Why does anyone buy a ticket to see Green Day on their Nimrod tour?
It couldn't be less complicated.
From the opening jolt of "Going To Pasalacqua" ("39/Smooth") the band
feverishly powered their way through a catalog of hits, near hits, and
longtime favorites - from "2,000 Light Years Away" to "Welcome To
Paradise," "Longview," "Basket Case," "Geek Stink Breath," and
reputation-renewing '97 pop-punkers such as "Prosthetic Head" and
"Hitchin' A Ride."
The Roseland show was, in fact, the band's second appearance in New York
that week. A riotous in-store performance at the downtown Tower
Records the previous day led to thousands-of-dollars in damages
and reports of one lewd nude Billie Joe. File it in the Green Day
annals alongside the Woodstock mud fling and an arrest-filled Boston
debacle.
Everything came crashing down with a farewell toppling of amps and
drummer Tre Cool, in the role of Keith Moon, trashing his kit with
such focused thoroughness that not a cymbal was left in its original
shape. Billie Joe presided over the stage destruction with the
set-ending solo/electric number "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"
- a Green Day "Happy Trails" if ever there was one.
Though they'd just come off a brilliantly sweaty set at the Knitting
Factory some two months ago, openers Superdrag never managed to sound
as good as they could. Not an easy job, standing on in front of the
multitudes anxious for nothing but Billie Joe & Co. The Knoxville
quartet learned things about their mothers they never suspected.
start-ups, the quartet was swinging with one guitar tied behind
their back. Even as they fought their way through tracks from their
near-perfect 1996 album, "Regretfully Yours," most of the Superdrag
sound had turned to watery oatmeal by the time it hit audience ears.
Regardless, newly unveiled songs from their forthcoming spring '98
album - most notably the riff-driven "Sold You An Alibi" - revealed
that top pop is still to come from Superdrag.