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COMETBUS #54 Green Day In China?!


GDM

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looks like i need to fire up my pen. sigh. i thought this was finished. here we go yo.

It has all been very interesting to watch from afar tbh lol

I honestly don't see the need for him to try and defend Aaron's zine?

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It has all been very interesting to watch from afar tbh lol

I honestly don't see the need for him to try and defend Aaron's zine?

He's quite neutral about it but yeah if he was swaying to one side it would be Aaron's. But he has known Aaron for most of his life, he's always gonna side with him over fans.

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Wonder if he mention anything about the muscle heads who push around those old, eerie, frivolous, money squandering, spinsters around in the pit.

Tbf and I've stopped going in them myself now after 20+ years in the pit, if you're going in the pit expect to be kicked from hell to highwater cos they are not nice places to be :)

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Tbf and I've stopped going in them myself now after 20+ years in the pit, if you're going in the pit expect to be kicked from hell to highwater cos they are not nice places to be :)

Yeah but then you get people like Aaron who shove a load of girls who are fans of his and have queued all day to be at the front and watch him perform out of the way to make room for his friends at a PHGP show. People shouldn't expect the pit not to be rough, but people who make it unnecessarily unpleasant or violent deserve to be criticized much more. Aaron doesn't criticize the worst type of people at shows (probably because he's one of them), so I can't take him criticizing anyone else's behaviour seriously at all.

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Yeah but then you get people like Aaron who shove a load of girls who are fans of his and have queued all day to be at the front and watch him perform out of the way to make room for his friends at a PHGP show. People shouldn't expect the pit not to be rough, but people who make it unnecessarily unpleasant or violent deserve to be criticized much more. Aaron doesn't criticize the worst type of people at shows (probably because he's one of them), so I can't take him criticizing anyone else's behaviour seriously at all.

That's cos he thinks he is all that is and ever will be 'Punk' he believes his own hype, and lets face it he's not done too badly off GD fans has he? All the benefits he has gotten from GD like the first class flight to Asia have come via the very people he is badmouthing. Just don't rise to him.

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Well, I can understand what he says about the frivolousness and decadence, because, well, it is... but the assumptions he makes are just way over the top... trust funds? Expense accounts? Stalkers? And yea... I remember Pinhead at Gilman... and how horrible he was to the women there... ugh. Whatever. I didn't expect this to blow up, but damn, write something stupid and imprecise, and that's what happens, eh?

And they act like no one can frigging call them out on it. What a baby!

Again, though... In China with Green Day is the best thing I've read on Green Day... and he slags off a lot... as usual... in his text... so... take it with a grain of salt...

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Did anyone post a link that has relatively cheap postage to Ireland? Or have I gotta wait for this to do the rounds before I get near it

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Can I be aboslutely honest with you guys? I really don't want my head chopped off, but a forum is about opinions and thoughts, right? I DO NOT in any way possible mean to offend anyone on here, but....here it goes.

I agree with Cometbus. I would like to classify myself as neutral, but I just can't. I think what some people do to get the band's attention is repulsive. From being on barrier 10 nights in a row to going to numerous amounts of performances of American Idiot. Don't get me wrong, I know there are fans who claim they "love" the musical so much that they just have to see it again and again. That's fine. But, when the number of performances someone attends are slightly centralized around Billie Joe's, it becomes questioning. You know, I've spoken to a lot of people about this situation because, honestly it doesn't make sense to me. Yes, the "middle aged women" (note the quotation marks) have their own lives. They can do whatever the fuck they want with it. But, what I don't understand...maybe it's because I come from a single parent home, is how everyone affords this. I just don't understand. If everyone claims it's not trust funds or any other kind of savings or inheritance, what the hell else can it be? I'm not trying to be nosy, but I'm honestly scratching my head whenever I see 17 year olds traveling across the country for every single event. Or parents traveling across the world for every single event. The word responsibility flashes right in front of my mind. Being 17 myself, I don't understand how the 17 or something year old kids' parents allow them to go or how they can do this without having consequences from school. Maybe I'm one of those nerdy kids who only take AP classes because I want to get into my dream college, something I've been working towards for 6 years, but if I went around the world like this, I would be frantic. Again, maybe that's just the nerd and paranoia speaking. It could also be my biases speaking as well.

