"I don't wanna go back home, I don't want a kiss goodnight"

[Sanity Loan]

"I don't wanna go back home, I don't want a kiss goodnight."

My review of the Denver, CO concert

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When I first decided to make the trip out to Denver for the Green Day show a couple weeks ago, I was obviously super excited. But at that time, I had no idea how awesome and epic it would actually be.

My flight left Cedar Rapids at 4:45 on Friday, August 27th. I arrived in Denver at about 5:30 greeted by two people who I’ve only talked to online: Alex and J’Net. It only took me a couple minutes to realize how truly amazing these two people actually are.... and it would only get better as the weekend progressed.

We went from the airport to Alex and I’s hotel to drop off our luggage. From there, J’Net took us out to eat at a fancy Italian restaurant in Englewood. I felt pretty awkward because I was in flip-flops, plaid shorts, and a Green Day t-shirt. Who cares right? We ate our fabulous meal and then headed to a Mexican restaurant named “3 Margaritas” to meet up with some other GDCers. I met Beth, her husband Chris, Tony, “the Aussies” and a couple other fabulous people. By that time, I was tired so Alex and I headed back to our hotel where we crashed an hour later.

That next morning, we woke up at 8:00 and got some breakfast. Then, in our GDA Team shirts, we walked over to the Amphitheater to start “queueing up.” We got there a little before nine and we ended up being the third “group” in line. The first group in line were a bunch of the people we met the night before at 3 Margaritas. They had been in line since 3:00AM! Now that’s dedication.

Aside from the actual show, waiting around all day was the best part of the trip. I got to meet a lot of fabulous people. Many, if not all, are either on the forum or visit GDA. That experience was awesome. Being surrounded by Green Day fans all day... I LOVED it. Many of us shared common interests other than Green Day.

One of the most interesting conversations was with some of the Aussies. They had been following the band around for a lot of the shows this tour and they had some incredible stories about their experiences at the shows. It was really great to hear all those things from actual fans.

After hours of waiting, which actually seemed a lot shorter than that, the band started their sound check at around five. They ran through a couple songs including Murder City, American Eulogy, 21st Century Breakdown and a couple more. Beth and the Aussies were actually able to get into the sound check to watch it. After it was over, they came back out of the Amphitheater screaming, yelling, and with Green Day koozies in their hands that the band had thrown at them.

Finally, 6:00pm rolled around and they started letting people into the Amphitheater. Alex and Tony ended up having better seats than J’Net and I had. But due to the great souls of J’Net and Tony, they let Alex and I have the great seats which were about 6 rows up from the very very small pit. I cannot thank J’Net and Tony enough for what they did. They are two of the nicest people I have ever met.... and I really do mean that. If anyone else has met them, they will agree with me.

So Alex and I got into our greats seats and (sadly) watched AFI perform some songs. After about 35 minutes of performing, they finally left the stage and the roadies started setting up Green Day’s equipment. Thirty minutes later, the famous Pink Bunny came out on stage and entertained the crowd with its beer chugging and dancing to songs such as the YMCA. The bunny left, the stage went dark, and on came “Rock and Roll Radio” by the Ramones followed by “Song of the Century”.

By this time, the crowd was already going nuts and were were singing along to the song. Then the intro to “21st Century Breakdown” started playing right after “Song of the Century” just like on the album. The crowd went even more wild as the band came running out on stage. As soon as Tre hit his snare to open “21st Century Breakdown”, the stage lights came on and a big explosion of pyro and cheers erupted.

The band went through their normal show-opening routine by playing 21st Century Breakdown, Know Your Enemy, East Jesus Nowhere, and Holiday. During the outro of Holiday, Tre started a familiar drum roll. I immediately knew the next song and I couldn’t wait for Billie to say the words “desperate, but not not helpless” to begin the song “Murder City.” To me, that was a treat to see live as I really like that song.

Next, Billie came out on stage with his acoustic guitar and Tre started the drum intro to “Give Me Novocaine.” I love this song and I am really glad that I got to hear it live. As Tre played the outro to Novocaine, I thought She’s a Rebel was going to be next as it is on American Idiot. But was I in for a shock. Right after Tre hit the hi-hat to end Novocaine, Jason White started the intro to Letterbomb! I screamed as loud as I could because I absolutely love that song and it has been somewhat of a rare live song until recently.

