Green Day…This Generation’s Clash?


MTV’s HD channel was recently added to the digital tier of Time Warner. It’s allowed me to catch a lot of their STORYTELLER series in a new way, Wide Screen, and in Hi Def. I’ve caught pieces of GREEN DAY’S BULLET IN A BIBLE concert video. It was recorded at their June 2005 two-night run at Milton Keynes National Bowl in England. Although not a huge Green Day fan, I was blown away by them. Makes me wish I would’ve seen them when their American Idiot tour came to Buffalo last summer. I was familiar with American Idiot, it certainly deserved all the Grammy’s it received, and may be the best Rock album of the past 5 years, certainly in the top 5.

But to see it come alive is another thing. As I watched them go from pop ballads and uptempo songs (Wake Me Up…Holiday) to harder angst ridden pieces (Jesus of Suburbia), they controlled the festival crowd with an energy I can only compare to mid 70’s early 80’s CLASH. In that aspect, I really don’t think we have anything else like GREEN DAY right now. U2 has gotten too big, too reverent and have simply graduated by age and experience away from that innocent edge to continue to hold the title. Same for Springsteen. We’re talking young, rebellious innocence, and those artists have passed the torch to Green Day. Or rather Green Day has taken it from them.

If you care about music at all, I strongly recommend you make time to catch BULLET IN A BIBLE on MTV HD. Better yet, go by the DVD. If you are a casual GREEN DAY fan, or even less, you will be amazed by the performance. Makes me wish I’d have been old enough to see The CLASH in their hey day. This may be as close as we get. What makes it even sweeter is that it’s from an American Band from California.

Warning…it does have some strong language in it’s lyrical content and between song banter. And Trey Cool’s facial expressions may get on your nerves after awhile.