One of the things that made this concert especially special was the fact that they played through all of their album "American Idiot". That album is my favorite album of all time and very sentimental to me. My brother had gotten a lot of Green Day's albums in the early 2000's on CD and burned me a copy of American Idiot and International Superhits. (I just looked up their albums today and they have 14 studio albums which is crazy to me.) (My brother had the albums Dookie, American Idiot, International Superhits, Insomniac, Warning, Nimrod, and Shenanigans. I ended up purchasing 21st Century Breakdown, Awesome as F**ck, Uno Dos & Tre, and Revolution Radio on CD later on). I remember my mom listening through both albums to make sure they would be okay for me to listen to, and approving them. (Not sure how they got approved, as I was in elementary school when American Idiot first came out.) I had a portable CD player and would listen to American Idiot and International Superhits repeatedly on the bus on the way to school, or during recess time at school. (Now to the really deep part). In elementary school from 3rd grade on I struggled a lot with anxiety, and was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder. I worried about everything even when I knew it wasn't rational it didn't matter. This lead to constant stomachaches, and made me more of a loner in a sense. My peers didn't understand why I was so afraid of everything, so I was more isolated. I cried most days, and was so plagued with fear it was hard for me to go out and hang out with friends at different places, etc. I hated it. I hated that my summer would be ruined at the end of July knowing school would start "soon" even though I still had a month left. The first day of school had always been so hard for me that I would worry far in advance. I hated that I was constantly worried that my parents might die while I was at school, or that I would catch the flu. I hated how the weekend would be ruined starting Friday night because I was so worried for school on Monday that I couldn't even enjoy my two days off. I hated that I was a child that would have an existential crisis and be filled with fear about the creation of the universe and the thought of eternity. I hated that I my brain wouldn't let me have a normal childhood, and that therapy took so long to work. But what does that have to do with American Idiot? American Idiot was the album I listened to the most while going through all of this. I didn't understand the political undertones of the album, but caught onto the catchiness of the songs. I especially caught onto the lyrics of one song in particular. "Extraordinary Girl." The lyrics are "Somedays she feels like dying, she gets so sick of crying." (Very dark for a 9 year old girl.) I was so sick of crying all of the time, and I do mean all of the time. I cried most days, because of how overwhelmed I felt. I didn't want to die necessarily but remember being comforted by the fact that life was so short. I remember my therapist back then telling me that life happens in a blink of Gods eye and being really comforted by that because it meant I wouldn't have to suffer too long. (Yikes). I also caught on to the lyrics "Nobody likes you, everyone left you, they're all out without you having fun." Which is also dark. 5th grade was probably the worst year of school for me, due to being bullied by a girl I used to consider a best friend. She was going through her parents getting divorced at the time so she was in a hard place herself. During that year she had basically turned the whole 5th grade class against me and was just really mean to me. I would come home crying because of her. She was the main reason when I entered middle school I didn't have anyone to lean on, and had to basically start over and make new friends. It was really isolating. But Green Day understood. I knew I wasn't totally hated, and that my family really loved me, but I knew because of my anxiety disorder I did miss out on a lot, and had a hard time being able to have fun in the first place due to my constant worry. So people really were out without me having fun. Both sets of lyrics made me feel sad, but they also made me feel comforted and understood in a way as well. Going through this at such a young age gave me so much empathy and understanding especially working with children now who also have a harder time in a school setting then most kids. I also have a memory of having friends sleepover in 4th or 5th grade and putting a boombox outside of my brother's room while he was still sleeping and turning the volume all the way up and playing the song "American Idiot." I remember him coming out of his room and unplugging the boombox and then going back inside his bedroom to which we just proceeded to plug the boombox back in and do it again this time standing outside his door so he couldn't unplug it. He was so angry.
At the concert Green Day played through all of their album "Dookie" as well as well as a few other songs and then playing through"American Idiot." It had been 30 years since they released "Dookie" and 20 years since they had released "American Idiot". They ended the show by playing through "American Idiot, and I shouted along to the lyrics as memories of me from 20 years ago appeared in my mind. Little Alex would have been so proud of where adult Alex is now and all I have overcome. While they were playing the songs from each album they had set pieces/backgrounds that featured the album art. For "Dookie" they had an explosion as the background and had a blimp flying over the crowd during one of the songs. For "American Idiot they had a giant hand holding a heart-shaped hand grenade as the background. One of the things I'm fascinated with is how they could perform 37 songs (2.5 hours) non-stop without only a few seconds every now and then for changing the background etc. I would have to take breaks to sit down, and my diaphragm started aching from shouting so much, and I'm not 50. :P Around halfway through the set the drummer, Tre sang a song while dressed in a robe and dancing around. This was probably the biggest break Billie Joe (frontman) got the whole show and it was like a minute long song. :P One of the main highlights of the show was when Billie Joe had a fan come on stage who looked to be around 6 years old. She was dressed in a black button up shirt and a red tie, which is what Billie Joe would wear during the American Idiot tour. She was not shy at all and sang along to "Know Your Enemy" with Billie Joe and started jumping around on stage. It was very wholesome. The concert ended with Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) and fireworks. At one point during the show Billie Joe reminded the audience to just be in the moment and had everyone put away their phones for a few minutes. I like to also rarely take my phone out during concerts to just enjoy the moment. (Plus I know there are many other people who will have gotten way better pictures then I could of.) (Below are some pictures I gathered from around the internet besides the selfie.) Green Day had three openers before they went on so my parents and I "tailgated" in the parking lot for the first 2 hours with the concert starting at 5:30 and us getting there around 5. There was gatorade, soda, and water for drinks, and sandwiches, taco dip, salmon dip, and rice krispie bars to eat while listening to a podcast. We also had a mini solar powered generator that ran a fan from the back of my parent's van. (My mom may have been way over-prepared but we were not going to suffer for those two hours.) When we were walking into the venue Carly Rae Jepson's song "Call Me Maybe" of all songs was playing between bands over the loud speaker. (That was not the right vibe for the concert. :P ) The openers for the show were "The Linda Lindas", "Rancid", and "The Smashing Pumpkins". I had heard of the Smashing Pumpkins and knew their song "Tonight, Tonight" but was surprised when I recognized 5 of their songs. The alternative radio station I listen to sometimes plays their songs pretty frequently.
I hope to be able to see Green Day again someday, and am excited for more live concert experiences in the future.
