I had a great day at Green Day

I don’t think I’m ever going to see the beginning of a Green Day concert.

Due to thunderstorms and tornado warnings, I wasn’t able to get to the Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek until after the show started on Friday.

So instead of being able to see Green Day come on stage — a moment I’ve been waiting for since the last time I was late to a Green Day show — I found myself running through mud, listening to them over a speaker.

But that didn’t ruin the experience. I was still able to see one of my favorite bands live. I just missed their first two-and-a-half songs.

I’ve loved Green Day since middle school. “21 Guns” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” were basically the only songs I listened to throughout seventh grade.

My senior year of high school I wrote, recorded and edited a mini-podcast on how “American Idiot” is one of the best albums of the 21st century for a music literature class.

When I started writing at The Daily Tar Heel, one of my first articles was a review of Green Day’s 2016 album “Revolution Radio.” I remember that while I was writing, I kept thinking about how I wished Green Day would come to Raleigh.

My dream came true.

This is the second time I’ve seen Green Day — in March I drove to Georgia, but I was sick and ended up being late.

I was supposed to redeem myself this Friday, but Mother Nature and fate were working against me – as usual.

Once I finally made it to my seat, I could see the impact Green Day had made over the 30 years they’ve been making music.

I was surrounded by fans of all ages, and they were all real fans — not just adults bringing their kids to the show. There was a middle-aged man in my row who knew every word to every song.

The band itself has hardly aged, especially front man Billie Joe Armstrong, who still wears his trademark black eyeliner.

The other end of the age spectrum was shown during “When I Come Around,” when it’s tradition for the band to bring a fan onstage to play the guitar.

Liam, the 11-year-old pulled on stage, was able to hold his own along with his brother, Zane, who played the drums (There was also a kid on the bass, but he wasn’t related to Liam and Zane, and therefore, doesn’t matter).

The band also made their political views extremely clear, which they’ve also done in the past.

Not only is Armstrong pro-punching Nazis, but he made it very clear that politics was going to take a back seat.

“No politics, no bullshit … not tonight,” Armstrong said. “All the negative garbage is at the gate tonight. Tonight is about us.”

Armstrong also dedicated the song “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” to the people of Houston who were affected by Hurricane Harvey.

When it comes to quality of performance, Green Day is amazing live. Armstrong’s vocals are strong, bassist Mike Dirnt was able to keep playing while jumping around the stage and drummer Tré Cool had impeccable rhythm.

Overall, my inner seventh grader was incredibly happy.

Now I just have to wait for them to come back so I can actually see them walk on the stage.

@karynhbrown

arts@dailytarheel.com