Billie Joe Goes Country...

As we all know the 99 Revolutions tour is over for the time being, so the Green Day world has been extremely quiet save for instagram posts from the boys. However, the most unusual duet has surfaced in the form of Billie Joe Armstrong and Jazz beauty Norah Jones. This picture was posted online on Wednesday evening:

I'm guessing this is a promo shot of the two...a promo shot for what? Well, it turns out they have released an album of Everly Brothers tracks called 'Foreverly'.

 It is essentially their own spin on the album 'Songs Our Daddy Taught Us'- originally released in 1958. In an interview with Stereogum, Billie said:

" It all started with Stevie Wonder. We sang together with Stevie Wonder and his band and a whole bunch of people, that’s how Norah and I first met. Then … well, I got into the Everly Brothers’ record a couple years ago and I thought it was just beautiful. I was listening to it every morning for a while off and on. I thought it would be cool to remake the record because I thought it was sort of an obscure thing and more people should know about it, but I really wanted to do it with a woman singing because I thought it would take on a different meaning — maybe broaden the meaning a little bit — as compared to hearing the songs being sung by the two brothers."

The first single from the album is called Long Time Gone: a song that really shows the softness of Billie's voice that we don't often hear. The two voices go together perfectly, and the great thing about this album is that it brings attention to old songs that the people buying this album - myself included - would never have heard before. It surprised me just how great it actually is and I am looking forward to the rest of the album.

The track listing and their single can be seen below. The album will be released on November 25th but is available to pre-order on iTunes. You can also pre-order the CD and the digital album from billiejoeandnorah.com, and a Q&A with the pair has been posted on the Stereogum website - this has more details about the album and how it came about. (http://www.stereogum.com/1534781/qa-billie-joe-armstrong-norah-jones-unveil-duets-lp-hear-long-time-gone/franchises/interview/)

Tracklisting:

1. Roving Gambler

2. Long Time Gone

3. Lightning Express

4. Silver Hair Daddy Of Mine

5. Down In The Willow Garden

6. Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?

7. Oh So Many Years

8. Barbara Allen

9. Rocking Alone

10. I'm Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail

11. Kentucky

12. Put My Shoes Away

It's 99 revolutions tonight...

First blog post in a while, i have been a bit busy with uni work...tough year and all that. Anyway.

After what seemed like forever away, a refreshed Green Day hit the road for their 99 Revolutions Tour. First stop was Pomona, California on March 10th and working their way through the US and Canada, and now heading through Europe.

I was fortunate enough to get tickets to their only UK stop: the Emirates Stadium in London.

June 1st, a delightfully warm day surrounded by fellow Green Day fans. We were all awaiting the arrival of our heroes. All Time Low and Kaiser Chiefs had got us all warmed up and it was almost time for the best moment of 60,000 people's lives. (FACT: Green Day broke the record for attendance at the Emirates as all 60,000 seats were filled that night, beating people as big as Bruce 'The Boss' Springsteen) Queen's hit Bohemian Rhapsody blasted through the huge stadium and almost every single body in that venue sang along:

It was one of the most memorable things i have ever been a part of (well apart from the show itself)...every time i see videos of it I get goosebumps. As soon as the 'Good, the Bad and The Ugly' theme song came on I knew it was time. The whole place exploded and the applause seemed to get louder the moment Billie Joe walked on stage.

The set list was awesome, though I did think they could have played a few more songs from the trilogy. There was still a good mix of old and new stuff. One of the songs that surprised me was Waiting. I had always wanted to hear it live as it is one of my favourite of their songs and it was one of the first that made me love them. It sounded so good:

"God I fucking love this fucking country, Jesus Christ" was what Billie Joe said during Boulevard of Broken Dreams as he watched the crowd sing his lyrics in awe. He had us all in the palm of his hand and he was loving it. You could see that he was grateful for all of the love that was currently surrounding him. He invited a young boy onto the stage, who held up a sign that said 'Green Day rocks!'. Two other fans got that opportunity: one boy to sing Longview, and a girl to play Knowledge (who also got kisses and cuddles from Billie...lucky girl)

The show was not short of the usual repeated cries of HEEEYYY OHHHHH and banter that we have all come to love from the band. He certainly knows how to get the crowd pumped.

One of the highlights of the show for me was King For A Day/Shout. I think it is always the best part of a Green Day show. Billie walked on in a jacket covered in diamantes and roses and he was holding a cane. He ran around the stage like a loon while the others donned fake mustaches and pirate hats. Tré did his usual 'I WANT YOU TO KNOW' leg kicks which just had me in hysterics. He is a genius and it is the best part of the song. Even my best friend was laughing, and still finds it funny a month on!

Brutal Love was the last song of the night, i don't think there was a single person in that place that did not feel emotional during that song (I cried...quite a lot). It was absolutely beautiful, Billie Joe's voice was so powerful and passionate, and the stadium was lit with thousands of white lights like stars. It was an incredible moment.

I can't wait to see them again at Leeds. I'm looking forward to seeing what they have up their sleeves. Only time will tell, but I can say that if it is anything like this show it is going to be incredible.


