DISCLAIMER:  These are the thoughts of Brian Karadsheh and not of the rest of the site.  Because no one in their right mind would give some Penthouse Punk (copyright pending) band a near perfect score for a concert in a poor venue with material and lyrics that ESL students could write.  Thank You.

RE: This was a concert review and not a band review. It doesn’t matter how much you hate the band.  If a band puts on an amazing show, they put on an amazing show. I suggest you reserve judgment of a concert you didn’t attend and leave that to someone who actually did. Kthx

So last night I made my way to the Palace to see Green Day and the Bravery…Say what you will about Green Day, but I suggest you hold judgment until you see them live.

I had heard about this concert back in May, and I really wanted to go. Only problem is, it’s hard to find someone in my group of friends that is willing to pay $50 to go see a band they hate…To each his own I guess. Luckily, My coworker told me that he might be able to snag us a couple of tickets in the Company Suite. Of course, I was excited. This suite is one of the lower level ones about mid court. Perfect location to watch a show.

Bravery

Ok so the Bravery. I really felt bad for them as I do for any band opening at the Palace. The crowd is never into it, nor do they care to be, and the sound just sucks…especially for a band like The Bravery. This was my first time seeing them live and I could tell that they would put on an absolutely amazing show given the right time, crowd, and venue. I would kill to see them at say, The Majestic. However, their sound just wasn’t big enough to fill the Palace. On top of all that, they got fucked because Green Day is scheduled for a 2hr set which puts them right to the Curfew of the Palace, and seeing as it took a good 30minutes to set up for Green Day, The Bravery only got 30 minutes…That just sucks. 30 minutes isn’t even worth it.

Boring Day

Green Day came out at 8:30, and they cam out firing. I’ll spare you the details, but they played a decent mix of new and old. I’m not a huge fan of their new cd, and I generally despise American Idiot except for a few songs. My big problem with them is they basically tried to glitter up Pop Punk and make it Arena Rock by adding a few affects and lengthening the songs. The problem is that it is still pop punk at its core, which as Sam Witham has pointed out is basically a 3 chord progression. Billie Joe actually pointed this out last night…He pulled up a kid to play Jesus of Suburbia on guitar…While he was searching, he mocked his songs saying that “Come on! There has to be someone here who can play this song. It’s only 3 chords…Ok maybe 6. We’ve progressed since we first came around…Though not much because they are still all Power Chords.” I really don’t have a problem with simplicity. In fact, it’s what drew me to the White Stripes. But back to the show. It was ridiculous. I thought I would hate it because I hate the Palace, but man, they killed it. They played for 2 hours and 30 minutes solid. I have never seen anyone play that long…They first 1/3 was basically new stuff, but then they switched to old stuff like Basket Case, Brain Stew, Hitchin’ a Ride, King for a Day and some more old goodies, before returning to a couple 21st Century Breakdown songs to close the set. Their encore had even more energy, which I didn’t think was possible. They played American Idiot, Minority, and Jesus of Suburbia. Then Billie Joe came back out on Acoustic to play Time of Your Life, but he added a song even though the Palace was trying to get him off stage. He shouted that he doesn’t give a fuck and is going to play as long as he wants. He happened to play my favorite Green Day song, Macy’s Day Parade. The show was a spectacle of pyro and awesome stage backdrops. The energy was unlike any show I’ve seen and because of this I have to say that this was the third best concert I’ve seen next to Muse and The White Stripes….

ConfettiMuch Pyro

9.2/10

*The .2 is very important.

Here is a professional review if you are interested.  They gave a glowing review as well…