Onto Cometbus. I think he's honestly annoyed of people going to Pinhead shows for Billie. I know the majority of you out there don't just go for Billie, but a lot do. Let's face it. Alright, if I was the drummer for Pinhead and every single show I see these same women and fans wearing "Green Day Authority" shirts or something relating to the world known band, I would be a little ticked. Not gonna lie. If I knew people were pretty much coming out just cause of Billie, hell..I would LOVE for my friends to be up front just cause I would know for sure they were there for the music. Of course, Cometbus does not know half of the crowd out there and shouldn't judge what their motives are. But, guys..it's human nature. We're shallow motherfuckers. And it's proven. We judge people in a blink of an eye (thank you, Malcolm Gladwell). We can't help it. So, all I'm saying is that I think credit needs to be given to both sides. I guess when I was writing this, it sort of made me neutral, to be honest. Although, the whole traveling around the world to me still doesn't make sense. But, I understand where you guys come from-- it's not fair to be judged. I mean, who knows? Maybe he didn't even mean to point fingers and was honestly just putting descriptive shit in there to fluff it up. But, I also understand where he is coming from. He came from a scene where everyone was with each other and now, it's extremely broken and fragemented. It sucks. It would break my heart.

So, it would be awesome if you guys didn't eat me alive after this.

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So, it would be awesome if you guys didn't eat me alive after this.

Not gonna eat you alive, you're perfectly entitled to have your own opinion and its nice to see someone go against the norm! Yeah I will admit some people are rich kids and they get lucky that way. But of some of the people I have met following Green Day around the world, several I have talked to have been out physically selling their possesions just to get enough money to do this.

I've got no problem if someone wants to camp out at the venue overnight just to ensure they get barrier spots, if they love the guys that much then let them! I camped out for one show and I was wrecked, I can't imagine doing it for a tour or even a few shows.

So not all the fans following them on the tour are "trust fund babies", although some can be annoying. Some I have met buy all the merch and go to all the shows but really don't care about the music and what it means, just want the bragging rights of being a big fan. (Actually no I'm only talking about one person here!)

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So, it would be awesome if you guys didn't eat me alive after this.

You're a brave one! :lol:

And remarkably thoughtful and well-written for a 17 year old.

As a middle aged female who has done a fair bit of traveling for thie band and its side projects, I actually agree with much of what you say. And, even Aaron.

I think he was misguided about a few of the assumptions he made, and I think he completely ignored the sense of community that comes about when you get together with like minded folks at these events. But I am not at all offended about what he wrote and I even think he has hit the nail on the head to some extent.

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Why would anyone eat you alive over that? In fact, if that is what Cometbus had actually said, no one would take offense. But... that's not what he said. ;)

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One thing you might not know when you are 17 (and I didn't either, of course) is that by the time you are 40, you sometimes need a little escape from those kids and responsibilities. And if, if you have the money, Green Day with your like minded buddies is a great escape. Some ladies do spa weekends or golf outings, but that was never me. It's no different from any other Girl Trip I have taken in the past, really. And, keep in mind that I'm not talking about going for weeks at a time....I can get away for maybe 4 days at a time, max.

No responsible parent should be taking food out of their kid's mouths to travel for Green Day, for god's sake. Or selling things, or not allowing their child to get braces or go on the Class Trip. But, if you've got the time and money, it's a great rejuvenator! :)

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You're a brave one! :lol:

And remarkably thoughtful and well-written for a 17 year old.

As a middle aged female who has done a fair bit of traveling for thie band and its side projects, I actually agree with much of what you say. And, even Aaron.

I think he was misguided about a few of the assumptions he made, and I think he completely ignored the sense of community that comes about when you get together with like minded folks at these events. But I am not at all offended about what he wrote and I even think he has hit the nail on the head to some extent.

Awww, thank you! I really didn't know what I was going to be getting into when I posted that. But, I don't know..it's how I felt for a long time.

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i shared my thoughts over on Mr. Livermore's blog.

