Green Day in Montreal

First, I have to say, the show was amazing. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I was expecting at least something as good as what I had witnessed 4 years ago and damn, I was more than pleased. Green Day has been one of my favorite band for few years now, but before seeing them live, I just ‘liked them’. Well, it all changed when I went to see them about 4 years ago in Quebec city with my bestfriend. Not only were they doing a great job at playing music, but Billie Jo Armstrong gave a hell of a performance in itself. And since that moment I knew I loved him (not the ‘I want him to be the father of my children’ type though).

Well, ok, I’m not gonna talk about that one time (well twice, because I went back with my BFF few months later), but about yesterday’s show. In all honesty, I don’t like ‘Century Breakdown’ as much as I loved ‘American idiot’, but since I knew they would be playing more than just the last album, I had to go. And I did. again with my best friend.

We arrived at the Bell Centre about 45 minutes before showtime (said 7PM on the tickets). We didn’t get in until 6h45 or so in and already the t-shirt I wanted was not available (a girl bought the last just right before me. I ended up buying the grey one, which is also very nice, so it wasn’t a total lost cause. We soon found our seats and the wait began. it took a whole hour before the first band went on stage. The Bravers (or Bravery, huh not sure, couldn’t read the whle banner announcing them). They were ok, but frankly, all we wanted was to see Green Day. We took the time to get to the toillet where I ran into an old friend of mine (used to love him; used to be bestfriend with him… ages ago!) We spoke a little, met his girlfriend then went back to our seats. We got to see the drunk bunny go on stage and make some Michael Jackson moves. Man, I love the bunny. Cracks me up.

The show finally began. It didn’t take 5 minutes that Billie Jo pointed someone in the crowd to go on stage. Actually, the person was doing body surfing and he stopped the song and asked the person to come up then made him sing. He did that at least 2 other times (or more.. sort of lost count). Asked for a little girl to come up and ‘saved’ her while singing ‘East Jesus of Nowhere’. Later, a girl sang ‘Welcome to Paradise’ and a guy played the second half (girl was way better.. but really, can you blame anyone for not singing good? Your favorite band ask you to come on stage, the singer offers you to sing and plays guitar behind you.. I would crack under pressure!). After maybe a whole full song with nothing happening (except the usual entertainment Bilie Jo provides), someone played the guitar for almost a full song. You see, going to see Green Day is not about getting a beer and laying back on your seat. It’s an interactive show. You have to stand up, scream, move your hands, shout non stop. And if you’re lucky, you get to do all of that next to the singer. How more awesome can it get? About 10 persons went on stage, with is like 3 times more than 4 years ago.

I was very high in the stadium, but on the side of the stage, so it was pretty awesome to see the whole stadium from where I stood and I could see the band very well (seeing well for example Tre Cool throw his drumstick in the back of the stage often twice in a song). I loved the whole show, even though I was a little sad they didn’t play ‘Horseshoes and Handgrenades’ which is my fav of the new album and ‘Wake me Up when September Ends’. But that’s ok. Billie Jo ended the show with ‘Time of your Life’ with an accoustic guitar and it was magical. All I could think was how much I love this band live. As much as I loved Linkin park for years, I have to say they disappointed me slightly on stage and Green Day shows remain the best shows i’ve seen live yet. Makes me want to go see more shows, see how awesome other bands can be too…