Green Day in
Zurich
Show Details
Location:
Volkshaus in Zurich, Switzerland
Date:
February 17, 1998
Notes:
François Bonzon: "Why did everyone say it was such a fabulous evening? Easy! 'Cause Green Day was playing. Lots of teenagers with green hair were already queued up to the entrance. A sign over a concert poster read the show was sold out. About 1,500 people attended the show. D Generation was supposed to play first, but they cancelled. A local band, whose name I can't remember, shows up. They were so bad. They played for about twenty minutes. At 9:15 pm Green Day enters the stage. Tre Cool took his place behind the drumkit, Mike Dirnt and Billie Joe Armstrong stepped to their microphones and broke into Going to Pasalacqua, Welcome to Paradise and Geek Stink Breath without a break. Billie made funny faces to the photographers that tried to take a photo of him. He also kept doing these strange poses. Mike switched the bass and Billie switched the guitar - one of many copies of Blue with red BJ intials and two stickers on it. 'This is a brand new song. The song's called Nice Guys Finish Last,' says Billie. The crowd was very enthused. Billie also brought out a Tickle Me Elmo doll made its hands clap to the beat. Everyone followed. They played the great 2,000 Light Years Away. Halfway through the song Billie went backstage, then snuck up on Tre - we didn't really understand what was going on at that point - and emptied a bottle of water on him. Tre Cool kept playing. 'Do you like heavy metal?' The crowd cheered. Billie started singing, 'The beautiful people... The beautiful people,' and acting like Marilyn Manson. 'We're gonna play heavy metal songs for the rest of the evening. OK, we're just kidding.' They went into their old hits Chump / Longview, with such vigor. Then they play Brain Stew / Jaded. Billie did his famous spitting trick. He spat high in the air but didn't catch it in his mouth. Mike threw picks into the crowd. Tre Cool kept throwing a copious amount of drumsticks away! The band began playing Knowledge. Billie says, 'Hm... Does anyone know how to play the guitar? Come up and play here right now. You? You don't know how to play! You? How many years have you been playing? (The guy shows five fingers.) Come up here!' They ended the song with that guy playing the guitar. As always, they urged him to stagedive. Billie played the opening chords of Basket Case and then let the crowd sing. That was the moment everyone had been waiting for! After they play She, Billie Joe put this hideous mask on and began playing F.O.D. He then throws the mask away. They continue with Paper Lanterns, and then tease some songs, like Eye of the Tiger. Billie says, 'Thanks for coming tonight. We're gonna come back here in a few months. Bye,' and went backstage. After a while when Billie Joe came back onstage, ready to play, a group on the front row sang, 'Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you Billie Joe!' The rest of the crowd followed. Billie smiled and said, 'Thank you very much. I'm sixteen years old today.' He probably dreamed about being the same age as those front row groupies. The band finished the show with Scattered, Prosthetic Head and When I Come Around. Then the trio set about to destroy the whole stage. Tre couldn't leave a cymbal or a tom in its original shape. Mike offered special refreshments by spraying Feldschlossen beer all over the crowd. Tre Cool climbed on the amps and emptied Evian water on the crowd. Mike knocked the amp stack over and then smashed his bass. Billie Joe kneeled in front of amp stack, playing that heavily reverberating chord over and over. Billie came over and ended the show with electric solo number - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life). 'It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life.' It sounded great! They played for about half an hour."
Photos from the Show
Setlist
1. Going To Pasalacqua
2. Welcome To Paradise
3. Geek Stink Breath
4. Nice Guys Finish Last
5. Hitchin' A Ride
6. The Grouch
7. 2,000 Light Years Away
8. Chump
9. The Beautiful People (Marilyn Manson cover) / Longview
10. Brain Stew
11. Jaded
12. Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover)
13. Basket Case
14. She
15. F.O.D.
16. Paper Lanterns / Eye Of The Tiger (Survivor cover)
17. Scattered
18. Prosthetic Head
19. When I Come Around
20. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
