Green Day teases L.A. show, releases Clash-influenced snippet
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Once a punk band goes Broadway, there are a couple of easy options. One, just embrace it and go bigger, with choirs on every song, an album full of mini-suites and strings, strings everywhere. The other option is dial it back, strip it down and return to punk rock basics. Long before Green Day took ‘American Idiot’ to Broadway, London’s the Clash had a Broadway stint itself, ultimately performing 17 gigs at Bond’s International Casino in the spring of 1981.
Green Day today released what appears to be a sly little nod to punk rock history, posting about 30 seconds of a new song, of which the video is below, that brings in bits of ‘This Is Radio Clash’ as well as the Clash’s ‘Magnificent Seven.’ The former is heard in the staccato rhythm that opens the song, and the latter is heard in the way the Green Day song re-appropriates the Clash’s bass-driven ‘Magnificent Seven’ melody.
Or maybe it’s all just a coincidence. After all, drawing any conclusions based on 30 seconds of a song is a little ridiculous anyway, but that’s what we bloggers do.
Yet Green Day fans in L.A. may be lucky enough to get a full reveal of the band’s upcoming three albums -- ‘¡Uno!,’ ‘¡Dos!’ and ‘¡Tre!’ -- at what will be a not-entirely-secret local gig. Just as the band unfurled ‘21st Century Breakdown’ with a small Hollywood gig in 2009, Green Day vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong unveiled on Twitter that the band would be hosting a ‘rock ‘n’ roll sex party show’ soon in our fair city. Few other hints were dropped, other than Armstrong’s declaration that you could bring your own booze.
And for anyone who blanched at the three-figure prices to see ‘American Idiot’ on Broadway, you’ll be pleased to know that Armstrong said this show will be free. The first of Green Day’s three new albums, ¡Uno!,’ isn’t due until Sept. 25. Watch the teaser below, which also appears to offer a preview of new song titles:
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-- Todd Martens
