Mar
11
2013

Green Day @ The Marquee

Monday, March 11, 2013 - 11:08:33 pm
(Posted Under: Music Music, Live Shows)
Now, that - that was something!

We had tickets to see one of the very few "club shows" in December last year. As a matter of fact, that's entirely why we signed up for Idiot Club last year - to have access to the pre-sale for the Tempe show. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't kind of soured when that December show was canceled.

Two weeks ago, when a new Marquee date was announced, I was less excited than I had been last year. However, we collectively decided that we should try and get tickets again. After all, it was Green Day at the Marquee, and we'd at least our money's worth from the Idiot Club membership.

Any hard feelings stemming from the original date being canceled fell by the wayside tonight. A little before five o'clock I changed out of my work shirt into a Replacements shirt, and headed down to meet Katie and we caught a bus for the short trip to the Marquee. It was just after five, with three hours to go before show time, and the mandatory will call line snaked around the venue down Mill Ave. and back into the Marquee parking lot. After about an hour of standing in line, security came around announcing that Idiot Club ticket purchases could go in. We ditched the line, and walked straight into the Marquee. As a result, we found the venue to be relatively empty and picked out a nice spot - essentially front row, off to the right, with a wall to prop up against, and a fan close by (if you've never seen a show at the Marquee, you probably don't realize the value of that last part).

If there were any hard feelings left from the December debacle (at this point I don't think there was), they were completely gone seconds into Armstrong, Dirnt and Cool taking the stage. Holy shit - in a post American Idiot world, being front row for Green Day, literally feet from the band, was certainly a once in a lifetime experience. Completely blew seeing them in an arena (as cool as that was) away.

Once I was able to somewhat get over the ridiculousness of the situation, which admittedly actually took at least a couple of songs, some things became apparently. The fact that Billie Joe is pretty much a 5 year old in a 41 years old's body. And reminded me how music, especially live music, is supposed to be fun and stupid. Even when you have something to say, rock 'n roll should be fun and stupid. It's one of the many things that makes Green Day such a great band.

The set list, surprisingly light on songs from the trilogy, was fantastic. Under different circumstances, and given three hours, there is probably a bunch of songs particularly off ¡Uno! I would have liked to see. But given the setting, I loved getting to see a bunch of older songs. The highlight of which was bunch of Dookie songs I didn't expect to hear: Burnout, Coming Out and She, in addition to the expected Longview and Basket Case. Y'know, the only change I would have made to the set list would have been the addition of When I Come Around.

No drunk bunny (too soon? Maybe), but still the usual ridiculousness of King For A Day dress up, super soakers, teepee shooting and t-shirt guns. The t-shirt gun certainly reminded you of the intimate setting, with at least one t-shirt no doubt piercing another hole in the Marquee roof insulation, with Billie shooting like he was in a usual huge arena.

Definitely a hell of an experience all around. I can pretty much guarantee that I'll never see Green Day this close ever again. A for $50 a ticket. That's still pretty hard to believe. We were both still kind of reeling on the walk back over the Mill Avenue bridge to the car, and it was hard to fully express in words the whole thing.

Though Katie did manage to suggest that we do the whole thing again tomorrow night in El Paso. If only the world worked that way...

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