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Couple of dogs patrolling last night, not aware of having seen that before. What a night! Crowd were a bit dull where I was and it’s a bit of an odd venue. Billie laughed at one point and said “why are some of you pointing backwards”. I don’t think those seats had been sold but folk had moved in to them to be closer, some were very far from the stage. BUT Green Day were fantastic, as good as ever I saw them I think. Billie is looking very trim, sounds fantastic, was in great form and clearly enjoying himself. I’m liking Corey O’Toole, he’s there but not doing as much as Jason who is too present for me sometimes. Jason W had blue hair, at least it looked like it. You know the setlist, but they came almost 15 mins early, 7. 45 and played til about 10.20 give or take a minute. Their energy never faltered, it was over too soon and I can’t wait to do it again Tuesday!

It took five and a half hours to get there (stop-start on the M62 for 2 hours). Back, backside and knees numb by the time we got there. We got seats in stand A. It rained a bit, but it didn’t bother us as we jumped around. Deja vu as when we tried to go to the toilets after the 2nd support act- the queues were just too long like they’d been when we saw FOB last October. 19 songs on the setlist that I had not heard at my previous gigs (9 from Dookie and 5 from AI). We love OEB so we were delighted that they played it. Unlike Huddersfield we could see the whole of the stage- the scenery and props were amazing. What a bloody great gig!

Such a good show, the boys sounded great. Can't believe they ripped through 37 songs in less than 2.5 hours. They honestly put many other bands to shame with what they put in. As a blind person, I can't speak for how it was visually but Billie Joe certainly sounded full of energy and as a whole they sounded fantastic, I'm always blown away by the clarity of Billie's vocals live, as someone who goes to many, many gigs and frequently find that you can't hear the singers that clearly in the moment. A couple of people I went with thought that Billie sounded a bit horse at times, to which I was like well yeah, singing 37 songs must be pretty hard I'll be at Wembley next week, looking forward to it. I'll be introducing two friends to their first Green Day show. Loved Billie's improv during the Chump pause

Awesome show 🩷 I was trying to avoid seeing too much of the set beforehand so it was awesome seeing how they depicted the dookie and AI artwork. Also love the set switch up, feels fresh without KFAD and Knowledge 😂 my only wish would be swapping KYE with Bang Bang for some RevRad rep, but other than that couldn’t fault it. BJ’s vocals top tier also!

https://www.instagram.com/mikegrayphoto?igsh=MWUxbzhiNTA0aHo3cg==

Seriously epic show, right up there for those who think they peaked at 21CBD. Sounded amazing, looked fantastic, energy off the scale. 105 stars. Can’t wait to do it all again Tuesday.

From the Manchester show last night Lots more photos here https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/gallery/40-incredible-pictures-green-day-29403011

I’ve already posted my review of the gig in the gig thread, but it’s worth reiterating how great a gig it was. My family loved it too. It was mums first GD gig and I’m so happy that she really enjoyed it. She knew most of the songs- it was only the first few from Dookie that I had to name as we were leaving after the gig. She’s asked a few times (in a strong Geordie accent) “what was Tre doing prancing about the stage in a dressing gown?” Got loads of pictures on dads phone that we should have a look at. I’m still shattered from getting home at 3:20 this morning. That, and the cost of concert tickets and travel are the reasons why we decided not to see either KOL or the Killers this weekend as well as GD who we’d already booked before the other two groups announced their gigs.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8fseD_tRAB/?igsh=MTh5aGxmaTN3dmI3aA==

Lots more pics from the show here https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/gallery/40-incredible-pictures-green-day-29403011 Have put some in the Billie picture thread

This... a DVD promo about Broadway musical.

Who wants to hear some jokes? 🤣

Pics from Green Day on Facebook

Amazing as always! I recorded most of it! Although I was very drunk and missed the opening, and accidentally stopped the recording twice, but only lost a few seconds. I will probably upload to YouTube when I get the time to!

Kerrang review here https://www.kerrang.com/live-review-green-day-manchester-emirates-old-trafford-billie-joe-armstrong-dookie-american-idiot?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0pcxZ7ANlqkAljBk8wbJepdrOcauC5SYKoxSaYzvgSWIxmvFGOpL1k388_aem_aZ5HgkyLpgPqpB1iDW_yzw

Manchester from Billie's Instagram story

Maids of Ace 5.35 til about 6.05… NBT 6.35 til 7.15 or thereabouts… GD started about 7.50 and were done about 10.10.

On this day 2 years ago (22 June 2022) Green Day played in Groningen, Netherlands on the Hella Mega Tour. 6 years ago (2018), Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk was released. 23 years ago (2001), Green Day played in Lowell, MA on the Warning Tour. 33 years ago (1991), they played one of their many shows at 924 Gilman Street. And 34 years ago (1990), they played their first show outside of California at someone's house in Seattle, WA.

