(Credits: Far Out / Raph Pour-Hashemi)
Green Day really know how to put on a show. The band of eyeliner aficionados are no stranger to onstage antics. From mud-slinging at Woodstock 1994 to appearing on Broadway, the group has proven that it knows how to captivate an audience. As is the norm with antics, though, the authorities are easily ticked off when rules are violated. Hence, one of the most notable of Green Day’s moments resulted in Billie Joe Armstrong being ushered into a police car after a performance in Milwaukee.
In an interview with NPR, the lead singer stated, “I used to do it [get naked at concerts] a lot right after Dookie came out. I was arrested for it in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I did it at Madison Square Garden, ’cause I didn’t know if I was ever going to play Madison Square Garden again, so I said, ‘Well, there’s one way to remember this occasion—to be the guy who was naked on stage at Madison Square Garden’. And then it came down to a point where everywhere we played, the cops started showing up and started saying, ‘If this guy gets naked on stage, he’s going to be arrested immediately’. And sure enough, it happened eventually in Milwaukee.”
On November 21st, 1995, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Billie Joe Armstrong showed the audience a different side of himself. ‘Dropping trou’, which he stated that he only does at “so-so shows”, the musician exposed the 6,000 fans in attendance at the Mecca Milwaukee auditorium to his full moon, as he turned his naked rear to the audience.
The band played an hour-long set and left a notable impression on fans and on the Milwaukee police force. According to records, following the arrest, Lt Thomas Christopher of the Milwaukee PD stated, “Mr Armstrong dropped his pants to his knees and exposed his buttocks to the crowd,” which was an issue mostly because the crowd had “people as young as ten. That was our main reason for taking the action”.
When asked if he had anything to say regarding his proclivity to get naked on stage, whether it was a statement of sorts, Armstrong revealed that it was more of a non-statement statement, that it was connected to his attitude of being “old enough to know better but too young to care”. And it is this punk attitude brings excitement to Green Day’s shows.
There is an encouragement of audience participation, and every show is treated as its own spectacle. The band has let audience members rush the stage and sing songs with them, brought people up to play the guitar on their tracks, and they’ve stage dived. They’ve even incited fans from the stands to rush the pit after stating simply that it is a Billy Joe concert and that he can do whatever he wants.
And Green Day does. Perhaps it is that attitude that has led the band to still be headliners of renowned festivals like Coachella, and selling out shows three decades after that Milwaukee concert.
Related Topics
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independant voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.
