Details
Location:
Tutu's Nightclub, King's College in London, England
Date:
September 15, 2000
Notes:
- Incomplete setlist
- Recordings from this show can be found [url=http://www.greendaycommunity.org/topic/89788-20000915-kings-college-london-england/]here[/url]
- "Give or take Nirvana, Green Day are the best three-piece band to come out of America since the Stray Cats. Okay, now I've got your attention, I can rave about this riot of a small London gig arranged at short notice to vibe up fans and Radio One Evening Session listeners about Warning the group's fourth release from Warner Brothers. Actually, my opening statement is not that far-fetched. Green Day open with a blistering Welcome To Paradise but, as they settle into the swagger of Hitchin' A Ride, Stray Cat Strut does indeed spring to mind while Billie Joe Armstrong's honest lyrics (Church On Sunday, Misery) convey some of the frustrations but none of the despair of Kurt Cobain's. With his hair dyed black, his skinny tie and his red shirt, Billie Joe Armstrong is the little kid who came good, who reveres The Jam and Stiff Little Fingers and still sings in an English accent when so many Brits are busy aping the Yanks. Watching him, it's comforting to know that there's a corner of California that will forever be Anarchy In The UK. In fact, as if to prove my point, he soon throws out what set list there is and asks the audience: What cover song do you wanna hear? I jokingly tell a friend Dancing With Myself and, when the band launch into the driving intro of the Gen X/Billy Idol classic, I do a double take. I have no idea how I came to make that educated guess and the serendipity makes their heady rendition all the more enjoyable, especially when Armstrong admits: We only do this when we've been drinking a lot. Later, when the diminutive frontman teases the invited audience about a Sex Pistols song, I hope for my favourite Holidays In The Sun and get my wish. Telepathy or what? Green Day may be a bunch of goofy bastards but they're tight as hell too even when they invite three fans to replace them one by one, thus proving that anyone can do this. Rancid, The Offspring and Blink 182 do this too but nowhere near as well as Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool, the true heirs to The Ramones spirit (yes I know, punk has ping-ponged back and forth across the Atlantic). At the time of Dookie, some critics dismissed Green Day as a cartoon act. They ate their words when Basket Case tapped into the teenage psyche with Blood, Sex And Booze now likely to do the same. Now, odd influences creep in like the Bob Dylan-style harmonica on Hold On and the title track of their new album sounds uncannily like Joe Jackson 20 years ago. In fact Minority, the singalong single, is the worst track they play tonight. Last encore is When I Come Around. Billie Joe sees the contents of a pint glass flying towards him, shuts his eyes, gets drenched and smiles gleefully without missing a cue. Puck rock indeed!"
Setlist
1. Welcome To Paradise
2. Hitchin' A Ride
3. Minority
4. Brat
5. Geek Stink Breath
6. Longview
7. Church on Sunday
8. 2,000 Light Years Away
9. Brain Stew
10. Jaded
11. Knowledge (Operation Ivy Cover)
12. Basket Case
13. She
14. Warning
15. Scattered
16. Platypus (I Hate You)
17. King For A Day
18. Blood, Sex And Booze
19. Waiting
20. Jackass
21. When I Come Around
22. Dancing With Myself (Generation X cover)
23. Unknown (NOFX cover)
24. Holidays In The Sun (Sex Pistols cover)
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