After Letterbomb came Are We the Waiting and St. Jimmy. Are We the Waiting has a lot more emotion when the band does it live. The mixture of the magic of the song and the audience’s interaction with it just makes it a lot more special than listening to it on the American Idiot album. I prefer the live version over the album version. Billie pulled up someone from the pit to sing the song with him which was great. She looked like she had a great time. Billie took her camera and was taking pictures of her on stage. Then St. Jimmy came which got the crowd jumping again. That is also a great song to hear live

Next came one of the crowd favorites and always great “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Before the song started, Billie stood on stage completely still and just staring out into the audience for a good minute. It was actually kind of funny to watch. Then Jason started in with the guitar. The first verse and chorus was just Billie and Jason which is a really cool change to the song. Mike and Tre came in at the start of the second verse. I heard this song live the last concert I was at in 2005 but I didn’t remember how great it was be performed live. Its one of those songs were its great on the album but even better live. Especially since the majority of the crowd knows the song and is singing along. It makes the song that much better. Before Billie started singing the first verse, he gave the Aussies a shout out and recognized their commitment to the band. That was a cool moment. The best part of the song was when Billie let the crowd sing the first chorus. And after that part was over, Jason stopped playing the guitar and Billie just stared at the crowd for a while and then said, “Show those mother fuckers in California how loud you are right now!” He seemed really pleased with the audience and with how high our energy levels were.

Next came the highlight of the night when Billie said this: “Hey! I just want to tell you something right now. We are recording a live fucking album right now! So check it out! We are going to play a brand new song.” When he said that, a million thoughts were running through my mind. Could it be an unreleased song that we have heard before such as “Stay the Night” or “Dreamcatcher”? No it wasn’t. Oh boy were the band’s greatest fans in for a surprise when Billie continued by saying, “It ain’t that new. This song’s called Cigarettes and Valentines. Let’s go.” As soon as he said “Cigarettes and Valentines”, I immediately turned and looked at Alex and both of our jaws dropped. We couldn’t believe it. I never thought that I would hear this song and neither did all the people there that knew about the song’s existence. During the song I thought of what J’Net and Tony were thinking. Especially J’Net since she told me earlier of how she was at the San Jose show where that song was played during the sound check and she wasn’t able to hear it. She was pretty bummed out about it. But, most of all, I was happy that she finally got to hear it. As for the song, it is great to say the least and I’m so happy that it will be on the upcoming live album.

After the song was over, Billie, Mike, Jason, and Jeff all changed their instruments since the next song was played in Eb. But when Billie came back out with Blue, he asked the audience if they wanted to hear it again. Of course, everyone shouted, “YES!!” and they played it AGAIN. Such a great song.

The next song was “One of My Lies.” Billie opened it by asking the audience how many were old school Green Day fans. I don’t think there were a whole lot considering how many tweens were in the audience. This song marked the start of a series of older songs to be played.

They followed “One of My Lies” with “Geek Stink Breath.” That is a great song and its even better live! Next was “Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?”. Billie started the song by saying, “This song goes out to the guys from AFI.” After he said that, Davey Havok (AFI’s singer) came out on stage to sing the song with Billie. As much as I would have liked to hear just Billie sing it, I didn’t mind Davey singing a portion of it.... it wasn’t half bad.

Next, Billie invited a bunch of people to come on stage while the band played another oldie... “Paper Lanterns.” As much as I like the idea of the band interacting with the audience, I didn’t really like everyone being on stage for a couple reasons. One was the fact that the majority of the people up there were little kids and tweens that probably don’t even know the song. Second, it took away from the greatness of the song. I would have liked to just see the band up their by themselves playing it. That is also the case for the next song, “2000 Light Years Away.” The people were up their during that song as well. I think that if the band is going to play those older and rare songs, then they should do it by themselves. But that is just my opinion on the situation.

Next came the classics “Hitchin’ a Ride,” “When I Come Around,” and “Brain Stew/Jaded.” After those songs, Billie and the band started their cover session which included Ozzy’s “Iron Man” and “Crazy Train.” Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” ACDC’s “Highway to Hell,” and the Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” The only down side to these songs were that the band teased us with a majority of them by only playing the intro or first verse. But still, its great to see the band play some songs other than their own because I love their sound, their energy, and Billie’s voice.

