Green Day @ Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa, CA, August 11, 2011

Green Day had a surprise/secret show in Costa Mesa and their setlist contained around 30 songs. the first 18 or 19 were brand spankin' new songs, the rest were song requests. people said the new songs were a mix of Foxboro/Warning/American Idiot, straight foward Rock & Roll, and even Insomniac/Nimrod sound

here's one video. shit quality but the club had a strict no camera policy so people pretty much had to hide their cameras somewhere while shooting



here's the set list GDA posted
1. Nuclear Family (Played Twice)
2. Stay The Night
3. Too Young To Die
4. Old Love
5. Crushing Bastards
6. Little Boy Named Train
7. Trouble Maker
8. Sweet 16
9. Wow, That's Loud
10. 8th Avenue Serenade
11. Ashley
12. Gabriella
13. Wild One
14. It's Fuck Time (Foxboro Hot Tubs cover)
15. Stray Heart
16. Last Gang In Town

Encore:
17. Amy
18. Goodbye to Romance (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
19. Welcome To Paradise
20. Burnout
21. Murder City
22. J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva)
23. Only Of You
24. Hitchin' a Ride
25. St. Jimmy
26. Minority

I love that the people who got tickets only had to pay $20 for that. I wanna hear it.

one of two reviews i found on GDC

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Hey, I know a lot of you are really curious about the new songs and (more importantly) Green Day's new look so I figured I'd post my review of the show. I was front and center for almost the entire concert so I got a good look at the setlist. In this photo, I'm the one on the far right in the black shirt.

http://yfrog.com/kg9unfj

First off, I want to give a disclaimer. I was so excited by the fact that I was hearing 19 new Green Day songs that it was a little hard to keep them all straight so I might be confusing some details of the songs. Now having said that, let's get on with it.

Green Day came on at about 10PM. There were cameras everywhere. There were small ones mounted on amps on both sides of the stage, one on one of Tre's cymbals, and another directly above Billie Joe on the lights. There were also 3 full-size video cameras that I saw. One was stationary in the far back of the stage, up above Tre. Another was handled by a camera person on the far right of the stage next to Mike, and another back behind the crowd. While this could just be for their use, it seemed like a pretty professional set-up. I remember going to one of the 21st Century Breakdown secret shows up at the DNA Lounge in SF and I don't remember any sort of set-up like this.

Another interesting thing about the show is that it was really stripped-down. There was no keyboard, no acoustic guitars, and no costumes. This show was all about rock. Billie Joe even had really short, almost cropped brown hair. He started off wearing an unbuttoned military jacket, kind of like this: http://s8.thisnext.com/media/largest_dimension/C2DA501F.jpg but took that off after a couple songs. Beneath that, he had a shirt that said, "BUFFALO ...a nice place to live". Mike had long bleach blonde hair. Tre looked about as normal as he ever does.

There was a lot of banter between the band, including a great riff on how "Hey Soul Sister" sounds like it should be in a tampon commercial instead of on the radio. Randomly, they also brought out a giant notepad that they said they were going to write dance moves on, based on the songs. The first song, Nuclear Family, had a dance move they called the Ferris Wheel. Crushing Bastards had one called the Hot Tamale, Stay the Night had the Let Yourself Go, and a few others that I don't quite remember. None of these corresponded to actual dances. It seemed more like a joke to them. They even put one of the giant sheets of paper up and after about a dozen songs, the only thing drawn on it was a little dancing stick figure (courtesy of Jason). After they played It's Fuck Time, a fan shouted out that they should do something called the Grab and Pull. The band liked the idea (even though Billie Joe said the idea sounded a little "rapey" ) so they ran with it and played about half of the song again with the crowd grabbing and pulling.

As a whole, the music was very rock and roll, with some Foxboro Hot Tubs sounds mixed in. The majority of it was uptempo with lots of catchy choruses and quotable verses. Nuclear Family especially had some great drum and bass parts, which was a nice way to start the show. More than anything, this seemed like the stepping stone between Nimrod and Warning, though it is much closer to the former than the latter.

