Green Day in Pittsburgh, July 22, 2009

Photographer: Not Joe Steigerwald

"Who wants to be saved?!" Billie Joe Armstrong screams at the 13,000 men, women and children packed into Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena, who are hanging onto every word of this rock'n'roll preacher's punk revival sermon. If there are any more entertaining front men in music, I'd like to see one. Billie Joe runs around the stage screaming, antagonizing, preaching his rock music to the faithful. He'd probably be more comfortable in a circus or southern gospel church, but instead his destiny lead him to an arena, with a guitar instead of a bible, and a whole lot of f-bombs instead of WWJD's.

It's hard to believe that Green Day, the same band who burst onto the nationwide music scene with an album called Dookie, would still be a relevant force in the music industry in 2009. In fact, other than Pearl Jam, and Foo Fighters, there are few early nineties bands that still make any semblance of rock music and also continue to be relevant (sorry Our Lady Peace and Offspring). Radiohead went off the deep end with their electronic garbage, Nirvana died, Soundgarden... dead. Rage Against the Machine... gone. Alice in Chains (sort of), Stone Temple Pilots... all dead... R.I.P, don't let the door of the rock music pantheon hit you on your way out of the collective mind of America.

Green Day, against all odds, and after years of skirting with breaking up/complete irrelevance, burst back onto the rock scene with American Idiot, and the impressionable youth of America lapped it up, catapulting it to the top of the charts and possibly saving rock music for at least a few more years. Perhaps more impressive they got their 9 minute opus, "Jesus of Suburbia", on alternative/rock radio, and people actually loved it. By creating a rock opera, they disenfranchised many of their old fans who wanted to hear them remake "Brain Stew" ad naseum. Fortunately, Green Day decided to get ambition and channel their inner Who, while also keeping their Clash and Rancid influences. Their new album 21st Century Breakdown, continues their Who-ish rock opera ways, while also adding what Rolling Stone magazine called "ballads that would be at home on an Air Supply album." Ignore them. The ballads "21 Guns", "Last Night on Earth" and "Restless Heart Syndrome" sound like they could be on a Who album (if they had better lyrics,) but they aren't that much different then say "Time of Your Life", except for of course Billy Joe's new penchant for falsetto. 21st Century Breakdown, at least in recorded form is just as strong as Idiot. While both are good, hearing them performed live, with the massive amount of energy emanating from Billie Joe and friends, is a real revelation.

Armstrong wisely leaves most of the guitar work to back up musicians so he can concentrate on rocking the eff out as long and hard as possible. It's a smart move. Not content just to rock out, Billie Joe also is a master of crowd relations, bringing adoring fans on stage to sing parts of "Jesus of Suburbia," "Basket Case" and "Longview." While the first half of the performance showcases songs from Idiot or Breakdown, all of which sound even better live, the middle of the set is all old school. "Brain Stew/Jaded," "Longview," "Basket Case," a song from their indie days, the crowd laps it up and sings along with every song. Unlike say Pearl Jam, who hates their past popularity and refuses to play "Jeremy," even though every fan in America would go crazy if they did. Green Day is completely content to end the set (and their third encore) with an acoustic, Billie Joe solo rendition of their most annoying hit, "Good Riddance/Time of Your Life." Amazingly it sounds new and fresh, just like all their other songs. Undoubtedly their new album has once again raised the ire of former fans who scream "sell-out!" But this being at least the fourth time they've sold out, (after they signed to a major label, after "Time of Your Life," after American Idiot, after Billie Joe changed his hairstyle... etc. etc.) they wear such accomplishments on their sleeves. Color me impressed.

A Brief History of the RollingScone, part deux.

A Brief History of the Scone, part 1.


