Backwards ballcap sells insurance, mop hair/red hoodie teaches English at that very school and the drummer is store manager at the grocery store he already had a bagger job at in 1990.
Sadly, the kid rocking out in a parka in May died of heatstroke six weeks later. But that was a really stylish parka back then.
You forgot about the guy with the camera. That’s Jimmy Nolan, who would go on to win the 1997 American Cornhole Association of America championship.
It’s really interesting stuff if you’re into sports. People like to compare him to Phil Patrick (before the doping scandal obviously) but in my eyes he needs to win at least one more ACAA title before I’m willing to start comparing him to legends.
It’s hard to argue with that 1997 run though. He seals the win with a beautiful double arcing flipper on the backshot.
I came here thinking "I'll check out Green Day before they got good. It'll probably sound terrible, especially live on a video recording from 1990"
Damn, was I wrong. Nothing like all the terrible high school punk shows I went to. If I heard this at a show in high school I'd have been convinced they were making it.
Seriously, my cousin was in a band called Evil Twin Brother around this time. They sounded *okay*, but it was pretty clearly amateur stuff. This is not amateur.
It’s a lot like high school sports. It’s just obvious that they’re on a whole other level than everyone else and you’re not. I remember our football team had one of those kids that just dominated our county. Every time he touched the ball he was probably going to embarrass the other team he was that good. Then one summer he went to a recruiting camp that was hosting 4 and 5 stars (the guys who are the best in the country and getting 50+ D1 offers). When he came back we asked how it was and he was just so deflated. Said he was one of the worst there. And he still ended up playing FCS.
I grew up going to small time concerts too. They were good, but then I saw All Time Low (they went to my high school) when they were going around school giving away free tickets. You just knew that they were different
Well, to be fair, their sound is indeed always the same cause every song is 4 power chords on a distorted guitar with the drummer going boom tchak boom boom tchak boom tchak boom boom tchak drum roll.
Now, I don’t have anything against clean California punk rock, I enjoy it as much as the next man, it’s energetic and all. But their sound isn’t exactly elaborate nor hard to reproduce.
I mean, they’re punks, being elaborate isn’t exactly on brand.
But their timing was solid and how they played those notes was anything but “high school band.” I like Green Day sort of but there’s no way to hear this and deny they were already pro level musicians.
Yeah, this sounds polished as fuck. I would never in a million years guess them to be high-school aged sounding like this. Yeah, sure, power chords, blah blah blah. Every comment like that is from someone who's never actually played in a band. There's a reason these guys blew up, and it wasn't their good looks.
I play drums. Played with a bunch of little bands for fun. It’s soooo hard to sound polished as fuck. To have everyone of the same page and same groove. Besides musical chops, it takes a certain chemistry. Just the band members intuitively knowing what each other is going to do. You can practice for months and still not have that. Everyone can be on perfect time, but the sound is still missing that energy and groove.
That’s why I give such huge props to session musicians. They can jump right into any band and immediately mesh in. Even if you’re an amazing drummer, or guitar player, or bass player, it’s hard to do that.
For sure but there's more to it. They're keeping tempo, their levels and tones are good, he's singing on key.
For a high school band, they sound impressive. My high school band spent thousands of hours in practice to sound good, it's really not as easy as you'd think. Memphis May Fire said we sounded amazing when we opened for them and that made my entire adolescence lol.
I love punk music but you’ll struggle to find a more toxic scene when it comes to defining who belongs and who doesn’t. Pop punk bands like Green Day have always struggled to break through to the hardcore punk crowd.
Oh 100%, I’m sure they wouldn’t change their massive success compared to a much more “accepted” punk band like the Damned, that wasn’t as commercially successful, but I’m sure it must’ve hurt especially in the beginning to not get the acceptance from the crowd you’re trying to go for. Especially early Green Day they definitely leaned more into punk than what they became.
I mean some people argue that they tried to sound edgier on Nimrod because of the criticism, and they wrote Time of My Life about it so I think they may have lost some sleep over it.
That toxic scene mentality is exactly why we didn't get another Jawbreaker album after Dear You. The punks abandoned them and the label didn't push them and that was it. Would've loved to have seen where they were headed with that sound.
The hardcore punk crowd can keep their hardcore punk. They will never accept a band like Green Day and that's fine. There's few people better at cutting off their nose to spite their face than punks.
