TIME OF MY LIFE: GREEN DAY CONCERT REVIEW

It’s been almost 15 years since the last time I’ve been to a Green Day concert.  For those 15 years (almost), I’ve been telling all my friends since to go SEE GREEN DAY!  Now, almost 15 years since my first concert with them, I relived the distant memory this past weekend at Walnut Creek Ampitheater in Raleigh, NC.

Before I got the tickets, I contemplated another concert rivalry, Matchbox 20 was only playing a few extra hours away, but that also meant extra driving time coming home, so opted for the legendary Green Day (even though I’ve also been waiting to see MB20 for almost 15 years – never saw them live).  A hundred dollars later, we left late, took two hours driving time, but we ended up being right on time.  Green Day’s crew had just taken the stage and the show was about to start.  Only downside; hurricane season.

What should’ve been a dry night enjoying live punk rock turned into a soggy concert really quick.  I thought about leaving several times as the rain was seriously bringing me down, but I prevailed and rocked on anyways despite recovering from a mean cold for the last few weeks.  All in all, I ended up having a great time!

Now for the “review”:

I think that overall the fact that Green Day is still rocking when it clearly looks like they’d rather be napping or doing family things is seriously admirable.  There were times where the timing was obviously off, and sometimes felt like the “Billy Joe” show, but even with the rain they still rocked hard.  I could’ve done without all of the “political” talk being that – ONE we ere in North Carolina and TWO I just might have been the only person of color there – so I was a little scared for my safety, but it ended up not being that big of a deal anyways.

Some of my favorite highlights include the Broadway-esque performance of “King For A Day” (and me feeling like the only person singing along), “teaching” some fans how to play a song on stage, the epic-ness of “Jesus of Surburbia” live, enjoying some new songs from their latest record (Revolution Radio) and of course, the final song, “Time Of Your Life” couldn’t have been more true in that moment.

Though it wasn’t the best show I’ve seen, and honestly didn’t top the first time I saw them, it still was a great experience.  I chose Green Day over MB20 because they pushed me to want to explore more of the punk genre, and without this band, I may not be the harsh music critic I am today.  So kudos, Green Day for turning a miserable concert weather experience into another legendary concert in the record books.