SETLIST:

99 Revolutions
Know Your Enemy
Stay The Night
Stop When The Red Lights Flash
Letterbomb
Oh Love
Holiday
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Stray Heart
Nice Guys Finish Last
Waiting
Missing You
Burnout
Sassafras Roots
Hitchin A Ride
Welcome To Paradise
Longview
Going To Pasalacqua
Knowledge
St Jimmy
When I Come Around
Basket Case
She
King For A Day
Shout (I Can't Get No Satisfaction, Teenage Kicks, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life)
X Kid
Minority

American Idiot
Jesus Of Suburbia
Brutal Love

Rolling Stone Article - my reaction

So the other day an interview in Rolling Stone magazine with Billie Joe emerged. It was his post rehab explanation if you will. Here is the cover:

I would first like to take a moment to mention how well he is looking, he turned 41 a couple of weeks ago and you would not be able to tell. Anyway fangirl moment over.

The interview was the frankest interview with Billie that I have ever read. There was nothing sugar coated - he said exactly what he felt he had to say. To have the courage to come out with it like that after the time he has been through these last six months is just incredible.

I would also like to take a moment to complement the quality of the journalism here...considering I am a journalist in training...extremely well written!

Anyway. A thing that made me smile about this article was where Mike says that he wants to be sitting on a park bench with Billie when he's older, just feeding the birds and having conversations. That is what you call a strong friendship. I just think Mike is amazing to help Billie through everything like that and stick by him like that. Judging by what Billie said in the interview, i don't think there would be many friends who could do that.

After reading the interview, i can see that there is not much more to say about the matter because I think just about everything is covered here, meaning this hopefully won't get raked up again when the band make their triumphant return in the next few weeks. There are a few things about this that make me really sad - the interview is honest, which is why it makes me so sad. Like when he talks about the time he got really bad after a show and drank his body weight in alcohol after a show which also involved drinking before and during - and then waking up hungover on the West Side Highway in a park. I mean...that is some serious stuff. I didn't realise just how bad things were for him, i figured them to be bad because of him going into rehab - when that was first announced after iHeart i didn't think it was serious until i read the actual press release. I couldn't believe it. I'm sure most, if not all of their fans feel exactly the same.

The rehabilitation for him sounded really scary - he had to have a nurse go to his home and make sure he wasn't having seizures because of the withdrawals. It must be so hard for him, and Adrienne and the boys. I couldn't imagine what they are going through, even now. He may be out of rehab and ready to get back out there but he has to take baby steps to get through it.

The thing that really got to me is the part where the interviewer asks him if he owes an apology to the fans and he said that he let us down. I actually cried when i read that part. He did nothing to let us down. He let a bad habit grab hold of him and it held too tightly. I don't feel in any way ashamed to call him my hero - if anything, i admire him all the more for coming through this. And to have the courage to come out and speak so honestly about it all. I'm just so so glad that he is getting better and he is going to stop drinking. I can't wait to see him back on that stage with Mike, Tre and Jason, where he belongs! Bring it on!

All I will say is have some tissues ready when reading it! You will cry!

WE LOVE YOU BILLIE JOE! WE ARE PROUD OF YOU AND ALWAYS WILL BE. Idiot forever!

Dream setlist songs

Booking tickets to see Green Day is always very exciting. This will be my third time of seeing the band, and after reading a status on my friend Ally's Green Day Facebook page: 'I'm Not Fucking Around... G.L.O.R.I.A', I have started thinking about songs that would make up my perfect setlist. I'm obviously not going to make up a whole setlist because that would take way too long, but here are a few that I would love. So yeah, here goes:

One song I would like would be Redundant. I have always adored the song, I think the lyrics are beautiful and it would make for a really great acoustic performance, like this video proves:

If I were to think of songs from the Trilogy, the first song that comes to mind would be Brutal Love. The song gives me goosebumps anyway, it's so beautiful and it really shows off Billie's talent. I have a feeling that if they did play that i would shed a few tears!

Another good one from the trilogy would definitely be Dirty Rotten Bastards. Like Homecoming and Jesus Of Suburbia, it is made up of different parts and I think it is the perfect song for crowd interaction especially.

Delving back into the older stuff, a song I would love to hear live one day would be Blood Sex and Booze. I don't think i have ever heard them play it and I'm not sure if that would be a song that they would perform now, they have such a collection of great songs and for some reason that never seems to come up anywhere. It's a shame, so that's why I think they need to play it.

I have always wanted to hear Peacemaker live. Simply because it is my favourite song from the 21st Century Breakdown album. I think because it is a song that the band have not played since the release of that album, it would be quite a nice surprise to hear it.

Finally, if I were to choose the setlist, i think Nightlife would definitely appear. I'm not sure what we could expect from that...what would happen if for some reason Lady Cobra couldn't appear? would Billie do the rap? That would be really funny to see! I have chosen this one because it's obvious change in direction when it comes to sound. It would be a great part of the show that the band could maybe make a big thing out of? I don't know but I think it should be played.