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Michael Brandvold has been joined by Reto Peter who has been actively engineering and producing music for 20 years. Reto starts off sharing some stories working with Green Day on the American Idiot album.

That's cool - I heard that show was awesome! And yes, they're great pics Heres a few from the Soundwave Festival in February 2014:

@Rumpelstiltskin2000 your last Longshot photos were from the first Longhsot gig I went to, in Brooklyn, I recognize the backgroud I just found some pics of the last Longshot gig in Santa Ana (I know there's been a lot posted lately, but I'm just too excited to post them, they're really great!😞 And a few more: This photograph must be a fan!

I remember when the intro to 21st Century Breakdown played every time you visited Green Day's site, like an annoying Myspace profile. Except not annoying because it was new Green Day and those few notes were so exciting. The lyrics were released before the album and they seemed so dark and depressing - which they are, I just never expected the songs to be that emotional and catchy. When I first saw the cover I was disappointed, but all the album art soon became my favourite (though I still think the back cover should have been the front cover). Then Know Your Enemy came out and my mum and I listened to it so many times we could still hear it after we switched it off. I knew when I watched a blurry, low quality video of ¡Viva La Gloria! from the Uptown show I was going to love it. I still couldn't have imagined how good the whole album was. The lyrical imagery is like vivid snapshots of both the beginning of the 21st century and Billie's life and mind. Maybe that's why a lot of fans have such vivid memories of it, because it kind of documented all of us in different ways at that point in time. It's no exaggeration that it changed my life. It inspired me when very little else did and by the end of the era, I was in a completely different place to where I'd been for the years leading up to it. Don't get me started on 21st Century Breakdown or I'll start writing essays I firmly believe it's one of the best albums ever written. 21 Guns is also my favourite Green Day music video.

The release of 21CB was a huge deal for me. I still remember all the tv spots they did and getting so excited to see them as if I was there in person. I skipped class to get my copy. I still remember listening to it and having this feeling of pride. I was so proud of the guys for making a stellar follow up to AI. I still think it's a great album. I'm just sad I never got to see them live during this time.

Dude was in the band too ("Captain Underpants" on keytar I believe)

I purchased the trilogy in store - I had all the dates sync to my calendar - unfortunately I trusted Warner for the delivery of RevRad ...... never again.

I liked Green Day casually since American Idiot but 21st CB is when I became a fan it was the first album I ever owned a physical copy of (I had only downloaded AI from YouTube or something and burned it on a CD...) And I actually wanted to go to a show but I had nobody to go with and my mother didnt want to let me go alone (understandably, at 14), but not seeing them on this tour is probably my biggest regret haha.... Not gonna lie, that album helped me through some shit that was going on in my life at that time and if it wasn't for East Jesus Nowhere, a song that I listened to religiously, I probably would have lost my mind. Even had them up on my wall. Its not my favorite song, I barely listen to it anymore, but at the time it meant everything to me

My old and new phones got crushed so badly at the Longshot in Vancouver and Seattle that they didn't really work anymore. Finally got a new phone last week but couldn't connect to the network because the code was on the phone that wasn't working. Took it into the store today and got it sorted. Had one of @solongfromthestars photos of the Longshot on the background and explained to the guy that it was at that gig where my phone got crushed to which he replied "cool". He told me to come back 10 minutes later when their tech specialist was off lunch because he didn't know how they could sort it out. When I got back the tech guy said the first guy could fix it after all and he asked me so "who is he anyway?". I replied "It's Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day". Guy doesn't know who I'm talking about so I say "American Idiot?". Said he didn't know it. Then he says "Wake me up when September Ends?" and I reply "Yeah, that's the one!". It still gives me the chills when I hear it because if I close my eyes I can still see Green Day running on stage to it back on that tour.

That's what AI does for me ...which is why it's my favourite GD album haha

I have such a weird relationship with 21st CBD. I lost interest in Green Day a little when American Idiot came out, I was really jaded back then and not into the whole rock opera thing (i've come around on it). 21st actually got me back into GD though, there was a lot of stuff on the album I liked, and some stuff I didn't, like Know Your Enemy... I really wish they'd drop that from their set, it's so boring and repetitive. Anyways, now that almost 10 years have passed (holy crap!), I think that it's my least favorite album. I'm not saying it's a bad album, I just feel like they were trying to push themselves too hard to make a sequel to American Idiot. AI seemed naturally epic and fun, but with 21 it almost like seems like they were forcing it a bit.

Is that bearded Billie on that birthday pic? Why does he look like a Buddhist monk?

I love the love for 21cb 😎

21CB is my favourite album for this reason also. It was the first album that was released while I was a fan, and I was 16 and I was halfway through my GCSEs. I remember walking from my school after an exam to the music store to buy a copy...and actually ended up with the lyric book version I remember that summer being one of the best ever. And then of course my first ever Green Day concert was that October, and I remember everything about that too.

Trying again here - hope they work this time: Here's a bonus too!

Here's another tongue pic I had to make this gif because the way Billie walks towards Mike and everything that happens next is just too dorky.