9 December 2004
Dec. 9th, 2006 12:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
revidHappy Fan-iversary to ME!!!
Today most of you are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the birth of one Frank Edwin Wright III. But for me, it's the 2nd anniversary, or fan-iversary, if you will, of the day I started my journey into my obsession with a funny looking little punk rock band.
A large portion of my flist has heard the story before, so you lovlies may feel free to skip it, but it's my journal and I'll gush if I want to!
The middle of 2004 marked the end of a long period (like over 10 years long) where I wasn't listening much to music. At about that time however, I started tuning in to the local alternative rock station and started becoming a bit more familiar with what was out there. When the song "American Idiot" hit the airwaves, I decided I liked it quite a bit...it's a nice rocking tune. Green Day? They were vaguely familiar. I'd heard "Welcome to Paradise," "When I Come Around," "Basketcase," all those songs. After all, pretty much anyone who had a pulse in 1994 when Dookie was released has heard them. Oh yeah, and I knew that pretty "Time of Your Life song," too, though I didn't know who it was by.
What interested me was how the DJs sounded so impressed by the song and what they were hearing about this new album coming out. It seemed that everytime they played "AI," the DJs would say stuff like "We're real excited about this new Green Day CD, it's supposed to be really amazing." When American Idiot was finally released in September, I started hearing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Holiday," and I remember thinking "I'm really liking this stuff! Who are these guys again?"
In early December I noticed that Green Day were going to be on the Tonite Show that week. I usually watch it anyway, but I decided to set my TiVo just in case for Thursday, December 9th, 2004. As I watched the band start playing after Jay's introduction, I distinctly remember staring at the little dark-haired moppet with the bad teeth and the pretty eyes with eyeliner (and a wedding ring) and thinking "Who the hell is this guy?" I was mesmerized enough by him that I really didn't even notice the bass player, the drummer, and that other guy on guitar. At the end of the song, Jay came out like he usually does, and shook hands with them, including the drummer, who he slapped on the back and said "Happy Birthday Tré! It's Tré's birthday today!" After the show ended, I watched it again. Then, for the first time of many, I fired up my dial-up connection and typed "Green Day" into the Google search bar. That marked the first time I had ever seen or heard the name Billie Joe Armstrong.
Two weeks later I got my hands on a copy of American Idiot, borrowed from, of all people, my 14 year old nephew. And that was that. I listened to that CD everyday, often several times a day, for seriously at least 8 months. (Even now, over two years later, I listen to it probably three times per week.) But for the first year of my fandom, sadly, I was alone! I recorded every TV appearance, and lurked on the websites, official and unofficial. And of course, I starting digging into the back catalog. I can't tell you all the times I would hear a vaguely familiar song and think "Oh! That was Green Day too!" I bought Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly, and any other print material that had a shred of info about them. And when I saw they were coming to California, I decided I was going to see them, even if I had to go alone. I picked the Fresno show because it was smaller and a bit closer than LA, and I found a co-worker/acquaintance who said she would go with me. Like a lot of fans, it was after I saw them live on October 1, 2005 that my fandom exploded into full blown obsession. Or I thought it was full-blown. It was a week or so later that I discovered![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
comingclean, and it was two months later when I signed up for my very own LiveJournal, and THAT is when I learned what obsession really was. But that's a story to be saved for a post this January. :-)
In honor of the occasion, I present to you a video of that world-changing performance on the Tonight Show:
Green Day -- Boulevard of Broken Dreams 9 December 2004
(This is a DVD quality 138 MB .vob file. You can use Nero or Toast to create a DVD from it, or you can play it on your computer using VLC, which is a free program that I highly recommend that can play anything, .)
Enjoy!
And Happy Birthday Tré!
Today most of you are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the birth of one Frank Edwin Wright III. But for me, it's the 2nd anniversary, or fan-iversary, if you will, of the day I started my journey into my obsession with a funny looking little punk rock band.
A large portion of my flist has heard the story before, so you lovlies may feel free to skip it, but it's my journal and I'll gush if I want to!
The middle of 2004 marked the end of a long period (like over 10 years long) where I wasn't listening much to music. At about that time however, I started tuning in to the local alternative rock station and started becoming a bit more familiar with what was out there. When the song "American Idiot" hit the airwaves, I decided I liked it quite a bit...it's a nice rocking tune. Green Day? They were vaguely familiar. I'd heard "Welcome to Paradise," "When I Come Around," "Basketcase," all those songs. After all, pretty much anyone who had a pulse in 1994 when Dookie was released has heard them. Oh yeah, and I knew that pretty "Time of Your Life song," too, though I didn't know who it was by.
