out. More political than RevRad I think, though we might see some surprises.

Okay this is disturbing. This's been mentioned on two separate threads in the same day.

No, someone inherits the guitar and plays the hell out of it.

Not having one song from Insomniac is the real serious issue! Not a cool thing to be happening at the shows.

Actually, I think we can see Revolution Radio as a combination of other GD works. Every previous album has its own influence on this new record. Said this, the thing that makes Revolution Radio unique is the overall feeling of the album. The atmosphere, the sensations I feel when I listen to it fully. I didn't care about that when I listened to the Trilogy. It was fun, but just that. Revolution Radio is like a piece of a puzzle: you can understand its meaning only by knowing the whole story. And this is the reason why I think about it as a "gift" to us fans. We know the story and we just need to complete the puzzle with the new piece. Just one of my strange thoughts.

I really feel like a lot of Revolution Radio sounds closer to the vibe of the Trilogy than it does to any other Green Day record. At least 75% of the Trilogy to me felt like Green Day embracing power pop, 50s and 60s pop, and garage rock n roll to the max, more so than any other record of theirs. Of course Green Day throws their own sort of spin on those styles, and of course Green Day has dabbled in those sounds in the past, but the Trilogy to me felt like the first time they whole heartedly embraced those styles of pop. IMO, Somewhere Now, Forever Now, Bouncing Off The Walls, Too Dumb To Die, Young Blood, all sound like 70s/80s power pop. Outlaws to me sounds like 50s/60s pop. But then I hear everyone comparing Rev Rad to AI and 21CB. I suppose everyone hears things differently, which isn't a bad thing. But IMO, Rev Rad is like a sibling to the Trilogy. Which isn't a bad thing to me at all. What do you guys think about all this? This might been talked about a shit load already, in which case, apologies...

I think right now they really try to remove those 4 years of their lives.... I would love to hear some trilogy songs, too, but at the same time I understand them. The great thing about GD live shows is that you can feel that the guys enjoy the songs they play. And if they just can't enjoy trilogy songs right now because they remind them of bad times or because they just don't feel right, it's better not to play them at all. I hope (and think!) that there will be the day when they make peace with the trilogy. Like Tré once said, time will be kind to those records... We should give them some time.

Mike or Billie in interview said they weren't ready to revisit the trilogy at the moment if I remember correctly

Guys, Trilogy supporters, it's so sad to see GD playing live 7 songs from AI and ZERO from Uno, Dos and Trè. They're always GD, yeah, but it's like you erase 4 years of your life...

Alas, it's the victim of a discography replete with great songs in the same vein. They should rotate them more often during tour legs to give them all the exposure they deserve.

An EP of Give Me Novacaine, Restless Heart Syndrome, Lazy Bones and Still Breathing would be cool

You can't force them, but you can always ask/make suggestions to help them gauge what's popular.

Literally JUST got this done an hour and a half ago. I love it