Spirit of Liberty Awards
Oct. 17th, 2006 05:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
revidI made a brief post about our experience at the People For the American Way Spirit of Liberty Award dinner over at the Green Day Authority message board.
Post #140
Edit: I guess you need to be a member of the forum to read it, so for those of you that aren't...
A brief account:
Ros said some people might be interested in hearing a little bit more about the People For the American Way Spirit of Liberty Awards.
PFtAW is an organization that I am familiar with and support, so when I heard they were giving Green Day an award, it seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up.
I live a few hours from LA, but a good friend of mine who is a long-time (like Kerplunk! era) Green Day fan decided to fly out from Florida to join me. At the dinner, we were seated at a table with 7 other people, who all also turned out to be there to see Green Day. At least two of them post here on GDC. We were towards the front, but on an elevated level off to the side of the banquet hall. I'm guessing there were about 800 or so people present.
During the opening speech by Norman Lear, my friend spotted Mike, Tré and Billie Joe, along with Adrienne Armstrong, Chris Dugan, Rob Cavallo, and Bill Schiender at a table near the front. (Those were the people I saw and recognized.) There was a short break after the opening speech while the salad course was cleared away, and my friend and I got up and went down to their table.
There were certainly a number of folks milling about to talk to them, but this was a Hollywood crowd, not a music crowd, so it was hardly a mob scene. Given the nature of the event and the cost of the tickets ($300), it was also an adult crowd as well. Everyone was very respectful and waited for their turn basically. We were able to meet Tré and chat with him for a bit, then found Mike and met and spoke with him for a few minutes. He was very impressed that my friend came all the way from Florida for this. Mike was very charming and seemed to be enjoying himself. As we were waiting to speak with Billie Joe, some security goons shooed us away because the main program was about to start.
Green Day received their award last, of the four honorees. I videoed the acceptance speech given by Billie Joe using the video function of my digital camera, off of the large digital display screen that was right by our table. You can find the link to download it in the video section of the forum. Billie Joe was fairly articulate (for him, that is!), but Mike and Tré didn't speak at all.
When they came out from back stage and the lights went up, we grabbed our programs and headed back down. This time we found Mike first and got his autograph, then did the same with Tré. Tré had definitely been imbibing his share of the wine at the table, shall we say. While my friend tried to track Billie down, I went over and spoke to Rob Cavallo. What a nice man! He still seems surprised that people recognize him and want to talk to him.
I followed my friend over to where she was talking to Billie Joe, and did the pic and autograph thing with him. I really didn't get much of a chance to talk to him, although my friend did. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood. On the way out, in the lobby, we ran into Adrienne Armstrong. She is as beautiful and lovely as you could possibly imagine, and incredibly sweet. As they were headed out to the limo, we saw Mike again with a pretty woman with long, brown hair. I didn't think it looked like his most recent SO, Brittney, and neither did my friend, but someone on LiveJournal swears it was her and she dyed her hair. *shrug* We watched them climb into a limo and drive away; Adrienne said they were flying back to Oakland that night, which means they must have chartered a plane, as it was approaching midnight.
So, in summary, it was a wonderful experience. Short of climbing into the limo with them, I can't think of how it could have been better. All three of them were polite and gracious, although I would say Mike was definitely the most personable, at least that night. It was certainly worth the price of the ticket, and I know my friend from Florida agrees it was worth the cross-country flight. I'm glad I got the pics and autographs, but even more, I'm glad I got the chance to speak with them, even if it was only for a few minutes. Now if only that next album and tour would hurry up!
Part 2 for LJ is coming soon, I promise!!
Post #140
Edit: I guess you need to be a member of the forum to read it, so for those of you that aren't...
A brief account:
Ros said some people might be interested in hearing a little bit more about the People For the American Way Spirit of Liberty Awards.
PFtAW is an organization that I am familiar with and support, so when I heard they were giving Green Day an award, it seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up.
I live a few hours from LA, but a good friend of mine who is a long-time (like Kerplunk! era) Green Day fan decided to fly out from Florida to join me. At the dinner, we were seated at a table with 7 other people, who all also turned out to be there to see Green Day. At least two of them post here on GDC. We were towards the front, but on an elevated level off to the side of the banquet hall. I'm guessing there were about 800 or so people present.
During the opening speech by Norman Lear, my friend spotted Mike, Tré and Billie Joe, along with Adrienne Armstrong, Chris Dugan, Rob Cavallo, and Bill Schiender at a table near the front. (Those were the people I saw and recognized.) There was a short break after the opening speech while the salad course was cleared away, and my friend and I got up and went down to their table.
There were certainly a number of folks milling about to talk to them, but this was a Hollywood crowd, not a music crowd, so it was hardly a mob scene. Given the nature of the event and the cost of the tickets ($300), it was also an adult crowd as well. Everyone was very respectful and waited for their turn basically. We were able to meet Tré and chat with him for a bit, then found Mike and met and spoke with him for a few minutes. He was very impressed that my friend came all the way from Florida for this. Mike was very charming and seemed to be enjoying himself. As we were waiting to speak with Billie Joe, some security goons shooed us away because the main program was about to start.
Green Day received their award last, of the four honorees. I videoed the acceptance speech given by Billie Joe using the video function of my digital camera, off of the large digital display screen that was right by our table. You can find the link to download it in the video section of the forum. Billie Joe was fairly articulate (for him, that is!), but Mike and Tré didn't speak at all.
When they came out from back stage and the lights went up, we grabbed our programs and headed back down. This time we found Mike first and got his autograph, then did the same with Tré. Tré had definitely been imbibing his share of the wine at the table, shall we say. While my friend tried to track Billie down, I went over and spoke to Rob Cavallo. What a nice man! He still seems surprised that people recognize him and want to talk to him.
I followed my friend over to where she was talking to Billie Joe, and did the pic and autograph thing with him. I really didn't get much of a chance to talk to him, although my friend did. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood. On the way out, in the lobby, we ran into Adrienne Armstrong. She is as beautiful and lovely as you could possibly imagine, and incredibly sweet. As they were headed out to the limo, we saw Mike again with a pretty woman with long, brown hair. I didn't think it looked like his most recent SO, Brittney, and neither did my friend, but someone on LiveJournal swears it was her and she dyed her hair. *shrug* We watched them climb into a limo and drive away; Adrienne said they were flying back to Oakland that night, which means they must have chartered a plane, as it was approaching midnight.
So, in summary, it was a wonderful experience. Short of climbing into the limo with them, I can't think of how it could have been better. All three of them were polite and gracious, although I would say Mike was definitely the most personable, at least that night. It was certainly worth the price of the ticket, and I know my friend from Florida agrees it was worth the cross-country flight. I'm glad I got the pics and autographs, but even more, I'm glad I got the chance to speak with them, even if it was only for a few minutes. Now if only that next album and tour would hurry up!
Part 2 for LJ is coming soon, I promise!!
