Gig review: Green Day

Published on Tuesday 20 October 2009 19:01

GREEN DAY *** SECC, GLASGOW

"AND that's why you're better than America right there," eulogises Green Day singer Billy Joe Armstrong, after his entire 10,000-plus audience joined him in a note-perfect call and response mimicry of the phrase "hey-ho", which must have held a single sustained note for almost a minute. The whole night, Armstrong was eager to engage in such crowd-pleasing gimmicks and the crowd were happy to play along.

For all that internationally famous punk-pop stars should be allowed to, for example, moon their crowd, play a medley of others' hits (including Lulu's Shout and Travis's Why Does It Always Rain On Me?) while wearing comedy headgear, it does go against the grain when you take their finest song, American Idiot, into account. Don't just be a disengaged, TV-watching drone impressed by glitter, the song implies – so where does a show that features pyrotechnic explosions and showers of sparks fit into this philosophy? Do Green Day have anything to say for themselves, or are they just a trio (a live quartet, including multi-instrumentalist Jason Freese) of overgrown plastic punks still goofing around as they approach middle age? It seems a bit of both, with early period songs like Basket Case, She and Brain Stew articulating a particularly youthful brand of disaffection. More considered latter-era hits like Boulevard of Broken Dreams, 21 Guns and Know Your Enemy still rely on college radio rock to get their point across, although a closing solo acoustic set from Armstrong featuring Wake Me Up When September Ends and Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) reveals the tenderness that tempers their most blustering excesses. Although they grew up a while ago, however, it seems unlikely Green Day will ever really mature.