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Two posts in quick succession from Tre

What not to do at Green Day's Auckland shows' by Chris Schulz | May 11, 2017 | NZ Herald Green Day are here for two shows this weekend, but one will be very different to the other. Tre Cool tells Chris Schulz why. Tre Cool is laughing. Not an outrageous snort, more of a considered snicker, like he's chuckling from behind his hand. What's he laughing about? Cool, the spiky-haired drummer for punk-rock lifers Green Day, is calling out the band's rivals. He won't name names, but it's easy to guess. There have been a few over the years. And he's having the time of his life doing it. "You hear records that were popular at certain times, especially back in the 90s and early 2000s, people were jumping on these fads and trying to get a quick hit," he exclaims. "We never did that. We were very conscious not to do that." I join in the fun and jokingly ask Cool why Green Day never added a DJ or rapper into their three-strong mix, which has never strayed from him, front-man Billy Joe Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt. That's a good example ... We were very careful not to jump on any sort of sonic fads ... We left all the cheap tricks to other bands that have long since gone." His tongue is firmly in his cheek. In fact, over a casual 15-minute phoner, it becomes apparent it might live in there. "My wife is over there decorating her backpack," he says at one point during our conversation. "Check her out. Aww, she's adorable." But his joking takedown of nu-metal is a solid reminder of the timelessness of Green Day's 1994 album Dookie, their snot-fuelled cartoon punk blast that kick-started a career that's now into its 31st year. Despite a career that's morphed into politically charged albums like 2004's American Idiot and last year's Revolution Radio, hits from Dookie - like Longview, Basket Case and When I Come Around - are still the highlight for many during Green Day's live shows. That's likely to be the case when Green Day hit Spark Arena with The Interrupters this weekend. And Cool is, well, super cool about that. "I remember when we wrote and recorded them ... the common thread was always longevity. We kept saying, 'Let's make something that doesn't sound dated. Let's get a quality recording, record what we sound like, make it about the songs, make it about the performance, make it about the band." Dookie songs are still a favourite for the band to play too, admits Cool. But not for the same reason. "I notice when we start playing those Dookie-era songs, you smell the aroma of marijuana in the audience every time, no matter where you are. Even in Texas," says Cool. "It's cool, like, 'Oh yep, the old-timers are lighting up their joints' ... you get a free contact high with all the Dookie stuff." The other highlight of Green Day's live shows is their 20-year tradition of jamming with a superfan. Despite some occasionally woeful performances, Cool says Armstrong's fan choices - chosen randomly from the crowd - are usually spot-on. "He'll look around for someone who has a snap factor, someone who's a little bit off. I don't know how he does it, but it's always different people. Half the time, I'd say it's amazing, good, probably another 45 per cent, and 5 per cent would be, 'They just can't play'. "That grade point average would get you into most colleges," he laughs. "It's pretty good odds." But, he warns, if you want to get picked from the crowd, there's something you should never do. "Having a sign does not help," Cool says. "I've never seen Billy pick anyone to come up on stage [with a sign saying], 'Hey Billy, pick me'." Cool's got another warning too. This weekend's shows - on Saturday and Sunday nights - will be very different from each another. "The second night is going to be completely nuts, because it's the last show we do with The Interrupters," he says. "We have a tradition to play lots of pranks on the opening act on the very last show. That will be the Sunday. So if you really want to see a special show, that's the one to go to," he says. "I cannot give anything away, but we have a long tradition of hi-jinks and onstage pranks during their set." There's another hint of a mysterious chuckle from behind his hand again. Then Cool declares: "Don't come late." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11851550

Maybe I just heard bad ones or like that dude on here that forces us to click his youtube links if you remember what I am talking about. Either way I am glad you took a positive approach to this I expected to be attacked like no other on here.

I suppose that depends on the cover though. If it's a bad cover, leave it to Green Day. If it's a decent cover but they sound like Green Day wannabes, leave it to Green Day. However, if it's a good cover and they've put their own spin on it, well I think it's nice to hear something different, even though I'll probably prefer the original.

Whenever I see Green Day cover songs on YouTube, I can't help but to think it seems kind of corny. Leave it to Green Day guys. Don't be mad, just my unpopular opinion. I'm sure they are all great people

Makes a lot of sense. They have pretty much admitted the songs weren't good anyway, right from the beginning they've said after the "robbery" they took stock and realised they weren't "maximum Green Day" and that they could do better, to be fair. But I agree they added in/exaggerated the other stuff to make it a better story and a bit less pathetic sounding than just they weren't good. I guess it's kind of like The Network now, they'll never admit it because it's more fun to go with the mysterious story