Clip of AI from Kerrang https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8fk5khNaSg/?igsh=MXUyN2NvN212NnFwcA==

Amazing night, probably my favourite gig I’ve been to at all, green day or not. Hearing Homecomimg and Whatsername got me

I really hoping someone records it and shares

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8fbZy0KNBD/?igsh=MXYyN2t0dWRqdHZkag== https://www.instagram.com/p/C8fcMkgqL91/?igsh=MTBobjhrNWl5YTU3eA== https://www.instagram.com/p/C8fcTiLKkzx/?igsh=dWJlaWFvcmFrZWMw

Tonight's schedule That's 12 noon PDT and 3 pm EDT for Green Day

I just got my copy of this mag and I recommend it! I don't think there's any new interviews (I just quickly flipped through) but it does have old interviews, including the one Billie recently did with Guitar World. It also has brief essays about their albums. If you love magazines dedicated to one artist, you can't go wrong.

From Tre's wife

It's really exciting that they are playing all five singles a good bit. They haven't done that consistently since American Idiot. They did it with RevRad but no other eras. Breakdown shows could have used Last of the American Girls, but they opted for the more popular deep cut, Last Night on Earth. But yeah, Green Day playing new hits is a HUGE deal. Especially since it goes against the grain of playing two albums every night. I'm excited to see what the future holds for Green Day. The "one-twenty-one hits, the same every night" has been shaken up and now that all the pieces are loose, can evolve into something greater.

Really good show! I would say one of the best this tour. Perfect setlist (Bobby Sox and OEB ), complete stage set up and Billie in really good mood (still can’t stop laughing of Sassafras Roots ). And what’s the most important - it was possible to get the barrier without VIP ticket.

There were dogs and police in Turin in 2017 but I think that was perhaps because it was the first big tour happening after the tragic events in Paris a couple of months prior? Maybe anyway. My friend who was at one of the other shows liked Coley too. For me JF's Careless Whisper has outlived it's appeal but the crowd always seem to love it. It is an odd venue. I didn't like it back in 2010. Glad you had a fantastic time.

It's a 15 minutes documentary about broadway musical. I think this is for TV Shows, a shortened version of Broadway Idiot.

"Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day", as if he hadn't performed with Green Day 🤣

I quite like the OEB T-shirt. It's all quite expensive though!🤑

Perfectly valid 😂 just got through, must say it was very smooth, got my tour shirt and pint already!

Tonight's patch (shame it doesn't say Manchester or UK and wonder if this will be the patch for all the UK shows? The other shows had their own patches no?) https://www.instagram.com/stories/wilde_untamed_thing/3395235495660335687?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=ZWowcXgyamdobnZr

I’m loving the recent setlists. Seems like Green Day has solidified a consistent and jam packed 37 song setlist the past few shows. Hoping they keep it for the remainder of the tour!