Next was the part of the show were Billie brings someone up to sing “Longview.” Billie brought up the first singer who swore that he (or she... I couldn’t really tell) knew the lyrics to the song. Unfortunately, I don’t think they did because Billie had to sing the first verse with him/her. Then the chorus came and it was pretty much instrumental since the singer was jumping around and didn’t hold the microphone to his/her mouth. After the first chorus, Billie came over, grabbed the mic and said “That was okay.... we need to improve some.” He was way more than correct. So he brought the next person up and he wasn’t any better... strike two. After the second chorus and bridge, Billie said something like, “Denver! Someone has got to save you!” The next singer did that. She fucking rocked the last verse and chorus. Cool thing was that I had been by her in line all day and she was somewhat of a quiet person. But when she got on stage, she was nothing like that. And of course, since she did an awesome job, Billie gave her a guitar to take home!

Next came a pair of Dookie greats “Basket Case” and the somewhat rare “She.” Alex and I looked at each other in disbelief when Tre and Mike started playing in the intro to “She.” That is such an awesome song to hear and see live.

Next was the long-lasting “King for a Day” portion of the show where the band put on ridiculous costumes and had a lot of fun with the song. Billie was wearing a police cap with a red feather scarf-type-thing around his next. Jason was wearing a large pirate hat, Mike had on some funky glasses, Tre was wearing a bra, and Jason Freese was dressed up like Elvis. My god was that funny as hell. The band rolled through “Shout,” “Satisfaction,” “Stand by Me,” “Break on Through,” and “Hey Jude.” The Hey Jude was a great moment where everyone in the audience was singing and it sounded really cool. It seemed as if this portion of the show went on for over 30 minutes... but it was awesome none-the-less.

Next was “21 Guns.” By this point in the show, it was completely dark outside so everyone got their cell phones and waved them in the air to the beat of the song. It was cool to turn around and see. During the first verse and chorus, I noticed a guy a couple seats to the left of me fingering the stage the whole time. I took it as if he didn’t like the song. I was pretty offended by it. Looking back on it, I wish Billie would have saw it, stopped the song, and said a few words to him.... that would have been epic. But, the song went on and it was a special moment because its such a great song. The piano portion after the solo gave me the chills. Jason played a piano version of the chorus while Billie sang it. It sounded so beautiful.... and as I said, it gave me the chills.

After “21 Guns” was “Minority.” I LOVE hearing/seeing that song being played live. It has such great energy and the band does so much with it before the third verse starts. Billie does a bunch of solos and while running around the stage. Very neat. Also during the part, Billie thanks the audience for coming out and for such a great time. He announces that Colorado is now the home of Green Day. He also says something to the tune of “fuck California.” That was pretty awesome. During the the last of chorus, a shit load of blue and white confetti was shot off into the audience. Some had “Green Day” written on them in the 21CB font and others had skulls on them. They are pretty neat. I managed to bring a couple pieces home with me. After the song, Billie thanked the audience again and then the band walked off stage and the lights went off.

After a couple minutes, the Green Day sign at the back of the stage started alternating between “Green” and “Day”... wanting the audience to yell “Green Day, Green Day, Green Day”... and so we did. The band came back on stage and Billie started “American Idiot.” The audience sang the whole first verse which was really neat. During the “subliminal mind fuck America” part, I, as well as a lot of other audience members, put up our middle fingers while singing it. That was pretty cool in my opinion.

Next was one of the best Green Day songs ever in my opinion: Jesus of Suburbia. Those in the crowd who knew the song went nuts. It is such a great live song there is no way to describe it so I’m not even going to try.

After JOS, the band left the stage and Billie came back on for his acoustic portion of the show. He surprised everyone by starting off with the unreleased song “Olivia.” That is such a beautiful song. My favorite line is “the city’s in ruins but there’s a flower on the cracks of the streets.” This added to the already amazing set list. And it’s also pretty cool that my girlfriend’s name is Olivia.

