Do-It-Yourself is forever cited as the governing mantra of punk, and sure enough, it inspired Green Day leader Billie Joe Armstrong to put his own band together 20-plus years ago. But on the evidence of the sturdy Bay Area trio’s combustible circus at the Verizon Center last night, Armstrong’s progression from Buzzcocks-style petulance to Townshendian hero rock had at least one side effect: He’s discovered the benefits of outsourcing.
In a stunt that felt more American Idol than American Idiot, the 37-year-old guyliner-wearing frontman summoned a half-dozen fans to share his stage. There were the two dudes he had up, separately, to sing competing versions of “Longview,” the 1994 megahit that brought punk’s DIY ethos into the bedroom. Later, he pulled up a sweaty young comer in white tube socks to play guitar on “Jesus of Suburbia.” The kid’s awkward appearance made it feel twice as triumphant when he nailed the song.
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Face 2 Face with My Beloved Readers
In RE: the latest iteration of Elton John and Billy Joel’s Face numeral-two Face Tour, which played Washington last weekend, the commentariat has spoken. Fifty-three postings when the board shut down, and nine or ten of them actually agreed with my review or spoke up in my defense.
The majority, of course, believed I’d called it wrong.
I suppose we’re never going to see Eye 2 Eye on this one. It seems that most folks willing to pay a C-note-plus (before fees) to see these two relive their glory days are seeking something different from a concert than I am. For many of them, that “something different” seems to be something exactly the same as whatever they got the last time they saw one or both of these guys, in 2003, or 1994, or 1972.
Well, fair enough. For what it’s worth, one of the best music critics in the biz, the Chicago Tribune‘s Greg Kot, reviewed last night’s Face 2 Face date at Wrigley Field, and made many of the same observations I did. He even broke out the epithet “mook,” which one particularly overstimulated commenter came after me for using. Continue reading →
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Tagged Billy Joel, critcism, Elton John, hate mail, Nationals Park, pop music, The commentariat, The Washington Post