The not as early, but still pretty early in the big picture days:

From 1723-1776 the Scone of London, as it was renamed following the murder of Lord Abernathy II, was no longer issued in any print format and simply lay fallow as merely an intellectual property. When Lord Abernathy was shanked by James Cromwell in the Dining Hall of London's Earls Court Debtors Prison, his last words were "Give the Scone to my Son Greg...," Which of course was amended to "Give the Scone to my sun, who warms all of England, the great and gregarious King George II." The Scone, whose value was appraised at 1/100,000th of a pence was then in 1745 given to the King's favorite whore, Lady Marmalade, as a tip after a particularly fulfilling night of sex and beatings. Lady Marmalade, then moved to France, taking the handkerchief the Scone's title was scribbled on to Paris.

In 1776, the Lady Marmalade of the Lebelle Whore House of Paris was visited by a particularly drunk Benjamin Franklin, who was in France at the time lobbying for French help against the British in the American Revolution. Franklin, had been a regular at the Lebelle Whore House since his first visit in 1767, paid for his usual 3 prostitutes, a bottle of courvoisier and 4 french maid outfits. However, upon payment, Lady Marmalade discovered she was out of change, and offered Franklin the title for the Scone Le Rolling in lieu of the 12 cents she owed. Franklin, who was already drunk off his ass, and a noted newspaper enthusiast agreed.

Franklin, awoke naked, save for a lone hankie, in the middle of a back alley in the French Whore district. Remembering nothing of the night before, he used the handkerchief to cover himself and set off back to America, bearing both French support for the American Independence movement, and much more historically important, the title for Scone Le Rolling.

Upon arriving in America, Franklin immediately put on hold his duties to the fledgling American Nation and instead began work on what he would later call his greatest accomplishment, resurrecting the RollingScone. Settling in Philadephia, Franklin assembled a crack team of local hot shot writers including music editor Albert Scott, reviewer Clem Washington, whorehouse correspondent Brian Braun and Jozef Staggerwood, who wrote the infamous "stupid things the British think are good but really are stupid" section. By Franklin's death in 1790 the Scone was already the 3rd most popular local music interest bi-weekly pamphlet, trailing only the Kazoo Times and Popular Slave Songs. From 1790-1800, the Scone grew into the most popular music gazette in Pennsylvania. In a completely unrelated matter, mysterious fires destroyed the offices of Kazoo Times, Popular Slave Songs, Lynchin' Music Monthly, Star Spangler, The Whipping Post, Free World Daily, EuroSymphonyXpress, Daily Mail, Pennsylvania Gazette, Times of London and Rolling Muffin.

In 1801, the entire staff of the Rolling Scone was convicted of 10 counts of arson and 34 counts of murder and hung in the most popular public execution in Pennsylvania history. Thus plunging the greatest musically based magazine in the history of the Western Hemisphere into a cliffhanger worthy of ...



Next Time on the Scone. Part III: Revenge of the Scone!

RIAA to Crack Down on Performance Enhancers

In an effort to save the floundering music industry, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has decided to crackdown on any performance enhancing technologies and to fine and suspend any musicians caught using enhancers like Pro Tools, Auto Tune and Talk Box. The RIAA issued its warning on Tuesday after a meeting between RIAA head Mitch Bainwol and members of the House of Representatives. Although any musicians previously found using these technologies will not be punished, any new songs or albums that feature any of these technologies will result in a 100,000 dollar fine for a first offense and up to two years in jail for a second. A third strike will result in said artist being blacklisted from ever recording in the United States. The RIAA will conduct random testings of all songs being recorded starting July 8th.

Many believe the RIAA has begun to crackdown because of slumping music sales across the industry. Fans have begun to grow tired of the constant use of performance enhancers across all genres. It is even believed that almost 50% of all musicians are now using Auto Tune in their recordings. In a survey test taken in 2003, 76% of all songs tested positive for Pro Tools.

Even stars like Kanye West have fallen under the microscope. West became the highest profile musician to test positive after he was discovered using Auto Tune on his 2008 album 808's and Heartbreak. Although he tested positive, under the old agreement he was not subject to any fines or suspension. Other stars suspected of using include Akon, Peter Frampton and Moby. The RIAA hopes that these regulations will once again even the music field and entice previously jaded music fans back to the stores.