Here are some of my favorites of the new songs from the show:

Stay The Night
Most of us have heard a version of this song before but it's still great. They've definitely reworked parts of it, including starting with a different riff and pretty sure they added a guitar solo.

Crushing Bastards
This was the closest thing they've had to a "punk" song since their early days. Billie Joe alternated between his regular singing voice and a throaty growl for some of the verses.

Wow, That's Loud
Someone asked earlier if this is as awesome as the title suggests and... FUCK YEAH! It was easily one of the highlights of the night though this one was more rock than punk from what I remember. Billie Joe, as a joke, said the song was what he would say about his kid's clubbing clothes.

Ashley and Gabriella
These were probably my two favorite songs of the night. While I'm having a really hard time keeping them straight at the moment, I remember thinking at the time that they were kind of like the back-to-back awesomeness of "Horseshoes and Handgrenades" and "Static Age" on 21st Century Breakdown. Ashley, in particular, was incredible. Great riff, great lyrics, just altogether an amazing song.

Amy
This song was beautiful. Billie Joe came out with a music stand and handwritten lyrics to play this one solo. He actually kept his lyrics and extra copies of the setlist in this big book called, "Electric Guitars: An Illustrated History" that he brought with him when he came up on stage. The vocals reminded me a bit of Worry Rock or something off of Warning.

Little Boy Named Train
This was one of their most flat-out rock and roll songs. Billie Joe said that this was one of his favorites. I'm pretty sure after this song, the band members looked at each other and said something like, "Yeah, that one worked." I got the strong impression that this was just a test run for a lot of these songs and not all of them will probably make it onto the final album.

Last Gang In Town
Like "See The Light," this didn't really feel like a Green Day song but in no way was that a bad thing. It definitely fit the rock aesthetic they were going for all night.

I don't remember too much about the rest of the songs though here are some random thoughts:

-One of the songs, Billie Joe jokingly referred to as "Christie Road Pt. 2" to which Mike replied, "Or Crispin Glover."

-Either "Wild One" or "Stray Heart" was a slower ballad with a wonderful guitar part by Jason that kind of reminded me of the backing guitars in the latter half of "Last Night On Earth".

-The guitar picks had Green Day written on one side and the logo for the California 1 Highway on the back.
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-thelostjunkie from GDC

the second review from OCWeekly

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The crowd was an eclectic mix, cute nerds in Weezer shirts; women looking like they were ready to hit Sutra in light-up, blinking jewelry; old school Orange County punkers. . . and the omnipresent burly-ass security guard.

I chatted briefly with two gals standing behind me, Denise, 46, and Marlene, 41, of San Francisco. They'd heard about the show on GreenDay.com, and purchased tickets that day, hopped on a plane and arrived at Tiki Bar by 6 p.m. It was their sixth time seeing the band--they later pointed out to me Billie Joe's cousin standing in the corner.

Green Day finally took the stage around 10 p.m. (at least, I think it was 10 p.m.--no mobile phones allowed!). So Tiki Bar's performance/stage area is smaller than even Chain Reaction. And speaking entirely as that fourth grader whose first CD ever (remember when they cost $13.99-plus?) was Dookie (first tape: "Gin and Juice" single) the mere sight alone of the band alone was already pretty special. Yep: That was Mike Dirt, Tre Cool, and Billie Joe all right--and looking not much older than they did back when I first saw a press shot of them crammed in a car trunk in 1994.

Bille Joe gave the audience a wide-armed shrug and paused at the microphone: "Hold on, let me get my big-ass Post-Its."

He walked over and produced, yes, a big-ass Post-It note, meant to record the night's set list. (It wasn't too maintained.)

Green Day opened with a new, never-heard-before track, "Nuclear Family." A track with obvious single potential, with the signature pretty punk melodies of just about every Green Day song in existence. (Seriously, it may not be 1994 anymore, the audience may have changed, and you may be 45 now, but have you ever heard a Green Day melody you didn't like?)

And the second song on the setlist? "Nuclear Family." But this time with instruction: Dance. With that, it became clear the night was to test out brand new material on a live audience--not that it seemed like anyone minded anyway.

