Green Day A Concert Review	June 19, 2001 The Aragon Ballroom Chicago, IL A Review and Photos by The Dude on the Right

Green Day took the stage at about 9PM and I was a little worried because I thought the curfew rules might have been in effect meaning the show would end at about ten. "Hmm, one hour for the headliner?" But it is Green Day, known for a bunch of really good three-minute songs, so I guess if they kept things going at a furious pace, well, they could knock out nearly twenty songs. Sadly I’m pretty sure they only played nineteen songs, but more than happily the curfew rules were no longer in effect or Green Day just didn’t care because it was nearly eleven before the trio let the youngin’s go home. And they let the youngin’s go home happy.

Opening with "Nice Guys Finish Last", at least I’m pretty sure it was as I was busy taking my photos and forgot to jot it down, this was a show that spotlighted the many Green Day hits the radio fan may have forgotten, songs like "Welcome to Paradise," "She," "Longview," and "When I Come Around," along with some of their latest songs, "Minority" and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," but also hit on non-radio songs like "Church on Sunday" and "2000 Light Years Away" that the die-hard fans knew and loved. 

But what was maybe even more important than the set-list variety was that the boys of Green Day know the show is just as much about having fun, and it sure looked like they haven’t gotten tired of playing in front of their fans. And why do I say this? Well, because Billie Joe was just the goofball I hoped he would be. He jumped on monitors; he knew all of the arm movements to bring the crowd to a frenzy and then hush to a whisper; he knew when the crowd would know the words and let them sing, and he knew when to help them out; he baptized the crowd with bottles of water and shot them with a giant water gun; he busted on Limp Bizkit and President Bush; he called himself "Fuckface"; and maybe most of all, at about 9:30, around the time of "Hitchin’ A Ride," I think, Billie proclaimed that the next hour and a half would be one big, fucking orgasm. I can’t say I came, and I guess I didn’t really breathe hard either, but it sure was great seeing three dudes making so much sound that the addition of the sax and trumpet dudes weren’t needed, they just added to things.

And what else was I impressed with? Well, the band brought up three dudes from the audience to play a song. Billie asked for a drummer and he got a drummer. Billie asked for a bass player and he got a bass player. And then a dude had a sign that read "I play guitar", or at least something close to that, and Billie made the dude bodysurf to the back of the crowd and then to the stage if he wanted to play. I have to say I didn’t know what song it was, but our three lucky contestants did much better than I thought they would.  It almost looked like Billie Joe slipped one of the dudes the tongue, Billie donned the trio the "Chicago Shitheads", and our new trio had to stage-dive back into the crowd, even the bass dude who supposedly lost his dinner off to the side of the stage. There are things you don’t see at concerts much these days, and this definitely is one of them.

I can’t say I am now experienced in the show of Green Day, I’m just not a virgin anymore. It was a great first time, and I’m hoping my next time is just as exciting if not better. My only complaint is that the girls of my day, those whose first Green Day experience might have been "Dookie", didn’t seem to show up in the force I would have liked. Sadly there were just a few too many girls without the "I’m old enough to drink" wristband and that left me in the "sit back and enjoy the show" mode instead of working the dudettes a little more. Good for the band because their fan base grows, but bad for this dude who, well, I guess I should just review the show.

For Green Day it’s TWO "My name is Fuckface" THUMBS UP!

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!