After a short version of “Olivia”, Billie went right into “Last Night on Earth.” He played the first two verses and choruses by himself but when the sliding guitar part came along, the rest of the band came back out and joined him. That was really neat. It was so beautiful.

Next was “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” This is also a very beautiful song and it has a lot of personal meaning to myself. Like Billie, my father also died when I was at a young age. So when Billie sang the line “like my father’s come to pass...” I started tearing up. It was such a great moment during a beautiful song. I will never forget it.

Next was the show ending “Good Riddance.” I was sad that it got to this point in the show because it was the last song. I teared up many times during it because its such a gorgeous song and it really takes an affect on you when you are witnessing it in person. It’s very different than listening to a recorded live version of it. You don’t get the atmosphere along with everything else. There are no other ways to describe the feeling.

Billie ended the show by finishing “Wake Me Up...” At that moment, I stood there with my hands on my head in total shock at what I had just witnessed for the last three hours. I can’t begin to describe my feelings at that moment. I was the happiest person on Earth.

I look back on everything now while typing this on Monday afternoon and I can honestly say that it was the greatest day of my life. Not just because of the show, or because of Cigs and Vals, but because of all the fabulous people I got to meet throughout the day. I don’t know if I will experience anything like it in my life without going to another show. Its just amazing being surround all day by hundreds and thousands of other Green Day fans. Meeting people from the forum and who visit GDA was such a treat. Listening to other fans’ stories about their experiences at shows was just phenomenal.

“I hope you had the time of your life..” Yes I did.... yes I did.

[TaylorKlinke]

Awesome review! I even teared up a bit because I know that feeling after the show is over. I'm so jealous you got to see that extra special show with Cigarettes and Valentines

[Laura!]

Great review!

After the show a week ago I remember the first thing that came out of my mouth was "whoa"

I was in such awe.

[mallorymaloney]

That was fucking awesome, Matt. Very nicely written!

[Katarina.]

That was such a good read, Matt! It's so awesome you went to this show and got to hear all these amazing songs! Green Day sure knows how to give us the time of our lives..

[bethk]

What a great review! I felt alot of the same way when I saw them at Darien Lake. I agree with you that I would have prefered if the band had played 2000LYA themselves-without a bunch of people on stage.

[Heather!]

This was a really great review, Matt and it was great to meet you!

During the outro of Holiday, Tre started a familiar drum roll. I immediately knew the next song and I couldn’t wait for Billie to say the words “desperate, but not not helpless” to begin the song “Murder City.” To me, that was a treat to see live as I really like that song.

Ahhh, yes Murder City was so good. Definitely one of the better songs they played.

As soon as he said “Cigarettes and Valentines”, I immediately turned and looked at Alex and both of our jaws dropped.

My jaw was on the floor through both performances. I still can't believe we actually heard it!

The next song was “One of My Lies.” Billie opened it by asking the audience how many were old school Green Day fans. I don’t think there were a whole lot considering how many tweens were in the audience. This song marked the start of a series of older songs to be played.

They followed “One of My Lies” with “Geek Stink Breath.” That is a great song and its even better live!

Next, Billie invited a bunch of people to come on stage while the band played another oldie... “Paper Lanterns.” As much as I like the idea of the band interacting with the audience, I didn’t really like everyone being on stage for a couple reasons. One was the fact that the majority of the people up there were little kids and tweens that probably don’t even know the song. Second, it took away from the greatness of the song. I would have liked to just see the band up their by themselves playing it. That is also the case for the next song, “2000 Light Years Away.” The people were up their during that song as well. I think that if the band is going to play those older and rare songs, then they should do it by themselves. But that is just my opinion on the situation.

Those were probably two of my favorites. I was so pleasantly surprised by One of my Lies, and seeing Geek Stink Breath was so great because I've always loved that song.

and I completely agree. Paper Lanterns is SUCH a great song live, and I was really disappointed to see all those young'uns on stage, especially because there were several girls just standing around on stage taking pictures of the band. How were there even that many kids 10 years and younger in the pit anyway?

Anyway, I'm really glad you enjoyed yourself so much--It really was a special show.

[Sanity Loan]

This was a really great review, Matt and it was great to meet you!

Thank you! And it was nice to meet you too!

Btw, did Billie take your Fink mask?

