MUANG THONG THANI – Bangkok’s aging, predominantly male population of foreign Gen-X expatriates were treated to a brief respite from their downwardly spiraling, nihilistically detached lives through a live performance Tuesday night by US-based neo-punk band Green Day.
The concert, which lasted over two hours, featured loud renditions of the band’s biggest hits from their multi-platinum 1994 album Dookie, bringing back memories of past glories and long-lost feelings of optimism and energy associated with the youth of the audience members, who on average stopped being young around 1999.
“This is the best concert since the (Red Hot) Chili Peppers came in 2004,” said Josh Hrbek, a twice-divorced 41-year old tech support manager from Toronto. “Makes me think of the summer after graduation, with my first girlfriend…” Hrbek than trailed off and stared into the distance, and began self-consciously picking at a sore on his lip. “Anyway I hope they play ‘JAR’. That song fucking rocks!”
Standing and dancing throughout most of the band’s set, thousands of near-middle aged men from the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and western Europe sang along enthusiastically to mid-1990s hits like “Basket Case”, “Longview”, and “When I Come Around”, shaking their fists and jumping as high as their sagging, alcohol-ravaged bodies would allow.
“These guys totally were the soundtrack of my senior year at Ohio State,” said Travis McNair, a 37-year old legal consultant and father of two. “I feel like I could dance all night!” McNair then grabbed a chair for balance before taking a seat to catch his breath. “I need a break now.”
Many of the high-spirited but out-of-shape attendees chose to take long smoking breaks while the band played new songs from its 2009 album 21st Century Breakdown, which none of the fans interviewed had actually heard yet.
“Don’t know the new stuff, but my girlfriend likes it,” said Calvin Fitz, a 40-year old dive instructor in Pattaya, referring to his 24-year old companion, Nat, who later told NTN that Fitz was not her boyfriend.
“I didn’t even know Green Day was still around, tell you the truth. But it’s great. All my mates are here.” Fitz then proceeded to attempt to chat up a group of younger, trendily-dressed Thai university girls nearby, who edged away from him nervously.
Green Day, formed in 1987 by vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool, were pioneers of the California-based US punk revival of the mid-1990s, but suffered steady declines in sales as the band attempted to move forward to more mature and progressive styles of music with albums Nimrod and Warning. Despite a revival of the band’s fortunes with the politically-themed 2004 Grammy-winning album American Idiot, Green Day continues to get its biggest response when performing the melodic youth-pop from Dookie.
“We’ve moved on, really, but I guess a lot of our fans still like the old stuff,” said Armstrong. “especially in these Asian venues. It’s like 70% dudes in here, and I swear I recognize some of them from the Dookie tour in ’95. Guess they’ve been here a while.”
After a second encore and a prolonged standing ovation, the band exited the stage for good around 1 a.m. and the house lights brought harsh illumination to the exhausted, aching crowd of over-exerted mid-lifers now drenched in flop sweat. “That was awesome,” said McNair, while checking his mobile phone for missed calls from his wife. “Just…awesome. Hold on, I have to make a call.”
“Has anyone seen my girlfriend?” asked Fitz. When informed that she had left the concert half an hour earlier with some colleagues she had run into, he cursed and said he was going to Nana Plaza. “Guess I should stop at home and change first,” he added, looking at his drenched t-shirt. “Smelling like this I couldn’t even buy love.”
Hrbek seemed the most enthusiastic of them all, continuing to hop up and down in front of his seat after the show was over. “I’m so pumped. I could go all night. Who’s up for something?” But after conferring with his friends about the after-hours pub options, Hrbek opted instead to go home and listen to his Smiths CDs alone in the dark.
