I had the opportunity to go to a Green Day concert last night. Unfortunately it was in the rain and due to the rain there were technical difficulties. Aside from the stress of being a former techie, well once a techie, always a techie, I ended up getting flashbacks of when I was on stage where my drama teachers would tell me that no matter what happens, the show must go on. The technical difficulty was the PA system ended up short-circuiting or something to point where no sound was coming off stage. Now what is one supposed to do in this situation?  Well, the show must go on.
And sure enough, that’s what Billie Joe Armstrong did. The tech team was able to push out sound coming from the amps on the stage. At this point, without vocals, Billie Joe started strumming some songs while he sang (the crowd couldn’t hear him) but he crowd knew the songs and started to sing along. #BestKaraokeEver Billie Joe lead the crowd in a few songs like Holiday, When I Come Around, and Wake Me Up When September Ends.
The crowd loved it. I loved it. I guess how many times in your life to get to sing-along to the song with the artists playing the instruments? It was truly and intimate experience.
Finally, they got a mic working however sound was still not pumping out of the main PA. Those near the stage definitely reaped the benefits of staying up close. I could feel the panic of the techies but I didn’t see that same panic in the band. I guess at the end of it all they knew that everything was going to be alright. The full sound finally came back. Green Day began to play and they finished up on a great high.
I’m not sure what would be a better experience: watching the concert without any flaws or watching a technical difficulty happen and see professional artists go on with the show?
I was at this show!!!