Lolla: Green Day rocks it

I have to say that Green Day is one of the most entertaining bands that I've ever seen. Billie Joe Armstrong and the boys really know to work a crowd and the stage.

I'm not the hugest Green Day fan (not like my friend John, whom I watched the concert with). I mean, I like them a lot. They were popular during my formative years and I also put their latest album on my "best of 2009" list. But I don't own a T-shirt or anything.

Still, it was a helluva fun show. And since I've been listening to their music for years, I know pretty much every word to every song. It was a blast and I'm glad I got to see them again.

With bleached hair and wearing a black shirt, white tie and red pinstriped pants, Armstrong was flying all over the place leading the crowd in chants of "Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh" and "hey, hey hey..."

Not to mention they ran through about every good song they've ever made. The show was heavy on the band's latest two albums, "American Idiot" and (in my opinion, the far superior) "21st Century Breakdown."

But they also ran through all the old hits, even dropping into "Going to Pasalacqua" and "2,000 Light Years Away." They did a healthy selection off of "Dookie" and the hits since ("Minority," "Warning," etc.).

It was much the same show they did about a year ago in Omaha. The stage setup was the same and they even brought people onstage to sing "Longview" and help with other parts of other songs.

The show ended with Armstrong singing "Wake Me Up When September Ends" on acoustic guitar and the obligatory "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)."

In all, the show went two and a half hours, a full 15 minutes past the city-mandated shutdown time of 10 p.m. They've been threatening to pull the plug on artists after 10, but I guess that's bull.

It was a huge crowd, too. I was pretty close to the stage, but when I looked back, I couldn't see where the sea of people ended. Crazyness.

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I heard Phoenix was pretty good. That's about all I could get out of anyone.

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So, my camera is kinda broken. The battery won't recharge and I can't get the pictures off of it and onto my laptop. So, I guess I'll get you those pictures on Monday when I'm back in civilization. Apologies.