Show Notes: My Green Day Experience!!!

Pre-Concert Jitters

It all started Monday night, July 13, at the Outback Steakhouse at 5:00 in Anchorage, Alaska. My mom and I went there and met the two friends that I was going to the concert with, Colin Smith and Jane Kocsis, and their parents. At 6:15, Colin, Jane, and I were standing in the almost non-existent line in front of the Sullivan Arena. The concert started at 8:00, but what can we say? We wanted a good place to stand! So, we stood in line and watched as fellow Green Day fans slowly conglomerated into one long line. Colin, Jane, and I made friends with these guys that were in line ahead of us, and we ended up hanging out at the concert with them. When they finally started taking tickets at 7:05, I was the fifth person in, with Colin being fourth and Jane sixth. We received our BLUE wristbands (why on earth weren't they GREEN?!), and ran down the walkway into the arena. We were in awe. Colin and I immediately bolted over to the Green Day merchandise where we promtly bought three shirts each. We hung out somemore with the three guys from the line, whose names I can't remember, except for one (Zack). We ambled around for a little while, and met the official Green Day photographer, who said that it was pretty cool touring with the band and they were great guys.

Waiting for Green Day

We waited around until the lights went out and the opening band started at 8:10. It was some band named the Tobies, and they were alright, but they weren't Green Day. They played until 8:45, and then the lights came back on, so we just stood around somemore. We stood off to the left side, but still close to the front. Then, at nine the lights went out and people started yelling...and nothing happened. A banner that said "Green Day" came down, and people yelled more, but still nothing happened. Then, finally, at 9:05, who came out on stage, but GREEN DAY!!!

Sweating, Stench, and Noise

They came out and started playing "Nice Guys Finish Last" and everyone started yelling and bobbing and giving the sign of the beast. They finished and started right into "Hitchin' A Ride". Then Billie Joe talked for a bit and they started into another song (Note: As I was totally into this concert, I kept a setlist in order. They splooshed water out onto the audience from water bottles, and Mike had bottles of carbonated water, which he shook up and sprayed over everyone, which was great, because it was HOT in there, and it STUNK! Jane and the three guys went off and moshed, but Colin and I decided not to, since we're not the biggest people, and would likely get snapped in two. The guys would come back every once in awhile and let me sit on their shoulders to get a better view. Then, right before "King For a Day" Billie Joe took off his shoes and threw them into the audience and then took off his pants, exposing a leopard-print thong. The audience went psycho! But, then, so did we! Okay, I swear to God that this next experience happened, and I am not lying. When Billie Joe was down to his thong, I was up on this one guy's shoulders and I was the only person around me at B.J.'s eye level, and he looked directly at me and tugged on the side of his thong. I am not making this up. They played more songs, goofed off a bit, and at the end of the concert Tre kicked the crap out of his drumset and a guitar and then lit the remains on fire, then him and Mike climbed up on the speakers and splashed more water on the audience. Billie Joe had gone backstage during this part. When Tre and Mike were done they went backstage and Billie Joe came out and played two encores - "When I Come Around" and "Good Riddance". Then after the lights came back on Tre climed to the top of the bleachers and Colin and I were about ten feet away from him, but then he went behind a wall, and that was it.

The Aftermath

After the concert Colin and I headed outside to where we were supposed to meet his parents and caught up with Jane there, since we hadn't seen her since the mosh pit. We all started babbling about our experiences and what happened. Everyone in the parking lot was blasting a Green Day song from their car. It was an organized Green Day chaos. We couldn't belive what had just happened. Did we really just emerge from a Green Day concert? Is that how we got the shirts and the smell of a couple thousand other people in them? Is that why we were drenched in sweat? I didn't care about all of that. I knew it was real, and I knew it was Green Day.

Miscellaneous Stuff

The guys seemed pretty cool. Tre and Mike never talked, but Billie Joe talked up a storm. He cussed a lot, too. He'd talk in between every couple of songs, and he was big in audience participation, too. He told us to shout different stuff at the people in the bleachers, then told them to yell stuff back at us, etc. On one of the songs he asked if anyone knew how to play the guitar, and lots of people raised their hands, and he'd ask them how long they'd been playing, and on the third guy he asked him if he'd come up and play Billie's guitar while Billie sang. Well, of course the guy said yes! Billie showed him some chords while Tre and Mike jammed and the audience was cheering this guy on all the way. He did a good job, too. Afterwards, Billie told him to jump off the stage and crowd surf, which he did. The two horn players were two that had toured with No Doubt and they were dressed in a bee costume and a hotdog costume, respectively. B.J. was wearing a navy blue work shirt, black pants, and grubby tenne shoes. Tre was wearing a nimrod. tour shirt (the very same as one of the shirts that I bought), black shorts, and shoes. Mike was wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers.

Colin's Story

It was a nice, hot day in Anchorage on July 13, 1998. Two of my friends, Brittany and Jane, as well as myself, were patiently waiting in line at the front of the Sullivan Sports Arena. We were the 5th-7th people in line, an had been waiting a good hour and a half, all for one purpose: To see the greatest band ever, Green Day, in concert. The doors opened at 7:05, and we ran into the huge room. It was like any other Sports Arena, but instead of a hardwood basketball floor, it was concrete. Then I bought shirts from the nimrod tour, and so did Brittany. Then we waited even more, talking with the kids that were first in line. At 8:05, the opening band, the Tobys or something like that (I think--heard someone say they were 38 something) and they were ok. Punk rock. I was stunned at the noise, and I covered my ears so I could save what was left of my eardrums for the main event. The main event didn't happen for another hour. After 45 minutes of the Tobys, they left and the lights went back up. Soon the large Green Day tour backdrop was raised, and everyone went crazy. At 9:05-9:10 Green Day came out, starting with 'Nice Guys Finish Last'. They played, in the following 90 minutes, not necessarily in this order, Hitchin A Ride, Geek Stink Breath, Brain Stew, Longview, Platypus, When I Come Around, Welcome to Paradise, Knowelege, King for a Day, Scattered, Good Riddance, as well as some songs by Metallica, Bush, and Slayer. I might have forgotten one or two, but no one is perfect... All in all, it was great. And I'd definitely do it again.