Friday, April 17, 2015

Green Day hits US Stage for first time since 2013 - performs with Tim Armstrong, John Kiffmeyer



You wouldn’t have known it if you weren’t among the one-thousand or so people present, but last night in downtown Cleveland the stars aligned and for about five minutes everything was right with the universe. 

In preparation/celebration of their impending Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Green Day settled into Cleveland’s House of Blues for a rare small-club gig.  Reuniting with original drummer John Kiffmeyer and performing under their original name Sweet Children, the band barreled through an incendiary “warm-up” set of their long-lost gems such as Dry Ice, At the Library, and Private Ale- tunes that haven’t been performed live in about two decades.  



At some point during the ensuing three-hour show, Billie Joe and company were joined by another surprising guest- none other than Tim Armstrong.  Tim or course was the frontman of Operation Ivy (and later Rancid), legends of the very same Bay-Area Gilman Street punk scene that provided Green Day’s original upbringing.  Despite having since been disowned by the Gilman Street community due to their commercial success, Green Day has consistently incorporated a cover the Op Ivy classic Knowledge into their setlists as a tribute to their early idols.  In a cathartic instance of things coming full circle, Tim burst onto the House of Blues stage- Gretsch semi-hollow slung down to his ankles as always- and together with Billie Joe launched into a scathing rendition of Knowledge, followed by the early Rancid song Radio (which the two had wrote together twenty-one years ago).  




This unexpected collaboration represents far more than just two living legends joining forces.  Although Green Day is still unwelcome in their old warehouse home at 924 Gilman St for being on a major record label, This display of awesomeness with a local king is another important stop on their long road to reconciliation with their own roots.


UPDATE:  Interestingly enough, some of the oldest readily available live footage of Green Day/Sweet Children is a concert performed at their Pinole Valley High School in 1990.  The show features very entertaining teenage versions of Billie and Mike playing many of the old songs that they resurrected last night.  For comparison sake, here is At the Library from that show:




UPDATE:  As of March 17th 2015, the inevitable finally came to fruition as 924 Gilman lifted it's fan on Green Day after 21 years.  The band performed a surprise concert at the venue (again joined by Tim Armstrong) to benefit DIY publisher AK Press, who recently lost their warehouse in a fire.  

Friday, April 10, 2015

Throwback Track of the Week: New Found Glory - Understatement



Ahh the early 2000s, when “pop-punk” was still cool, and had yet to become the temporary Hot Topic marketing institution that it seems doomed to be remembered as.  Or maybe we were just the perfect age for it; choosing to remember it through a nostalgic lens?  Whatever the case, those post-Dookie, pre-sellout “punk” albums of the late 90s and very early 00s will forever hold a special place in the hearts of us pre-9/11 tweens.  

Sticks and Stones was a perfect album for its time, hitting right at the pop-punk peak while simultaneously hinting just enough at the oncoming heavy breakdowns and obnoxiously angsty lyrics of an over-commercialized subgenre.  This album, and it’s lead song in particular, represent that very nexus.  It’s on this track that the kenetic musical energy meets the contrived whiny-voiced angst; but because the songcraft is so authentic, the momentum so perpetual, it all just seems to work.  


It’s still impossible to determine whether this was the pinnacle of pop-punk, or the beginning of its end.  Perhaps it’s simply meant to exist in that subliminal crossroads, for better or worse.  


Friday, April 3, 2015

Throwback Track of the Week: The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner (1972)



The Modern Lovers are not a band that immediately come to mind when one thinks of the influential rock groups of the past.  Instead, history has confined them to a long list of proto-punk bands that despite not showing up on any VH1 specials, had a massive impact on modern music as we know it.  Born out of early 1970s Boston, The Modern Lovers owed a lot of their sound to NYC legends The Velvet Underground.  Taking the generally grimy and dark tone of the Velvets; the Lovers did something very special- they made it FUN.  




Nowhere is this on better display than their early 70s standout Roadrunner.  The Velvet-esque edginess is all here, via the organ drones, pounding noise, and overall detached cool.  Unlike their forefathers however, the pace is quick, the lyrics are positive and irreverent, and the song just has a way of embracing life in all of its recklessness and absurdity.  This culmination results in a song that aggressively foreshadowed the upcoming punk rock movement, and remains fresh and exciting to this day.  Rather than wallowing in hipster smugness, this thing groves and moves like rock and roll truly should.  
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