I LOVE the COMMUNITY that WE are. Us Green Day fans help each other out to shows, and are a great bunch of freaks. I remember when I first came on to GDC and I kept reading J'net's stories about how she traveled here and there and EVERYWHERE for Green Day events and I was like WTF?!?! Who is this woman and HOW CAN SHE DO ALL THIS AWESOME AS FUCK (apologies) SHIT? Well, she has a story just like all of us other happy Green Day freaks. We do what we can based on a lot of different factors, including our age, economic resources, desire, access to travel resouces, and a myriad of other factors. I was not able to go to anything Green Day related until 2009 and I am OLD AS FUCK. So we all do what we can, when we can, how we can.

I do love that we are discussing it here on the forum. What it means to be a Green Day fan is something WE all feel very passionate about. When someone else, an outsider to our happy little COMMUNITY attempts to peg us into some generalization that some of us find negative or simply wrong, this is the place I want to discuss it.

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One thing you might not know when you are 17 (and I didn't either, of course) is that by the time you are 40, you sometimes need a little escape from those kids and responsibilities. And if, if you have the money, Green Day with your like minded buddies is a great escape. Some ladies do spa weekends or golf outings, but that was never me. It's no different from any other Girl Trip I have taken in the past, really. And, keep in mind that I'm not talking about going for weeks at a time....I can get away for maybe 4 days at a time, max.

No responsible parent should be taking food out of their kid's mouths to travel for Green Day, for god's sake. Or selling things, or not allowing their child to get braces or go on the Class Trip. But, if you've got the time and money, it's a great rejuvenator! :)

Amen from one mother to another.

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Anyone who's heard of Pinhead Gunpowder before they've heard of Green Day, throw the first stone.

I don't think that was the point. There are fans who go to shows for Billie and there are fans who go for the music. It doesn't matter how they found out about Pinhead. It's a totally opposite spectrum.

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I'm finding this debate completely fascinating. I'd try and post something, but I'd end up writing a book.

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I'm finding this debate completely fascinating. I'd try and post something, but I'd end up writing a book.

its a good debate...id like to hear what you think. cmon!

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its a good debate...id like to hear what you think. cmon!

You won't be thinking that when you're halfway through The Longest GDC Post In The World - Ever !

One thing though - do Larry/Cometbus assume that Green Day are the only band/solo act in the world that have got nutty fans and that theirs are especially bad ? The Lady Gaga FB is terrifying and the less said about Britney fans, the better.

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The people I know that manage to do all of this do so because they have worked hard for the last 20 years and its now their time from the kids, from being Mum from being wife to take a piece of themselves back, we're all entitled to that. They all work and they work damned hard.

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You won't be thinking that when you're halfway through The Longest GDC Post In The World - Ever !

One thing though - do Larry/Cometbus assume that Green Day are the only band/solo act in the world that have got nutty fans and that theirs are especially bad ? The Lady Gaga FB is terrifying and the less said about Britney fans, the better.

Omg yes, some Britney fans are so damn creepy.

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This is all really interesting. I'm not in the least bit surprised by what Cometbus said about the fans. It's pretty well known how antagonistic and just generally jerky that guy is toward anyone he deems an outsider. I've never hated the guy, but I can understand why anyone would. I'm fairly neutral on his opinion. I do understand it even if I don't share it though.

My mind once boggled at the level of obsession and the money to feed it these fans possessed, but as I got to know some of them a bit I at least began to understand the financial and time side of it. The reason so many of these "superfans" are older is because many of the fans have only just reached the point in their lives when they can afford both the time and money to do this. Their kids are generally grown and their jobs are good. As many fans have argued, other people spend their later years on cruises, at casinos, ect. These ladies have simply chosen another recreational activity. I admit it's still an odd choice to me, but it's a valid choice and I'm no one to judge.

Someone pondered earlier in this thread, if the band could share Aaron's opinion in any way.... Considering what they name their live album (a name created by older female superfans) I doubt it. I used to wonder if they were at all creeped out by it, but after they chose an album title that was a tribute to those superfans there's no way. Green Day loves you guys, who gives a shit what their bitter friend thinks about you.

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