Dublin - Oxygen Festival, July 8th, 2005
OK, I have decided to reminisce about the best weekend of my life Oxegen 05!!!
The whole day had been fabulous and yet I was trembling with anticipation of what was 2 come.
I dragged my weary friend to the front row of the pit over an hour before Green Day were due on and yet you could already feel the static excitement surging through the crowd.
The Frames finished and with a loud rumble the electrifying music from 2001 Space Odyssey began and every single person in the crowd knew they were in for one hell of a ride; it was just a matter of holding on.
The crowd's anticipation became almost palpable and soon it spilled over into shouts and calls for the bands appearance and when just when I thought my nerves (or eardrums for that matter) couldn't take any more, Tre, Mike and the master himself Billie Joe Armstrong took the stage.
They launched into a heart stopping version of American Idiot with the call that we shouted 'So damn loud every redneck in America will hear you!'
A charismatic figure at his worst, dressed fetchingly in his black and contrasting red with alternating 'Rage' and 'Love' armbands Billie Joe held the crowd squarely in his hand and from their response it was obvious they wished to be in no other place.
He lead the crowd through classics such as Longview, Basket Case and the roaring American Idiot collection seamlessly peppering the performance with jokes, anecdotes, 'I remember we giged in a bar in Ireland were you couldn't dance in case the floor fell through', making it an emotional rollercoaster.
We laughed, cried, oohed and awed as the band jumped, roared, screamed, mooned, masturbated, squirted water pistols, cursed George Bush and generally excelled.
I will never forget the image of Billie Joe donning the Irish flag as the sun set, 80,000 singing 'We Are The Champions' or as the cascade of glitter fell during Wake Me Up When September Ends.
Incredible, amazing indescribable... In the words of a fellow reviewer 'Green Day reached another place'.
The whole day had been fabulous and yet I was trembling with anticipation of what was 2 come.
I dragged my weary friend to the front row of the pit over an hour before Green Day were due on and yet you could already feel the static excitement surging through the crowd.
The Frames finished and with a loud rumble the electrifying music from 2001 Space Odyssey began and every single person in the crowd knew they were in for one hell of a ride; it was just a matter of holding on.
The crowd's anticipation became almost palpable and soon it spilled over into shouts and calls for the bands appearance and when just when I thought my nerves (or eardrums for that matter) couldn't take any more, Tre, Mike and the master himself Billie Joe Armstrong took the stage.
They launched into a heart stopping version of American Idiot with the call that we shouted 'So damn loud every redneck in America will hear you!'
A charismatic figure at his worst, dressed fetchingly in his black and contrasting red with alternating 'Rage' and 'Love' armbands Billie Joe held the crowd squarely in his hand and from their response it was obvious they wished to be in no other place.
He lead the crowd through classics such as Longview, Basket Case and the roaring American Idiot collection seamlessly peppering the performance with jokes, anecdotes, 'I remember we giged in a bar in Ireland were you couldn't dance in case the floor fell through', making it an emotional rollercoaster.
We laughed, cried, oohed and awed as the band jumped, roared, screamed, mooned, masturbated, squirted water pistols, cursed George Bush and generally excelled.
I will never forget the image of Billie Joe donning the Irish flag as the sun set, 80,000 singing 'We Are The Champions' or as the cascade of glitter fell during Wake Me Up When September Ends.
Incredible, amazing indescribable... In the words of a fellow reviewer 'Green Day reached another place'.
