It was unreal. I went alone because I could only get one ticket. To get in, I waited in line for two hours outside, then stood for another hour and a half in the hall before they went on. Four minutes into 21CB, the first song, I was already short of breath and wondering how much more I could take. You had no space in there -- your chest was against the back of the person in front of your and your back was against the chest of the person behind you. But Green Day fill the room with such energy, you quickly forget how desperate your body is for air and space.
So they started Longview about four songs into the second half of the show, following a first hour of 21CB. You'll see in the video, at the beginning of the song, Billie says, "Who wants to sing? Who wants to sing?"
Up to that point, I had noticed Billie look at me a few times during the show -- I think because I was ****ing rocking it, dancing hard and throwing up my arms up and singing every word directly at him.
So after the first chorus, he moves over toward left of center stage. I was about five people deep in the crowd. And he points -- AT ME. When he did that, I pointed at me. And he nods and goes, "Yeah you!" So I ****ing RUSH the stage like a linebacker, but the people are too thick. And this fat guy in front of me thinks Billie is pointing to HIM, and I yell this rageful "NO!" and push harder, but I still can't make it. So I look at Billie pleadingly, and that's when he points upward, motioning for me to surf to him.
So I jump on the backs of the people in front of me, finally get lifted up, stretching my hands out to Billie like the Sistine chapel. Someone got a good shot of that here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/starstruck76/3549942560/
A bodyguard comes out to help because there's a space between the stanchion and the stage. He pulls me in, Billie grabs me by the hand and I stand up, then I grab his face and KISS HIM ON THE MOUTH. I am a straight man, and my only regret is that I didn't hold it longer. Everyone went wild. He was a little prickly, like he hadn't shaved since the night before. Then he points me toward the mic, and I look out at 1,500 people in New York City and realize I have no idea what the **** I'm going. So I look at Billie and ask just that: "What am I doing?"
That's when -- you'll see in the video -- he leans in to me and yells the first line of the next verse, "Peel me off this velcro seat!" And I realize: "Oh. I'm supposed to sing." SO I ****ING DID.
The strangest thing was, here I am on stage with this band that I LOVE, but my attention wasn't on them. It was on the crowd. I felt like I understood, as best I could in those 30 seconds, what Billie means when he says performing is a drug and that makes him feel absolutely free.
So I did the verse with Billie wandering around behind me. When I finished, I threw my arms up, like you see in the video. Then I just thought, well, I should go. My time is up. So I dove back into the crowd. I didn't realize until I saw the video later that Billie had walked far off to one side of the stage and was totally going to let me sing the chorus, too. I really should have stayed, but I didn't. I didn't want to feel like a jackass for hijacking the show. I also should have grabbed his guitar, because I can play that shit! Ah, well.
Later in the song, Billie actually ****ed up the words himself, which was awesome.
Then MTV wrote up this sensational article about it, here, making it sound like I was a crazed fan thrown on at random. I understand the reviewer was trying to make the point that Green Day is a band with a deep relationship with its fans -- but I think the fact that Billie singled me out and pulled me up illustrates that point better than anything.
So, if you're looking to get on stage, that's how it's done. Sing loud, dance hard, and ****ing do it all right at Billie. It's his show, after all.
This post has been edited by BrentB: Yesterday, 06:00 PM
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May 24th, 2009 04:08 AM
