Details
Location:
WBCN River Rave, Great Wood Center in Mansfield, MA
Date:
May 31, 1998
Other Acts:
Big Wreck, Cornershop, Creed, Feeder, Scott Weiland, Semisonic, Soul Asylum, Spacehog, The Offspring, Blink 182
Notes:
- Recordings from this show can be found [url=http://www.greendaycommunity.org/topic/87354-19980531-great-wood-center-mansfield-massachusetts-usa/]here[/url]
- Jonathan Perry: "Midway through Green Day's deliriously manic set at the River Rave at Great Woods last Sunday, the band's clown-prince frontman, Billie Joe Armstrong, hauled Wally from Worcester - a white, 17-year-old, second- (or, depending on your grasp of history, third-) generation punker from the 'burbs wearing a Charlie Brown T-Shirt - up on to the stage to play a few chunky chords on guitar. Wally looked more than happy to oblige, and then, with a crowd of just under 20,000 exhorting him onward (chanting 'Wah-lee! Wah-lee!'), he did a stage dive back into his natural habitat - the throbbing mosh pit. Wally from Worcester probably couldn't have cared less, but in some ways he epitomizes the kind of listener that modern rock radio is after, and the kind of kid the music industry pays consultants to study. A significant portion of the River Rave's audience sprang from that sort of demographic, with the occasional 11-year-old and fortysomething rocker/parent thrown in for good measure. Last weekend at Great Woods, the WBCN River Rave and the 19th annual KISS Concert (which took place Saturday) represented two of the dominant markets that mainstream radio caters to - and in some ways, creates - these days: modern rock and adult contemporary. And each bill spoke volumes about the state of the music industry in general, encapsulating both its best and its worst aspects. There's nothing quite like a massive outdoor festival, where one-liter bottles of water sell for $5 and VIPs don't even bother to show up for their preferred seating, to remind you that this is, above all else, a business. One mass food fight and an hour later, it was Green Day's turn. Even though Weiland's set was yet to come, Green Day climaxed the evening with all the snotty bluster they could muster. Stripped down to his leopard-skin skivvies, and promising sex, drugs, and a "six-pack of your favorite beer in your fuckin' fridge every morning!" as part of an impromptu speech announcing his campaign for governor of Massachusetts, frontguy Billie Joe Armstrong delivered a sneering rendition of Shangri-La. And as two guys dressed as bumblebees and what looked to be a chicken costume played a trumpet-and-trombone version of The Star-Spangled Banner, Billie Joe regarded the junked pile of Tre Cool's drum kit that lay in a heap nearby, in flames. At that point, I couldn't see Wally from Worcester anywhere. But I bet he was smiling."
Setlist
1. Nice Guys Finish Last
2. Hitchin' A Ride
3. Geek Stink Breath
4. Welcome To Paradise
5. Longview / Iron Man (Black Sabbath cover) / Master Of Puppets (Metallica cover) / Eye Of The Tiger (Survivor cover)
6. Brain Stew
7. Jaded
8. Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover)
9. Basket Case
10. She
11. King For A Day
12. When I Come Around
13. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
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