Girls Rock (Stephanie/Green Day edition)
At one point during Monday night's Green Day show at Madison Square Garden, Billie Joe Armstrong announced that he needed someone on stage who could play the guitar. And not just for a "three-chord song," he added, "for one with four, five, maybe six chords" -- "Jesus of Suburbia." After rejecting a few wannabes he stopped and asked a girl in the mosh pit if she knew how to play, then looked unconvinced when she said she did....The girl -- her name later was revealed to be Stephanie -- was wearing jeans shorts, a torn Misfits t-shirt, and a head scarf over her pigtails. Mr. Armstrong handed her the guitar, conferred with her briefly, then let her sit on an amp to get started. And then she...ripped! A few bars in she was wandering the stage like a pro and when Mr. Armstrong introduced her at the end, the crowd was shouting "Ste-pha-nie! Ste-pha-nie!" in appreciation.
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Love it! Totally cheered up my Thursday. Ta!
Fucking awesome.
Smiling "out loud" the whole time.
That girl just rocked my world.
Holy Shit.
This just makes me so much more excited to see them on the 11th in St. Louis. This is something they like doing, to... actively trying to get girls up to perform with them.
I'm also super excited that they are doing the King For a Day/Shout thing they did last time I saw them.
One more reason I'm not ashamed to love them.
Aggggh. AMAZING! that made my morning. she totally rocked the whole song :)))))))))
I saw Green Day when I was in high school, probably in 2005 after American Idiot came out, and they did the same thing then. It makes me wonder if they plant people in the crowd or not...
They definitely don't. I've seen Green Day three times--they are hands-down some of the greatest performers I've ever watched. And every time they've done this, it's been a staple of their show for years, and I've seen them pull people on stage who were terrible too. I saw them in Ottawa on this tour a few weeks ago and they had to pull up a second singer because the first guy was so bad, and they grabbed up a girl who was even worse. I also saw them in '04 in Toronto and she grabbed a female guitarist who couldn't even play, she lied to get up on stage. It's all about the fans getting the opportunity to perform on stage with their favourite band; they take the risk on whether people he grabs will actually be good or not.
And they've often emphasized they want to get a chick up with them; I can't watch the video now but does Billie Joe actually seem hesitant? That would surprise me, he usually gets really excited when a woman volunteers.
*he grabbed, not she.
Stephanie is bad. ass.
Amazing! I teared up a bit I was so excited.
Why am I crying like a baby? I guess because as a female musician it is so hard to get any respect or recognition in the boys club. I love that she rocked Billie Joe's socks off because girls can kick ass too! Wow, amazing.
They did this at the GD concert I went to for their American Idiot tour. I was so disappointed he didn't choose me; the guy he chose couldn't actually play guitar (but who needs to know how to play to play the chords to Basket Case?) and admitted it when he got on stage.
Sigh. Now I'm even more antsy for Jack's Mannequin/The Fray next week. THANKS.
Holy Shit, she's fucking awesome. The only thing I wish Billy Joe would have done was give her the guitar! So AWESOME!
I hope he did! Like Nicole said, they do this a lot - and I'm pretty sure it's usually a girl on guitar - I'm pretty sure at the last concert she got a guitar, maybe not that one but there was one backstage waiting for her.
Sooo awesome!
I'm seeing them again in a few days too!!!!
How amazing! This seriously made my day.
That's always a concert go-er's dream. To be called up on stage and rock out with the musicians. Sadly, half of us don't even really play an instrument. haha.
I don't like Green Day, but now I have a new perception of them.
Did they give her the guitar? Because that would've been the icing on the cake.
I love Green Day. This just makes me love them more!
We saw them in Albany last weekend, and he chose a girl to play Jesus of Suburbia then, too. And she was also awesome! When she got up on stage, a guy behind us said, "I don't know about this." She sure shut him up. :)
This totally made my day. I needed this after reading too many depressing news stories about Iran, Guantanamo, that racist cop in Boston....thank you so much.
Random fact: I'm seeing Green Day in concert in a few days.
Be prepared for a killer show. They never disappoint. Every time I've seen them, they've been better. The show in Ottawa ended with the entire audience cheering and honking in the parking lot and our local alternative station played an all-Green Day playlist post-show, because everyone was so pumped. Even ppl there who are only so-so fans were thunderstruck by the whole thing; they are incredibly dynamic on stage.
Gah! Now I'm gushing! I want to go AGAIN!!!!
Random fact: I'm seeing Green Day in concert in a few days.
I didn't know Green Day was touring, so I'm totally bummed that I can't see them. :(
Anyway, this put a huge smile on my face. Not only is it great to see girls rock out, but it's nice to see famous rock stars act so gracious and humble towards their fans. :D
So. Effing. Awesome.
I've loved Green Day since HS. They're so different than any other rock band and part of that comes from their inclusivity. They started playing at this Gilman Street club in the Bay Area I guess and their creed was, ya know, include everyone, gay, straight, minority, girls, boys, white, etc. Funny my boyfriend took me to see Avenged Sevenfold (yuck) and one of their openers was Buck Cherry (they suck AND they're misogynist) and when it was done, I just couldn't help but compare them to a live Green Day show. Green Day:
pulls young girls and boys up onto the stage to play their songs
Buck Cherry:
Sings songs about putting "pussy on layaway" in front of a projector with images of women in dog collars, etc.