So, this will be a long winded rant about the VIP system at the concerts so far. I am not entirely sure if this thread is the best place for it, or if I should start a new thread for this (partially because there are so many good things about this tour worth highlighting, and I hate dragging the mood down, and partially because I think this might be a problem for the US tour as well - although with how much more expensive regular tickets are there, maybe it won't). If you feel this deserves its own thread, I'll move it. Disclaimer: I do not know who is responsible for deciding how many VIP tickets to sell, and what these VIP packages should include. I do not know if the band's management is in control, if the venues are in control, it the ticketing platform, or if it is a mixture of some of these. Any criticism is directed at whoever that group of people might be, but since I don't know they are, there will be no finger pointing in my post. Story time / lots of context with a dash of rambling: So what is wrong with VIP? After Lyon I thought that the only thing wrong with VIP is that it prices super dedicated fans, willing to queue for more than 12 hours, regardless of weather, of the heat, or the pouring rain, but who are too young, going through hard financial times, or simple don't have that kind of disposable income, out of a chance of having their spot of their dreams. And for a truly dedicated fan, getting that spot, and the experiences that come with it, that can mean pricing them out of something that could be the one of the best memories they'll have. Or like it was for me, one of the happiest memories in the middle of a really low point in life. But after Lyon I naively thought that people who get VIP tickets must be hardcore fans too, who else would spend that much money to see a concert of a band they only kinda like? And I had good evidence for this too. A guy with a VIP entrance arrived before me (so before 6:40 AM) to the queue and spent all day there. The French brother and sister next to me in the barricade told me they were going to the Paris show, but with VIP tickets. Everyone around me knew the lyrics to everything and jumped when told to and clapped when told to, so I thought that was probably the vibe all along the barricade. This show in in Paris taught me otherwise. This show in Paris taught me that there are people with a lot of disposable income who only kinda like Green Day because the like Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends, and who probably bought VIP tickets because they were the only ones left available when they decided to go, or because they thought it'd be cool to go in early to get better pictures and videos of the show, and they end up occupying a space that they simply don't deserve to occupy because it will not be as meaningful to them as it'd be to those fan who queued for so many hours, who know all the songs, regardless of how good or bad their English is, who will jump and dance and clap all the way through the concert. So it's not only that you are pricing out the hardcore fans who don't have the means to afford a VIP ticket, but replacing them with equally dedicated fans. No, you are replacing them also with people who will not appreciate and participate in the concert at the same level. And the third and final thing that was even less unexpected, is that it abolishes the sense of camaraderie that is born among complete strangers who queue together for hours. When those tall people let me stand in front of them that first night at Madison Square Garden, they knew it'd make no difference to them because they would still be able to see just as much as if I was behind them, but that it'd make a huge difference in how much I'd be able to see and enjoy the show. But probably, if they had payed 200$ more than me to be that extra row ahead of me, they wouldn't have been so willing to make that small sacrifice. This guy next to me looked down to the tiny girl behind him and simply told her " we are in the front because we payed extra", I am sure the thought of letting her in front of him where she'd not only see better, but also be safer, didn't even register as a possibility. They didn't care about people around them and if we were okay after the big crush that happened during Hitchin' a Ride because we were complete faceless strangers for them. Another girl I met in the queue ended up pushed against the people in the front row a bit to my right (towards the cat walk) while her mother ended up behind me. The people in the front didn't know her and thought she was trying to get that spot, and instead of helping her regain her feet, she tells me they were yelling at her, when all she wanted was to get back to her mom. And if they had met her, they would have known that. So it really just creates such a hostile environment in the barricade, because whether people payed 300-500 euros for that spot because they love Green Day or just because they could, they still want to hold on to that expensive spot no matter what, and not a single care for the safety or comfort of others, which is a very easy disregard to have for people you have never met. So what to do about it? (As if anyone with any power to change this would read this, but let this be my message in a bottle thrown at sea) The first and simplest thing is more transparency, about how many VIP tickets for general area are going to be sold, so you can make the best decision possible about what to buy with the means you have. And so that you also have realistic expectations of how many VIPs there will be and what that means about what spot you would get. But the best solution would be to make the VIP truly VIP. Not by increasing the price even more because that doesn't guarantee they will go to the right people, but by decreasing the number of tickets. Don't sell more than the amount of people it'd take to occupy 20% of the front row barricade. I don't say eliminate them completely because I know there are fans who might have legitimate reasons not to queue - they might simply not be able to get the time off work to queue, or they have a kid that they couldn't leave with a child minder all day, or a medical reason that makes it hard to queue but they can still be okay in the barricade, etc. But if they are so few you know that only fans buying in presale or hunting tickets the second they go on sale, will be the ones who will get their hands on them. And it will eliminate the need for fans who are capable and willing to queue to buy VIP tickets, because they know they can get there the good old fashioned way. The least good solution is to just call it the VIP area, and have a mini golden circle around the stage, and behind that the GA area. At least like that you know what you are buying from the get go. Personally, I learned my lesson. I had no idea the VIP situation had gotten like this since I missed every tour that happened between 21stCBD and now, and it was nothing like this back then, so I only found out about in the queue in Lyon when the girls who were first in line were panicking about it and put me up to speed. For their next tour, if I am still as obsessed as I am today, I might choose to buy VIP but go to less shows, But that pisses me off because it feels so wrong, because right now my life circumstances are so that I could afford that, but 3 years ago that wouldn't have been true, or at any point in my life before that it also wouldn't have been true. And I don't know if the next time they tour it will still be true. And I know with certainty that, no matter when, it won't be an option for plenty of dedicated fans.

I have Christmas baubles with the different confetti’s in them.

Some shots from the Lyon show https://www.instagram.com/p/C78r2iTNicw/?igsh=MTg2cTBmdXYxZnVmMA==

I have sky (am away from home for the other GD concerts) and have it set up and I noticed in the listings it has GD there too, I’m know sometimes they don’t alllow a whole show to be broadcast so don’t know if that’s happening again. Annoyingly I can record it there but not lift it off in anyway I know of.

Given this setlist and the massive stage production, I hope they treat us with some edited live footage. Not necessarily a whole production like BIAB/Awesome as F**k, but something Metallica-like, with one song from each concert (so that they can show everyone how they're the greatest live band atm).

https://www.tvguide.co.uk/schedule/828e5c67-76df-59bb-82d8-bc7165c40e39/isle-of-wight-festival-2024 looks promising

This is the song that made me excited for the trilogy. Oh Love didn't do it, but when I heard this song I was all in. It's such a BANGER. Is it a little silly? Yeah, but it gets you pumped up! And it's so different from anything they've done, so I'm glad they just went for it.

Isle of Wight festival usually gets lots of good coverage on the BBC.