Green Day - Brixton Academy 21st August 2013


In preparation for their weekend gigs at Reading and Leeds, Green Day played an intimate (5,000 compared to 60,000 fans at Emirates earlier in the year) warm up gig in front of a sold out Brixton Academy.  We arrived to be literally queuing around the block .. starting at the Academy front door .. round the entire building and back in the same door.

Support was provided by the brilliant Frank Turner who had the crowd in the palm of his hand.  He has a great stage presence - "Last week I slipped a f***ing disc in my back and I was told by my doctor not to play gigs for three months - I told him to f**k off!!". It was just him, an acoustic guitar and Matt Nasir on mandolin. and he went down a storm. playing a track as a tribute to Joe Strummer (it would have been his 61st birthday that day), a collection of his own tracks and a great version of Live and Let Die.

After a brief pause and with no fancy-dan light rigs, no back drops, just Bohemian Rhapsody, Drunk Bunny doing Blitzkrieg Bop ,The Good, The Bad and the Ugly .. and we're off and running with 99 Revolutions.

Green Day could do no wrong tonight - where we were stood (next to the "please remain seated at all times" sign) the sound was bit muddy but it didn't distract from the sheer power and fun of Green Day at full throttle.


Not so much "Punk Panto" tonight - only one member of the audience invited up on stage to dive back in - the focus was on the music, which gave the night a different tone to other Green Day gigs I've seen. This didn't stop the crowd (me included to be fair) singing along, cheering and clapping anything and everything. There Ain't No Crowd Like A Green Day Crowd.

The biggest surprise of the night was that we got the Dookie album played in it's entirety, in order, no interruptions from Burnout to F.O.D. Wonderful stuff.

They cherry picked the best new tracks from their latest triple release (still no "Hang The DJ" though unfortunately) and they slotted in perfectly within the set.

A really enjoyable gig, great to see them in a venue like this, with Frank Turner and Dookie as glorious bonuses.

I am going to Reading at the weekend - but unfortunately it's to buy my son some school stuff, not to see Green Day again - unless we can get Witnessing A Green Day Gig on the school curriculum - are you listening Rt Hon David Laws MP ?

Setlist:
Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen song as intro music/singalong)
Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones song) (with Drunk Bunny on stage)
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Intro music)

  1. 99 Revolutions 
  2. Know Your Enemy 
  3. Stay the Night 
  4. Stop When the Red Lights Flash 
  5. Letterbomb 
  6. Holiday 
  7. Boulevard of Broken Dreams 
  8. Let Yourself Go 
  9. Wake Me Up When September Ends 
Dookie
  1. Burnout 
  2. Having a Blast 
  3. Chump 
  4. Longview 
  5. Welcome to Paradise 
  6. Pulling Teeth 
  7. Basket Case 
  8. She 
  9. Sassafras Roots 
  10. When I Come Around 
  11. Coming Clean 
  12. Emenius Sleepus 
  13. In the End 
  14. F.O.D.
  1. St. Jimmy 
  2. Waiting 
  3. Minority 
Encore:
  1. American Idiot 
  2. Jesus of Suburbia 
  3. Brutal Love 
Encore 2:
  1. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) 


NR

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