Green Day:
Is brave enough to run around naked in their OWN birthday suits.
Buck Cherry and Avenged Sevenfold:
Have to resort to putting scantily clad dancers on stage behind them to add sex appeal to their shows.
I don't like Green Day's latest album, but they will always be my favorite band for their AUTHENTICALLY subversive image and of course their awesome songs.
During buck cherry, I had to excuse myself to go to the bathroom, where I wrote on the bathroom stall "Buck Cherry Sucks!" in lipstick.
very cool! it's great seeing a girl up on stage who plays her instrument well.
i'm not really a fan of green day's music anymore, but they were my first concert. my mom got me 4 tickets for the insomniac tour, back in '95. that was my sweet 16. :D
this makes me think of an incident i went to at a nightwish show back in may. my friend and i were chatting with a guy between sets and somehow feminism came up. the guy we were chatting with was a pretty hardcore metalhead and he was telling us a story of how a girl he went on a date with had been a feminist and when she found out he was into metal, she basically turned off to him, even though it had been going well up to that point. i was like "what?? i'm a feminist and i love metal!" and i went off on a tangent, rambling out different names of women in metal that i could think of. the guy was slightly dumbstruck that i knew so much! yes gentleman, girls also love their rock and metal just as much as you do. they may even know more!
very cool! it's great seeing a girl up on stage who plays her instrument well.
i'm not really a fan of green day's music anymore, but they were my first concert. my mom got me 4 tickets for the insomniac tour, back in '95. that was my sweet 16. :D
this makes me think of an incident i went to at a nightwish show back in may. my friend and i were chatting with a guy between sets and somehow feminism came up. the guy we were chatting with was a pretty hardcore metalhead and he was telling us a story of how a girl he went on a date with had been a feminist and when she found out he was into metal, she basically turned off to him, even though it had been going well up to that point. i was like "what?? i'm a feminist and i love metal!" and i went off on a tangent, rambling out different names of women in metal that i could think of. the guy was slightly dumbstruck that i knew so much! yes gentlemen, girls also love their rock and metal just as much as you do. they may even know more!
We love punk, too!
Once I was at a Rancid show (part of a Warped I think) and they insisted on starting a girls only circle pit to show how many bad-ass female fans they have. Yes, i was in it.
I'm seeing them on Monday! That girl is amazing, she didn't even seem that nervous, and she didn't slip up once!
Green Day did that when I saw them a looooong time ago on a Warped Tour. They pulled a friend of mine form the crowd and had her play Operation Ivy's "Knowledge" (which they cover on 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours in case anyone cares).
You took the words right out of my mouth... keyboard... whatever.
I can understand how guys can tend to not believe girls when they say they can play guitar though. I'm a competent player (ANY chord progression - got it. It's the soloing I'm working on, but I'm getting there), and as a girl I try to meet other girls who play instruments because I find it more comfortable to play with girls as opposed to guys. The only catch? Only maybe 2 out of the 20 girls I have met who SAY they play guitar aren't just the ones who bought it to try and pick it up but never touched it again. I still have yet to meet one that's better than any guys. I can't wait til that day comes, because trust me, I'm impatiently waiting (and trying to get there myself).
Anyway. It still bothers me so much when guys assume I'm one of those chicks. But I can't really blame them for assuming I'm something so common.
Thank you Stephanie for kicking ass. Thank you for restoring my faith in female guitarists. Thank you for showing the boys that we DO exist.
Billie Joe looks like he near about wet himself from love at first strum.
HOLY SHIT! I think I'm in love!!! Stephanie ROCKS!!!!!
I'm getting a lot of sarcasm from your reply.
If so, you obviously aren't a female musician, and can't understand how rare people like this girl are, and how much fun it is to watch her kick ass. I am unapologetically happy to have seen this video, and don't need your negativity.
Amazing! It always makes me happy to see a woman who can play really well...a lot of the guys I know think that women can't rock out like guys can...clearly they're wrong!! Also, she has an awesome name :)
I was at this show and it was amazing. I was skeptical they'd find someone to play that song since it's so long, and then when Billie Joe pulled a girl onto the stage my heart was so happy! She played the shit out of it too! My friends and I ran into her outside Madison Square Garden and everyone was coming up to her and telling her how kick ass she'd been. It was such a cool experience.
Yay! Punk discussion! :) The punk crowd is generally a feminist one. In fact, I think my love for punk music attributed in part to my eventual coming out as a feminist. It certainly made it easier and I think the punk crowd accepts it more than other subcultures would. Lots of punks sing about feminism and feminist issues; most punk bands are unapologetically liberal--Antiflag even has a song called "This is what a feminist looks like." (They're all dudes.)
That's not to say the genre is feminist at its core, though. Punk chic and the punk beauty aesthetic still has a long way to go (thanks for that, Suicide Girls dot com). *groan* And I was at a Creepshow show awhile ago where the lead singer--a super badass woman--yelled to the crowd to get louder, and of course she said "Take your balls out of your purses, Ottawa!" It gets so tiring sometimes. Good for you for joining in the circle pit! Rancid, for the record, kicks ass live.
This was supposed to be a reply to Liza...dunno why it didn't work...