aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser
‘GIGS FROM YESTERYEAR, WHEN I WAS YOUNG + PRETTY AS A PICTURE’
# 14 Green Day + The Riverdales, Sporthalle Köln (1995)
Hello friends,
right, so Green Day it is. Well, to be honest, I don’t have the slightest clue why I went to Cologne to see them as I certainly have never been a fan of their output. So let’s try to solve this puzzle together, shall we?
I first heard of them via Peel of course, he played their “Best Thing In Town” in late 1990, a track from their third 7”, the debut one being released in the previous year, although the band already formed in 1987. The tune did not knock me off my chair, it must be said. And I’m afraid the same is true when it comes to what they do today, a mere 36 years later – although I should of course listen more closely to their recent records in order to have a firm opinion. But my money goes elsewhere, of course, though what I hear here and there isn’t all too convincing, to put it mildly.
Regardless of what I, narrow-minded as I am, may think: Green Day are of course zillionaires by now, 80 million records sold, opening Super Bowls, Hall/Walk of Fame plus playing huge stadiums every other week. Hard to believe nowadays that they earned their spurs in California’s Berkeley underground scene, like so many other bands had to back then.
In 1995 though they were riding high for the first time, very high indeed: their major label debut ‘Dookie’ from the year before had already sold ten million copies and it’s probably fair to say that they were the band of the hour worldwide. Obviously they weren’t the only ones turning punk into pop-punk at the time, but certainly the most successful ones. And they did that again, after having turned pop-punk into pop and failed with that big time. By then though I had long lost the bit of interest I had in them, disregarding ‘American Idiot’ in 2004 and everything that came after that.
So, why did I go to see them there – bearing in mind that the entry wasn’t that cheap after all (very cheap in comparison to today, but less said about that the better)? One solution could be that I tried to impress my (then) girlfriend, showing off a bit in proving what a dangerous punk rocker I still was at the age of 27. Or the ticket was a gift to me, maybe. Probably the truth lies somewhere in-between, who knows?
Another possibility (and this definitely would be the most cool one!) is that I went there, not in order to see bloody Green Day, but to witness their support band, the very excellent Riverdales! Now, The Riverdales were simply great, they rose from the ashes of the equally adorable Screeching Weasel, one of Chicago’s finest in the late 80s. Their sound was rather Ramones-influenced, and as you all know: there can be nothing wrong about that, to be sure!
I’m tempted to tell you that I left the Sporthalle immediately after having seen The Riverdales play, but my mother taught me not to lie to friends, so there you are. Still, although I cannot vouch for this, I might even have done so: we’ll never know, do we?
Anyway, here’s some early tunes – feel free to listen to the rest of Green Day’s (later) output on the radio any time you want to:
Green Day – 1000 Hours (the first single, ’89)
Green Day – Paper Lanterns (second single, ’90)
Green Day – Best Thing In Town ((from the) third single, ’90)
The Riverdales – Riverdale Stomp (’97)
The Riverdales – I Don’t Wanna Go To The Party (’97)
The Riverdales – She’s Gonna Break Your Heart (’95)
Screeching Weasel – Mad At The Paper Boy (’88)
Screeching Weasel – Cool Kids (’96)
Screeching Weasel – Judy Is A Punk (’93)
Enjoy and all the best,
Dirk