[OverjoyedAndroid]

Woo! First reply! Anyway, that was a pretty amazing review. I can just picture a thousand middle fingers in the air and people screaming lyrics at Billie. I went to the show in Holmdel (my first) and that was the best night of my life too. I was very annoyed though cause my mom brought her friends kids and they only knew 21 Guns and in between every song asked me if 21 Guns was next. By the time they sang Who Wrote Holden Caulfield I screamed at them and they didn't talk to me for the next two songs. Anyways, back to your review. I really wish that I was at that show. The crowd at Holmdel was good but the people in the pit weren't that great. Billie Joe just said that he was thinking about staying here, and that was it. Oh well. That setlist you described sounds amazing, and right now I'm jealous of you. I love how Green Day actually seems to care about their fans, and if you don't believe it, you have either never been to a concert of theirs before or have and you are the biggest ass the world has ever seen. Haha, that was random. Back to the main topic, I have to say that you are a pretty awesome writer and that sounds like an amazing show. I know I'm repeating myself and may sound stupid but it truly is the only way to describe something like that. Keep writing and stay on Static Noise Matt!

[Heather!]

Thank you! And it was nice to meet you too!

Btw, did Billie take your Fink mask?

He did take it, during Are We the Waiting! He threw it back into the crowd though, so I didn't get it back.

[OverjoyedAndroid]

Damn, I wasn't the first reply. I was when I clicked add reply...

[Sanity Loan]

He did take it, during Are We the Waiting! He threw it back into the crowd though, so I didn't get it back.

Yeah when he threw it at the other side of the pit I was feeling pretty bad for whoevers that was.

[BillieJoeObsesser]

aww such a great review!! thank you for sharing! sounds like you had an unbelieveable time and glad you did!! <3

[marcie]

Wow, as I read that I completly relived when I first saw Green Day live. It was only a year ago, but after seeing that you never want it to go away. Your review gave me me chills as I read it; I felt like I was there. So glad I took the time to read! I love this band so much. Love reading such great things that bring back the best feelings.

[captain peroxide]

So fucking great to meet you, man. I'm really glad we got to watch the concert together

[Heather!]

Yeah when he threw it at the other side of the pit I was feeling pretty bad for whoevers that was.

Tbh I'm pretty bummed I didn't get it back, but still so excited that he wore it! I'm trying to hunt down another beanie with which to make a new one, but the original seller no longer carries them.

[Hermione]

I love an in depth review I do! That was great, I really enjoyed reading it

The kids on stage might not've known the song but I bet they'll be checking it out now

[captain peroxide]

Matt and I were so annoyed at the first two people who got up there The first girl was okay, she just didn't really know how to use a mic. But the second guy completely didn't know the words, and that pissed me off. Fortunately, decca saved the day

[Moffie]

That was a wonderful review, Matt. I'm glad everyone who was there had a kick-ass time.

[Sanity Loan]

So fucking great to meet you, man. I'm really glad we got to watch the concert together

Hell yeah man

[CamCam]

GREAT REVIEW! Thanks so much, soooooo jealous wish i had enough money to see them in the states, some dick near us when we saw them at manchester cricket ground started almost shouting 'wanker' at bj when doing his encore, and we all badly wanted the man himself to turn around, jump down and wrap his guitar around the idiot's head! Despite this not occuring on either of our concerts it sounds like your's was amazing, AWESOME REVIEW!

[OverjoyedAndroid]

In Holmdel the first lady knew about half of the lyrics if I remember right, and the second dude sucked in my opinion, but I guess Billie like him cause he sang until the end of the song. He also brought up a lady who sang the song in sign language, and gave her the guitar. He said to the dude "You were good, but she was better." That made me laugh. Then after the show the lady passed with a body guard and the guitar like 3 feet from me. I almost stole it but then I saw how big the guard and I thought again. Oh well...

[iloveyouisntenough]

Very nice review. It really had good insight for those who couldn't go to that show. I still can't believe they played Cigarettes and Valentines though!!!!

[marta_gs]

amazing review!!! thanks for sharing =)

[Whatsername1911]

Awwww

I don't think I'll ever understand how a band so big and famous all over the world can make it feel like they're singing directily to you everytime they play. It's so intimate and special. God they're amazing.

Great review Matt.