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Kind of lame to play a country that oppresses LGBT+ and women to that extent and is built on slave labour tbh. If nothing else it seems like a terrible PR move

And fans like us who have been waiting for 10+ years for an opportunity!

Yeah it's nothing against anyone going to the show/ordinary residents of the country. But they're not going to UAE out of all the many countries they're not playing on this tour to play an expo "for the fans", it's for money.

Does nobody have an issue with the fact that they are playing a country where Homosexually is a criminal offence ? Being homosexual is officially prohibited in the UAE which Dubai is a part of. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates#:~:text=Both civil law and sharia,the partner or the guardian. I am a bit disappointed by this one. Unless Green Day use this as a platform to advocate for equality .

I might actually make it to this one! On one hand, I don't want to go to Dubai because of all the human rights issues and censorship but if this is the only way after the COVID debacle, then I might try. Jan 27 seems like a good time and who knows maybe an Asian tour is on the cards as well? I will wait for a bit before booking the tickets.

I really hope they don't pull a Matty Healy and use their show to advocate because it won't actually change anything – the local LGBTQ+ community will just suffer for it. If we're serious about forcing change through boycotting, the whole world needs to work closely with the local community to do it. Until that happens, one band refusing to play there won't help (again, it'll probably just do more harm than good), and I don't see why the decent local people should be deprived of enjoyment because the laws suck.

Yeah it’s a really weird choice to me from a brand-alignment perspective. I remember hearing about Beyoncé playing at some resort in Dubai a while ago and thinking it was a bizarre choice (I don’t know much about her but feel like she probably has progressive values that don’t align with what goes on there). This feels similarly off. I’m not like *mad* because they have fans everywhere, I’m just surprised from a PR perspective and a bit disappointed that they are not paying better attention to what matches their values as a band. And this isn’t even an event for local fans, really, it’s a trade show that will probably largely be for attendees. It’s just very far from what Green Day stands for in all ways.

i get your points, and to some extent i think the same about such announcements, but its not as easy as people who blame such moves think honestly, who cares in the end? its the world we live in nobody cared when the worlds biggest sports event (soccer world cup) took place in qatar you could also say "dont play in the US because its where a mass genocide on native americans took place with millions of dead people" please dont get me wrong, i would love to have a free and peaceful world, and famous persons of public interest should sometimes consider if its worth the money and do more background-checking, but speaking of greenday i am sure they are aware of how some places in the world are stuck in the middle age, but i cant blame them to still go there for the first time ever(?) and bring one of the best nights in a fans lifetime

This. Green Day is known for supporting women and LGBT+ rights and now they're going to earn a lot of money playing in the country where human rights are violated. It's just doesn't feel right, sorry. Of course it's their choice. Of course regular fans live there and deserve this show. But there are many countries where fans are still waiting for Green Day show and where basic human rights aren't violated.

I don't. I have been to UAE several times from the 90s. The last time I was there was in 2017/2018. I see a huge difference and it's going in the right direction. Dubai is a huge city and is also different from other parts of UAE. If one part of the world doesn't get to experience music, movies, theatre etc from other countries I don't see anything positive about it. The reason for the changes that have been in UAE is due to the attention the country has gotten and hopefully that will continue. 🤞

Cool that Green Day are playing some destinations they haven't visited so far for this tour!

All Things Live in Dubai is heavily hinting at a Green Day appearance at the next festival. More info in the article. Official announcement on Monday: https://whatson.ae/2024/05/it-looks-like-green-day-are-set-to-perform-in-dubai/

I guess it seems like an odd choice for them but saying no, we’re not going, would make no difference to the attitudes in the country. If they go, people hear them and look further in to them then maybe they can have some influence.

Offspring and Green Day are the perfect combo. And Offspring should have a new single out around that time too. Very cool. I'm still waiting for something GD related in South Carolina. Adrienne's monkeys in Georgia is the closest thing I've got. Gonna do the monkey tour soon, lol. Planet of the Apes. Anyone else get crazy excited at this headline? Like Green Day are going to play all things in their catalogue?

