Green Day at The St. Pete Times Forum - My first Florida Show...and it was free. Thanks Creative Loafing

I’ll be completely honest and out myself as a Green Day fan, but the latest album, “21st Century Breakdown,” didn’t do it for me. For the St. Pete Times Forum show on August 3rd, 2009, I sifted through the punkish, and Hot Topic fashion-entrenched crowds knowing that even if the new album wasn’t my favorite, they would still put on a good show. They exceeded my expectations…and then some.
The Kaiser Chiefs opened, warming up the crowd and drawing in stragglers to the front of the general admission floor section, with a hypnotic energy. Front man, Ricky Wilson, demanded attention and won over the crowd instantly saying, “You may not know us, but who cares, right?” The Kaiser Chiefs played a short but sweet set, leaving the crowd wanting more and antsy to see Green Day.
Between sets the “Green Day Bunny,” adorned in a new tour shirt and chugging Miller Lite, came out to further rile and ready the crowd. A quick scan showed the vast array of the ages of their fanbase: Myself - mid-twenties, to my right - older teens, my left - a married couple in their forties and in front, parents accompanying kids between ages 9-12.
The lights went off cueing the screams of anticipation and the intro to the show, which was that of the intro to the album: “Song of the Century.” Green Day took the stage adorned in black with random red accents. His hair was black, spikey and unkempt, Billie Joe Armstrong had on a fabulous vest and a pair of black pants that gradually slipped down throughout the show, eventually provoking him to moon fans. He was all made up with black eyeliner proving that no amount of eye-makeup can cover one’s ability to rock out.
The trio played against a high-voltage backdrop of bright lights, video reels, and the occasional special effects of fire, fireworks or bomb-sounding blasts. After giving ample attention to the album for which the tour is promoting Green Day shifted gears to tracks from their entire catalog, churning out the tunes for which they are known best.
Amidst all these three-chord masterpieces, Billie Joe Armstrong would further captivate the crowd by pulling up audience members onto the stage to sing, dance, play with toys or even play a little bit of guitar. Three fans were given the mic during the performance of “Longview,” to sing in place of Armstrong. While Tre Cool and Mike Dirndt kept the beat going, one orange-haired girl was yanked from the audience to play with a water gun as Armstrong played with a toilet paper blower, and t-shirt shooter.
Besides the “Shenanagins,” that Green Day are so well-known for, although played nothing off of that particular album, they played an epic set, leaving Tampa Bay and St. Pete fans generally satisfied. Fans of “Dookie” and “Nimrod” were appeased with selections like “King for a Day” and the encore acoustic rendition of “Scattered”, and “American Idiot” album hits kept the audiences singing along with fists and “rock on” hand gestures up all around.
Billie Joe made a comment about moving away from not just three-chord progressions but now having some “four-and-a-half chord” songs. They played with the energy and intensity of the album itself but took it to a higher level. Listening to the album was boring in comparison to watching them live. It was watching them bring their latest “Breakdown” to life that reminded me of why I was drawn to Green Day in the first place. Where I thought 21st Century Breakdown left something to be desired…perhaps I just needed to see them relate to the crowd and deliver the music with such perseverance to really appreciate their musical growth.
Green Day dominated the stage at the forum for almost three hours filled with amusement and anything but restlessness. When the phones came out they were either illegally recording or up in place of lighters, but time was of no consequence to the crowd. Exiting with the masses at almost midnight, a young boy with his tour shirt on and a big smile, said, “Best concert I’ve ever been to.” I left exhausted and elated thinking…how the hell am I going to describe how awesome that was without saying something lame as, “It was kick ass”?