Welcome to the first in what will be a series of vintage concert reviews. I have always had a habit of saving ticket stubs from the concerts I have been to as a way of remembering the event. I am taking it another step further in this blog by jotting down what I can still remember from these events so that I may look back on them when I am a forgetful old man. Perhaps others will get some enjoyment out of the reviews as well.
I think it is only fitting to start with one of the first concerts I had ever been to:
Green Day @ the Palace in Hollywood on December 11, 1997
Venue: The Palace in Hollywood is a historic venue that has been through a number of name and ownership changes since opening in 1927. During the 90s, it was simply called The Palace. A general admission venue that fits about 1,600-2,000 people with a first level floor area and second level balcony.
Opening Acts: D-Generation was the only opening act. I had not heard of this band before the show, but I guess they were a notable punk/glam/garage band from New York during the 90s featuring singer Jesse Malin, on vocals. They were decent and had a small visible following but the majority of the crowd was waiting for the main event.
Headliner: "Here we go again..." Green Day kicked off their set with "Going To Pasalacqua" and quickly followed with "Welcome To Paradise" and "Geek Stink Breath." I was about 16 years old and in the midst of my first concert that didn't include seating. So I was a little surprised when the music started and the crowd got moving around and smashing each other. However, I was young and quick to acclimate myself to the mayhem.
Green Day was touring to support their most recent release which was Nimrod and played a block of songs from the album including "Nice Guys Finish Last," "Hitchin' A Ride" & "The Grouch." Following with a block of earlier hits including "Longview," 2000 Light Years Away" & "Brain Stew/Jaded."
I would also experience the joys of crowd-surfing for the first time. My buddy Andy and I both wanted to try but didn't know what to do. After building up enough nerve, I tapped an older (& bigger) dude on the shoulder and started pointing up. I learned that this is exactly what you are supposed to do as the guy knew exactly what I wanted and put his hands down for me. I stepped into his hands while grabbing the shoulders of others around me and before I knew it, they were all hoisting me in the air.
I was fairly young at the time so I didn't weigh much and have never spent so much time up in the air at a concert. I remember rolling all over the heads and hands of people, backwards, forwards and sideways for the length of entire songs. I probably also kicked quite a few people in the face during the process. I would later grow to hate crowd-surfers for this same reason but at the time, it was a lot of fun to be "that guy."
Older generations like to complain when things change and brag about how much tougher or better those things were in their day. My version of this is that I get to brag to younger generations about being able to see Green Day perform the Operation Ivy song "Knowledge" before they started inviting kids up on stage to play the instruments. I'll admit that the gag was pretty damn cool when they first started doing it but 10+ years later it started to make the shows drag. Who cares if some kids had an amazing and possibly life-altering experience, I want to hear "Basket Case" already! (haha, I'm kidding, sorta)
Encore: During the encore, green Day performed "Scattered," "Prosthetic Head" & "When I Come Around" before Tre and Mike began destroying the drum-kit while Billie played in the corner with his guitar creating a bunch of feedback noise. After the drums were sufficiently destroyed, Mike and Tre walked off the stage while Billie played "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)."
It was the second of three nights in a row that Green Day were performing @ The Palace. The set-lists didn't change much for each show but the third night did include a special moment during the performance of "Paper Lanterns" when Billie Joe gets hit in the nuts with a shoe while putting on clothes that had been thrown on stage by the audience.
Setlist:
I think it is only fitting to start with one of the first concerts I had ever been to:
Green Day @ the Palace in Hollywood on December 11, 1997
Venue: The Palace in Hollywood is a historic venue that has been through a number of name and ownership changes since opening in 1927. During the 90s, it was simply called The Palace. A general admission venue that fits about 1,600-2,000 people with a first level floor area and second level balcony.
Opening Acts: D-Generation was the only opening act. I had not heard of this band before the show, but I guess they were a notable punk/glam/garage band from New York during the 90s featuring singer Jesse Malin, on vocals. They were decent and had a small visible following but the majority of the crowd was waiting for the main event.Headliner: "Here we go again..." Green Day kicked off their set with "Going To Pasalacqua" and quickly followed with "Welcome To Paradise" and "Geek Stink Breath." I was about 16 years old and in the midst of my first concert that didn't include seating. So I was a little surprised when the music started and the crowd got moving around and smashing each other. However, I was young and quick to acclimate myself to the mayhem.
Green Day was touring to support their most recent release which was Nimrod and played a block of songs from the album including "Nice Guys Finish Last," "Hitchin' A Ride" & "The Grouch." Following with a block of earlier hits including "Longview," 2000 Light Years Away" & "Brain Stew/Jaded."
I would also experience the joys of crowd-surfing for the first time. My buddy Andy and I both wanted to try but didn't know what to do. After building up enough nerve, I tapped an older (& bigger) dude on the shoulder and started pointing up. I learned that this is exactly what you are supposed to do as the guy knew exactly what I wanted and put his hands down for me. I stepped into his hands while grabbing the shoulders of others around me and before I knew it, they were all hoisting me in the air.
I was fairly young at the time so I didn't weigh much and have never spent so much time up in the air at a concert. I remember rolling all over the heads and hands of people, backwards, forwards and sideways for the length of entire songs. I probably also kicked quite a few people in the face during the process. I would later grow to hate crowd-surfers for this same reason but at the time, it was a lot of fun to be "that guy."
Older generations like to complain when things change and brag about how much tougher or better those things were in their day. My version of this is that I get to brag to younger generations about being able to see Green Day perform the Operation Ivy song "Knowledge" before they started inviting kids up on stage to play the instruments. I'll admit that the gag was pretty damn cool when they first started doing it but 10+ years later it started to make the shows drag. Who cares if some kids had an amazing and possibly life-altering experience, I want to hear "Basket Case" already! (haha, I'm kidding, sorta)
Encore: During the encore, green Day performed "Scattered," "Prosthetic Head" & "When I Come Around" before Tre and Mike began destroying the drum-kit while Billie played in the corner with his guitar creating a bunch of feedback noise. After the drums were sufficiently destroyed, Mike and Tre walked off the stage while Billie played "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)."
It was the second of three nights in a row that Green Day were performing @ The Palace. The set-lists didn't change much for each show but the third night did include a special moment during the performance of "Paper Lanterns" when Billie Joe gets hit in the nuts with a shoe while putting on clothes that had been thrown on stage by the audience.
Setlist:
- Going To Pasalacqua
- Welcome To Paradise
- Geek Stink Breath
- Nice Guys Finish Last
- Hitchin' A Ride
- The Grouch
- Chump
- Longview
- 2000 Light Years Away
- Brain Stew
- Jaded
- Knowledge (originally by Operation Ivy)
- Basket Case
- She
- F.O.D.
- Paper Lanterns
- (encore) Scattered
- (encore) Prosthetic Head
- (encore) When I Come Around
- (encore) Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)