What is it with Californian bands? Last year, No Doubt took ska music and sold it back to the Brits, but long before Gwen Stefani skate boarded onto the scene, Green Day were rehashing UK punk and spitting it back in our faces.
The band's third album, Dookie, a collection of puerile plastic punk tunes, sold in excess of 10 million copies, establishing Green Day as major stars, and proving that any genre is ripe for a money-spinning revival.
The rebirth of punk didn't last too long, however, and subsequent albums, Insomnia and Nimrod, haven't sold as well; the pressures of fame also took their toll on the band, and they cancelled their last European tour due to nervous exhaustion. Green Day played the first of two shows at Dublin's SFX last night, and the faithful were out in force and ready to pogo to the band's outdated sound.
Punk may not be dead, but regurgitated punk definitely is, and as singer Billy Joe Armstrong led the crowd through the chant of "eh-oh", he sounded like an ageing Teletubby trying to whip the kiddies into a nostalgic pre-school frenzy. "Oh, God, I'm gonna throw up!" shouted the singer, apropos of nothing.
For the encore, Green Day led the crowd in a game of "let's pretend we're punks", Billy Joe getting everyone to shout "Oi!", and drummer Tre Cool kicking over his drumkit in a show of ham-anarchy. Billy Joe finished with a solo rendition the band's current single, Time Of Your Life, the nearest Green Day have come to naked sentiment.
I guess they've really had their day.