Billie Joe later declared (most appropriately following a song called "Carpe Diem" ) after an audience member shouted out a request that the night would be "new shit only."

"To reminisce," he said, "Is to die."

And they stayed true: That entire 90-minute set was full of things never heard before, all meticulously documented by the die-hards on forums and message boards somewhere on the internet.

A few Orange County-specific references were dropped: A certain song written in Newport Beach, TK Burger.

"Stray Heart" had the driving, Motowny bassline of the Jam's "Town Called Malice." The set list's closer was a cover, the Clash's "Last Gang in Town."

For the encore, Billie Joe came back alone onstage with his electric guitar and did another new one, "Amy" (overheard in the audience: "I wish my name was Amy!" ). The band rejoined Billie Joe onstage for an Ozzy cover, "Goodbye to Romance," a real arena singalong, complete with lighters in the air. As Billie Joe crooned the last few lines, "I said goodbye to romance/Goodbye to friends, I tell you/Goodbye to all the past/I guess that we`ll meet/We`ll meet in the end," it really felt like the end of the night. But when the final schmaltzy notes faded away. . . the band surged right into the all too familiar intro of "Welcome to Paradise." And if the crowd wasn't already stoked enough--Green Day, Costa Mesa, Tiki Bar, Billie Joe's water on their clothing--the audience was renewed with those nine familiar, tried-and-trues: "Burnout," "Murder City," "J.A.R.," "Only Of You," "Hitchin' a Ride," "St. Jimmy," "Minority."

Critic's Notebook
The Crowd: Lucky.
Overheard: "I'm so sad I don't have my phone to take a photo of this."
Random Notebook Dump: The sudden realization that Billie Joe Armstrong looks like a thin, non-meat mountain-eating version of that Man vs. Food guy.

Setlist:
Nuclear Family
Nuclear Family (Played twice!)
Stay The Night
Too Young To Die
Old Love
Carpe Diem
Crushing Bastards
Little Boy Named Train
Trouble Maker
Sweet 16
Wow, That's Loud
8th Avenue Serenade
Ashley
Gabriella
Wild One
It's Fuck Time (Foxboro Hot Tubs cover)
It's Fuck Time (partial repeat with raunchy audience dancing)
Stray Heart
Last Gang In Town

Encore:
Amy
Goodbye to Romance (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
Welcome To Paradise
Burnout
Murder City
J.A.R.
Only Of You
Hitchin' a Ride
St. Jimmy
Minority

aaaand here's a tumblr post by MattInRealLife that contains audio from one of the new songs
people who went to the show say the song is "Sweet 16"
http://mattinreallife.com/post/8847743464/this-is-why-no-cameras-or-phones-were-allowed-into

Thanks for posting Sean.

Amy is beautiful.

Green Day released the lyrics for "Amy"
link to audio


Is your heart singing out of tune
Are your eyes just singing the blues
Dirty records from another time
Some blood stains on your shoes
No one really knows about your soul
And I barely even know your name
Burning rhythms and posting lies
For a bunch of fools drown in shame
Amy don't you go
I want you around
Singin' woah please don't go
Do you wanna be a friend of mine?
Did you tattoo a lucky charm
To keep you out of harms way?
Warding off all evil signs
But it never really kept you safe
You're too young for the golden age
Cause the record bin's been replaced
27 gone without a trace
And you walked away from your drink
Is your heart singing out of tune
Are you eyes just singing the blues?
Dirty records from another time
Some blood stains on your shoes
May I have this last dance
By chance if we should meet?
Can you write me a lullaby?
So we can sing you to sleep

Thanks for the news Sean.

Seriously where the hell are all of the rabid GSBians who are supposed to be all .

probably too excited to even type xD

"To Reminisce is to Die" - great article from GDA about Green Day's new sound

aaaand new video of "Stray Heart" from the Tiki Bar

hard to believe all of this was over a month ago

anywho, GreenDay.com released some pics from the gig
clicketh

Haha, Billie's new haircut xD
But really, I can't wait for their next album now!