As the years have passed and the wrinkles have started to set in, it can be difficult to know what to think about Green Day. If you're a fan, and have always been intertwined with the story of SoCal's most infamous three-piece band, then the group's new record Revolution Radio could be a welcomely triumphant listen. Hell, it may even be one of the best releases from latter-career Green Day. Even if you're not infatuated with the group but can confess to owning a copy of International Superhits! and have a deep adoration for the green-tinged hue of the "Basket Case" video, the record is enjoyable. But in a music world where diversity thrives and simple, straight punk rock feels passé, pastiche, and pointless, do Green Day serve a purpose that extends beyond filling a gap for their old fan base?Perhaps it doesn't matter. Perhaps the old songs are good enough. The band took to Rough Trade NYC over the weekend to perform a career-spanning set and, let us tell you, it was a case of stinking hot shit. As well as playing the songs from the new record, because that shit is important to both the band and the record label and the hardcore fans, Billie Joe Armstrong and Co tore through a 23-song setlist that took in requests from the crowd to play tracks such as "Burnout", "Scattered", "Stuart and the Ave.", "She" and a bunch of other releases that will remind whoever hears them of grazing their supple elbows in the skatepark at sixteen years old or entering an identity crisis and deepening substance abuse problem in the college years of their early twenties. Isn't life and music great? Listen and watch and think about stuff below.
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