Well it's the stolen thing that gets me cause Mike mentioned once that they had DAT backups of unmixed versions of the songs that tells me they recorded on tape cause if they were doing straight up pro tools they'd have made back up on cd-r's they claim the masters were stolen so if they recorded on tape at the least each song would have taken up 2 reels at the least so that'd be 40 reels (as it's been said that they had 20 songs recorded) that'd been stolen I don't see a studio letting anyone just walking out with reels without being stopped for those who may not know what reels look like here's what one looks like imagine 39 more of those and you see how hard it'd be to go unnoticed I go with the theory that they just don't want to say publicly the songs weren't good saying the masters were stolen sounds better than saying the songs sucked as the stolen story would place the blame on the studio and not on them

I remember recently during my school's "pre show" (basically a thing before our morning announcements where they show a slideshow and play music) I heard Still Breathing. Sadly, I walked in near the end of the song

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This week I had to schedule my surgery in August for this baby I'm having...I told my doctor "I have tickets to see my favorite band on August 21, so it HAS to be after that!" She will get to attend in utero, and I'll have my surgery on the 25th 😂😂 here's hoping she cooperates and doesn't decide to make an appearance early to make me miss the whole thing!!!

My redneck neighbor leaves his radio on when he's away to make people think there is somebody home and I heard Oh Love play on it the other day.

This is amazing!!

I could write an essay about the lyrics in Somewhere Now, especially that line!

He found his soul under the sofa pillows, meaning that after losing his way (as most of the song describes), he ended up finding himself literally under his ass. In other words, it was there the whole time. I love it so much. Then it paves way for the last line, "congratulations I found myself somewhere now", which is in contrast to "I'm running late to somewhere now" at the start, the same phrase but two totally different meanings. As an aside, the line also makes me think of the Longview video which gives it an extra nostalgic feel

that is super unpopular to me. That's literally one of my favourite lines from the entire album!

Absolutely, I couldn't agree with you more. They leave their hearts and souls out on stage every night and pour every fiber of their being into the albums (too much carnage in those analogies- sorry!). But you put it perfectly- they don't owe anyone a thing, yet they're still giving us the best they have every day of the week. And if some people feel the need to rip on them regardless, well, I take pity on those small, angry souls.

Well said, man. Sums up my thoughts perfectly. Some people just don't seem to realize the sacrifices artists make to entertain them. They could honestly quit whenever they want (Not that that's going to happen anytime soon!), but they don't because they clearly love what they do and they love their fans too. To me, as long as they have fun and stay safe and keep releasing great music, that's all that matters.

Wow, that's just amazing to me. To think that some people actually went through the effort of posting 0/10 and saying that the band had "betrayed" them for releasing RevRad- that just makes me want to puke. But then I realize that this type of opinion can't possibly be taken seriously. We're so flipping lucky they're still around, decades later, touring their asses off and putting out new music (which, in my opinion anyway, is excellent)...and some people write that they wish that they would have preferred that they hadn't even put this album out at all? That is not only completely ridiculous, it's offensively inconsiderate of the fact that this is an incredibly lucky situation for music in general- bands don't last this long, this is an incredibly rare occurrence. I'm going to stop this post here because I feel I'm generating the type of reaction those trolls are looking for. And if that's what fulfills them, well, that sucks for them! And for those that did- well, sorry, but I love everything this band does, millions of others do as well...and that's not going to change. I hope those poor trolls find their happiness and meaning in life somewhere eventually!

Or maybe because they're a different band and that's not how they want to do things? A totally different sound with each album isn't the only way to be a good band, different bands have different styles and preferences etc when it comes to making music. Why is a pop punk band making another pop punk album instead of a heavy metal album or a dance album? Perhaps because they like making pop punk music! But even though they've kept a core sound they've still experimented by adding different other sounds/influences to it on all their albums. And done some really bold things such as releasing a folk influenced album in the middle of a nu metal craze and doing a rock opera, having been known for 3 chord songs about masturbating and smoking weed. Do you think most punk or pop punk bands have more variety to their sound than Green Day?? I don't.

Seriously? They've repeatedly stated in recent interviews that they really don't care about that anymore, and they don't have to prove anything to anybody. And I feel like if that was their goal, they'd put more thought into the promotion of the singles I really don't think they made the album the way they did with the purpose of getting radio hits. Warning is highly praised now, but it definitely wasn't after it came out.

They experimented quite a lot on the trilogy though? Kill the DJ, Nightlife and Brutal Love especially aren't like anything they've put out before. To a lesser extent but still, Oh Love, Drama Queen, The Forgotten and 8th Ave. Serenade aren't "traditional" Green Day, either. Whether the experiments turned out well is a different discussion (I like it but I know that's an unpopular opinion) but they definitely tried.

They did try some new and different sounds on Warning and Trilogy and people freaked out and said those albums sucked. So if they try something new people get mad, but if they sound the same people get mad, What are they supposed to do? It seems to me that some people are never satisfied. As they have said in past interviews they make the music they like. It's what makes them happy. We are lucky that they share it with us and should be grateful. Just my humble opinion of course.

I like it too. I like dos better, but uno is a good album

Oh boy.. Here's something that's going to get the GD purists angry. .... I actually liked ¡UNO! Like a lot.

Such amazing albums