Atlanta, GA Philips Arena, August 22nd, 2005
Reading throught the previous reviews, I now know why Billy Joe screamed 'How are you Atlanta' 40 plus times during the show. It is the ONLY way to distinguish this show from any of their earlier shows. They opened with a blistering run through of the first half of American Idiot. I buckeled in and was prepared for the ride of my life. They were tight and the crowd (of mostly teens and pre-teens with parents) were eating it up. I was too. It was, frankly, the best 30 minutes of rock I have ever witnessed - and I have seen many shows in my 38 years.
They then went 'old school' with 'Longview'. Another great rendition and I was humored by the fact that that the teens in the crowd were unfamiliar. This WAS their breakthrough hit, before 'Basket Case', but these American Idiot fans were confused. This is when the A+ performance went sour. They turned a rock concert into a carnival - which the vast majority of the crowd wanted. I wanted to hear GD play their extensive catalog. What I got was a serious of 'Eh, Oh', waves, 'Everybody scream', 'Hello Atlanta', 'We love Atlanta', 'How are you doing Atlanta' (if I did not know where I was, I would have a pretty good idea 5 minutes into the show and continuing every 5 minutes). They completely pandered to the crowd. They pulled 3 people from the audience - same as every previous show - and they all played very well - too well, in fact, as I bet they were handpicked. Perhaps I am just Jaded - which they played. Again, when they played their songs, they ROCKED. Among the best performances I have ever seen. But there was too much bullshit for me. They are too good to play to the crowd like this. By the time they got to their 'Shout / Stand by Me' medley, I was at my wits end. Any other time, I would have enjoyed the cover tunes - I really dug 'We are the Champions' - but by this point I was ready for them to get back to it. After, of course, I was reminded 7 more times that I was in Atlanta and I competed a few more times with the other side of the arena to see who could make a bigger noise - felt like I was back in the high school auditiorium. I was waiting for the 'We got spirit, yes we do' cheer...
As for the setlist, they did represent most of their albums but not many of my personal faves made the cut. They played their hits and a huge chunk of American Idiot - which was fine by me. It is truly their masterpiece, althought I love all their albums, first buying Dookie in '94 and quickly discovering Kerplunk and 39 Smooth. Anyone looking for some deeper tracks like Waiting, Westbound Sign, Prosthetic Head, etc will be disappointed. They did play 'King for a Day' but the carnival approach turned me off. I think I was the only one, however.
In short, when they played, it was incredible. Best you will ever see. If you are looking for an event or a show, it will be right up your alley. Looking for a concert, then you may be disappointed like I was - but it was still worth the money.
They then went 'old school' with 'Longview'. Another great rendition and I was humored by the fact that that the teens in the crowd were unfamiliar. This WAS their breakthrough hit, before 'Basket Case', but these American Idiot fans were confused. This is when the A+ performance went sour. They turned a rock concert into a carnival - which the vast majority of the crowd wanted. I wanted to hear GD play their extensive catalog. What I got was a serious of 'Eh, Oh', waves, 'Everybody scream', 'Hello Atlanta', 'We love Atlanta', 'How are you doing Atlanta' (if I did not know where I was, I would have a pretty good idea 5 minutes into the show and continuing every 5 minutes). They completely pandered to the crowd. They pulled 3 people from the audience - same as every previous show - and they all played very well - too well, in fact, as I bet they were handpicked. Perhaps I am just Jaded - which they played. Again, when they played their songs, they ROCKED. Among the best performances I have ever seen. But there was too much bullshit for me. They are too good to play to the crowd like this. By the time they got to their 'Shout / Stand by Me' medley, I was at my wits end. Any other time, I would have enjoyed the cover tunes - I really dug 'We are the Champions' - but by this point I was ready for them to get back to it. After, of course, I was reminded 7 more times that I was in Atlanta and I competed a few more times with the other side of the arena to see who could make a bigger noise - felt like I was back in the high school auditiorium. I was waiting for the 'We got spirit, yes we do' cheer...
As for the setlist, they did represent most of their albums but not many of my personal faves made the cut. They played their hits and a huge chunk of American Idiot - which was fine by me. It is truly their masterpiece, althought I love all their albums, first buying Dookie in '94 and quickly discovering Kerplunk and 39 Smooth. Anyone looking for some deeper tracks like Waiting, Westbound Sign, Prosthetic Head, etc will be disappointed. They did play 'King for a Day' but the carnival approach turned me off. I think I was the only one, however.
In short, when they played, it was incredible. Best you will ever see. If you are looking for an event or a show, it will be right up your alley. Looking for a concert, then you may be disappointed like I was - but it was still worth the money.