@pacejunkie punk Actually, I amend my statement on it being an event — after looking into it more, “Expo City” is like a pedestrian center within Dubai that sometimes hosts events, but is open year-round to the public as like a walkable downtown. Confusingly named. I do hope the band pours this money into good causes. I don’t think they’ll be able to do much in the way of protesting or spreading their messaging *in* Dubai without getting punished, but turning around and using that money for good would help my view of the situation.

If it’s a corporate trade show I’m surprised they’re even announcing it to the public because they often don’t when they do these kinds of shows. I think it’s easy to convince yourself of anything when the price is right and they have to be offering them a first class ride and a boatload of money. They always said they would play anywhere and I’m sure they’re focused on any fans they get to play for and the experience of playing in the Middle East when they’ve never been. I’m sure they expected some backlash. They’ll play in Texas and Florida, they’ve played Moscow, I don’t see them boycotting anyplace based on the politics of the government. Fans are fans (and money is money, and whatever they earn they can put right back in the business and fund loss leaders like music videos and tiny club tours the rest of us get to benefit from). Elvis Costello once said in response to the Green Day are sellouts accusation that the most punk thing you can do is sign to a major label, take their money and use it to spread your music and your message. That’s what they’ve always done. They’ll take the UAE’s money and use it to spread a message of tolerance and equality.

You already know the answer. Human rights in general is a huge problem in UAE as in other countries in the same region. I don't see how boycotting them will make any difference or how that will help them evolve. Hope everyone that goes to the show has a wonderful time.

The official announcement https://www.instagram.com/p/C6ndnhDg77K/?igsh=MXJzb3lrM3NwMzI0dg==

Is Homosexuality currently a crime in Dubai ?

Same! It's one of my favourites now

Suzie…..getting some good streaming numbers and it’s side b….hope it’s a single/video before the tour!!!!’

I noticed this about a lot of songs on the album! Like Fancy Sauce, every line is crystal clear. Quite a contrast to say Insomniac lol

What I love about this song is how clearly he enunciates every line. It’s almost like a Broadway delivery. I feel like this is him using something he picked up from doing the musical and it fit here. That’s why when I hear the first lines, I imagine it being sung by a character on a theater stage. The guitar riff in the chorus sounds like one in Happiness from The Longshot. There are bits and pieces of everything they’ve ever done on this record. It’s like Mike’s joke of “over 150 years of experience combined”

Ugh I saw someone on Reddit say that Mike apparently had a dog called Bowie that died a couple years ago and was seriously asking if the Bowie line could be referring to that and not David Bowie. Obviously not , but now I think of this every time I hear it.

Someone upthread mentioned that Baby Babylon was the name of a certain type of gun. The Babylon reference could be a religious connection to right wing extremist who claim to be Christian and love their guns, taking photos of their kids with guns. Something else I read said that making guns out of clay may not only be a reference to kids with guns but also to 3D printed guns. It’s just a collage of images with references to kids, guns and religious extremism

Any idea what the "baby Babylon" line could mean? I've never understood the use of "babylon" in songs (I may recall that it's not the first time Green Day have used that but I'm not sure, I may be mixing different bands/songs), even if I am vaguely familiar with the biblical aspect of the name. But it's not a very straightforward name to interpret in a song, and if you add the "guns made out of clay" part, I geniuenly have no clue what this part of the song is about. Not only that, but it's so weird and obtuse that I can't even interpret a meaning of my own. Which is a shame because, other than this part, the rest of the song is fucking awesome.

What a dark horse. I never expected to be replaying this one so much nearly a month later!

Really amazing to see this guitar! If you look at the sticker on the upper horn of the guitar, just underneath the black tape, it's a very faded 'One Man Army' sticker. I made that sticker at home with a Sharpie and handed it to Billie from the front row of the London Astoria gig, Feb 1st 1998, along with an orange 'Hi-Fives' sticker. I remember him dropping it on the stage after he took it from me. I had no Idea that he stuck it on one of his guitars! I guess he must have picked it up after the gig. If you watch the video of the gig, he takes the stickers from me during the extended outro to 'When I Come Around' (timestamp 1hr 11mins 17secs into the vid)👍