What interested me was how the DJs sounded so impressed by the song and what they were hearing about this new album coming out. It seemed that everytime they played "AI," the DJs would say stuff like "We're real excited about this new Green Day CD, it's supposed to be really amazing." When American Idiot was finally released in September, I started hearing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Holiday," and I remember thinking "I'm really liking this stuff! Who are these guys again?"
In early December I noticed that Green Day were going to be on the Tonite Show that week. I usually watch it anyway, but I decided to set my TiVo just in case for Thursday, December 9th, 2004. As I watched the band start playing after Jay's introduction, I distinctly remember staring at the little dark-haired moppet with the bad teeth and the pretty eyes with eyeliner (and a wedding ring) and thinking "Who the hell is this guy?" I was mesmerized enough by him that I really didn't even notice the bass player, the drummer, and that other guy on guitar. At the end of the song, Jay came out like he usually does, and shook hands with them, including the drummer, who he slapped on the back and said "Happy Birthday Tré! It's Tré's birthday today!" After the show ended, I watched it again. Then, for the first time of many, I fired up my dial-up connection and typed "Green Day" into the Google search bar. That marked the first time I had ever seen or heard the name Billie Joe Armstrong.
Two weeks later I got my hands on a copy of American Idiot, borrowed from, of all people, my 14 year old nephew. And that was that. I listened to that CD everyday, often several times a day, for seriously at least 8 months. (Even now, over two years later, I listen to it probably three times per week.) But for the first year of my fandom, sadly, I was alone! I recorded every TV appearance, and lurked on the websites, official and unofficial. And of course, I starting digging into the back catalog. I can't tell you all the times I would hear a vaguely familiar song and think "Oh! That was Green Day too!" I bought Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly, and any other print material that had a shred of info about them. And when I saw they were coming to California, I decided I was going to see them, even if I had to go alone. I picked the Fresno show because it was smaller and a bit closer than LA, and I found a co-worker/acquaintance who said she would go with me. Like a lot of fans, it was after I saw them live on October 1, 2005 that my fandom exploded into full blown obsession. Or I thought it was full-blown. It was a week or so later that I discovered
comingclean, and it was two months later when I signed up for my very own LiveJournal, and THAT is when I learned what obsession really was. But that's a story to be saved for a post this January. :-)In honor of the occasion, I present to you a video of that world-changing performance on the Tonight Show:
Green Day -- Boulevard of Broken Dreams 9 December 2004
(This is a DVD quality 138 MB .vob file. You can use Nero or Toast to create a DVD from it, or you can play it on your computer using VLC, which is a free program that I highly recommend that can play anything, .)
Enjoy!
And Happy Birthday Tré!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 08:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 08:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 08:11 am (UTC)I'd forgotten that the BoBD performance was on Tre's bday, though. Isn't that the one where Billie fucks up the words, too? I'm not downloading as I already have it but I'm going to go watch right now in your honor.
And Happy Tre's Birthday to you, too. =)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 08:29 am (UTC)We must all celebrate the High Holy Day of Tré-cember in an appropriate and fitting fashion!
*toasts*
no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 08:56 am (UTC)From one lovely rockin' soul to another...
Glad you're on this freak ship. :p
no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 09:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 09:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 10:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 09:36 pm (UTC)Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 01:34 pm (UTC)Happy birthday to Tre!
no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 03:01 pm (UTC)Ahahaha I KNOW! It was like, OMG these guys were everywhere, why wasn't I paying attention?! Hee.
Happy Faniversary Mary! ♥
no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 09:47 pm (UTC)...why wasn't I paying attention?!
The missed opportunities continue to haunt me!
no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 04:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-09 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-10 02:54 am (UTC)*SMOOOOOOOCH*
I loved your story. I always love hearing about how people became fans. I mean, look at those little punks. *snuggles them* Who knew they'd be so damn important to us? AND. That we fucking MET them. *squeeeeee* :D
Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRÉ!
no subject
Date: 2006-12-10 02:55 am (UTC)XOXOXOXO
no subject
Date: 2006-12-10 10:25 am (UTC)Without you, I never would have met Green Day, and without Green Day, I never would have met you.
Nice symmetry. :-)
no subject
Date: 2006-12-11 12:58 am (UTC)♥