Location:
Ambassador Theatre in Dublin, Ireland
Date:
August 24, 2004
Notes:
Secret show
NME: "The best bands I've ever seen live have all earned their place in the canon for different reasons. There was Green Day at the Ambassador Theatre, Dublin 2004. I'd been in France for a summer, and my friends had queued up to buy tickets while I was away. They rang me excitedly on my French host family's phone, explaining quickly that there hadn't been time to inform me, but that they'd bought me a ticket anyway. The gig was magic. Messy, loud, sweaty and rough - when smoking was still allowed in venues. We left covered in grime and with bruises on our ribs, and sat waiting for the night bus, feeling like the band had just played for us."
Hot Press: "That's right skater kids, if you're looking for a louder, punkier, more testosterone-fuelled alternative to Avril Lavigne Live in Belfast, Green Day play Dublin's Ambassador Theatre on August 24. Having heard nothing from the trio since they released their Warning album in 2000, fans are promised a preview of new songs as well as a run through their large back catalogue of hits, including When I Come Around, Basket Case, Brain Stew, Minority, Warning, and their tear-jerking moment, Good Riddance (Time of Your Life). Their upcoming album, titled American Idiot, is set for an Autumn release. Until then you can secure tickets for the Dublin gig - priced at € 33.50 - when they go sale this Friday, June 11 from the usual outlets nationwaide."
Independent: "All I want to do after work is lie in bed, watch Revenge and eat potato waffles (don't judge me). At 3pm that afternoon, I get a phone call from a PR. 'Green Day are playing a secret show tonight,' he explains. 'Do you want to go?' At first, I'm not sure. It's the other side of town, and I am crammed up until 7pm that night, which would mean a mad dash to get inside the venue in time for curtain up. At the same time, the group was the sound of my teenage years. Once I'd ditched Boyzone and Eternal, and ploughed through the Foo Fighters' back catalogue, Green Day were the sound of every house party of the summer of 2003-2004. Every time I'm asked to write a piece about the best gig I've ever been to, I mention seeing Green Day at the Ambassador Theatre (RIP) in August 2004. I'd been in France for the summer, in rural Brittany learning French with a (really lovely) host family. Though it was wonderful, I missed my friends something rotten. The internet was so slow it was dial-up, and a text message cost almost more than a phone call. On MSN messenger (old school!) one afternoon, my friend Jenny cropped up, saying that tickets for Green Day had gone on sale that morning. My heart fell. I'd missed the boat. Then she added: 'We thought you'd want one too, so got an extra ticket.' Excelsior! It was sublime. Perfect, an end-of-Disney-film-style best-friends-forever-kind of evening. If a Disney film had a mosh pit. The echoes of that night rang in my head as I consider taking the tickets for the show. Why not, I decide. For old time's sake. I finish up work and race across town to make it to the venue on time. Standing at the back, my view is limited, but I can make out the trio (plus backing singers). The atmosphere in the room is incredible. The new material is boisterous, and a sea of challengers begin to crowdsurf. And then Basket Case comes on. It's an old track, a snot-punk blast with a chorus of 'I think I'm cracking up.' And I crack up. Oh my God, I begin to actually cry. What is going on? This punk-rock Proustian moment takes me entirely by surprise. It's not even at one of the sad songs, like Time of My Life! Man up, Malone. But I can't help it, all the feelings of that night at the Ambassador come flooding back, and I am an embarrassing combination of happy, sad and happy again. I turn around to see my companion looking at my worriedly. 'Are you OK?' he asks? 'I'm grand,' I reply. 'I just got an elbow to the face.' 'Oh, alright,' he responds, and trots to the bar to get me some ice. I don't want to explain how I'm feeling. I want to hold on to it for a little longer."