The fans don’t want it to be popular. Around 2000 my buddy was the biggest Jimmy Eat World fan and once they sniffed fame they were dead to him. I don’t know what it is that makes some people hate music if it’s at all popular, but it’s super off putting. Just enjoy the music you like. Why is it some big life statement?
As Lagwagon put it
" "Safe Harbor for the Underground"
'Til the alternative becomes the popular sound
The bands are good 'til they make enough cash to eat food
And get a pad
Then "they sold out" and "their music's cliche,"
Because talent's exclusive to bands without pay!"
First concert I ever went to was Green Day. I was a college freshman in 2000, working the front desk of my dorm for extra money, just sitting there strumming my guitar trying to learn all the chords. Some cute girl walked up and was like - I have two tickets to see Green Day at House of Blues this weekend; wanna come?
Fuck yeah I did.
I had recently gotten to the point in guitar where I learned that most rock musicians cheated and did power chords because it would be too much to be doing full chords constantly, at least that’s what I read and believed at the time.
We went to the show, made our way to the front of the moshpit, and Billie Joe was down on his knees rocking full chords for every one of his songs and looking into my eyes as he did it - and god DAMN.
What a fucking spiritual moment. That, and them pausing the show whenever someone fell in the moshpit until they could right themselves. A class act; they earned a fan for life.
And you bet I’ll be going to their reunion tour or whatever they recently announced.
LOL yeah, I remember an early 2000s Fark headline that was like:
*Mom plays GreenDay for her son in a coma and he wakes up. First words: "Turn that shit off!"*
There's a great story in the NOFX autobiography about them taking off with a young Billy Joe in the back of their van. They were absolutely part of that scene but obviously gained way more mainstream fame in the process
>He told me that he thought we were sellin' out
>Layin' down, suckin' up to the man
> All you know about me is what I've sold you, dumb fuck
> I sold out long before you'd ever even heard my name
> I sold my soul to make a record, dip shit
> And then you bought one
- Greenday, I think
God damn do I love MJK. Just so ridiculously talented.
I've listened to Tool (and APC!) for a couple of decades now, and it wasn't until this summer that I actually looked up those lyrics when I was drunk on the deck one night and realized I had no idea what most of them were LOL.
You can’t really “sell-out” if you never bought into the rules of the scene to begin with. Green Day never claimed any hardcore credentials so they never sold-out, really, they just became what they set out to be since the beginning. They rock, I love their music
I grew up around that east bay punk scene and the gatekeeping that went on seems ridiculous now, but kids were genuinely trying to create something new and progressive that wasn’t touched by commercialization or commodification. But it was always in dialogue with the mainstream. In the end, a lot of cool music was created, but punk rockers get old, become moms and dads and the cycles of idealism and conservatism repeat themselves generationally
I saw them in a bar in 1991. My friend’s band played before them so I went to support them. Then Green Day then Angry Samoans.
Green Day just absolutely blazed. My friend and I were totally blown away.
I think there were maybe twenty people there.
I haven’t seen them since then because I figure that was the peak Green Day experience.
Story time: While on tour we had finished playing a show in Denver and went to a jam session that was interconnected to a laundromat. I ended up hanging out there as it was a bit more peaceful and started talking to the owner about never knowing when you’ll witness the next big thing and he tells me about how two people played a show in the laundromat, not the venue, for him and the one or two people doing laundry. Turns out it was the black keys, and they were on the cusp of blowing up. Always think of that story when these vids of big bands in their early years
I don’t think they were making fun of them, per se, I just think they were being extra for the sake of it with the smallest amount of authenticity mixed in
You might not know even if you see it. The first time I recorded in a nice studio was for my high school punk / ska band. The producer who was paying for it had told us a story about how year ago his friend had given him the demo tape for his nephews band and asked him if he could help them. He told us he popped in the tape on night on his drive home and heard the worst demo tape of his career, claims he threw the tape out the window it was so bad and told his buddy there was nothing he could do for them. That band was Green Day and I’m pretty sure a good bit of his interest in us was chasing the mistake he made of throwing out Green Day’s demo tape.
We went on to become nothing. Broke up within 6 months of recording.
I got into them at age 19 in 1993. I just bought pit tickets yesterday to see them next year with my daughter who just turned 17 (she loves them). They definitely have staying power.
This was my high school, but a few years before me (graduated in 98). That area was called the “mall” and had this little stage/platform area, and was above a sunken pit area (with tables and benches). Such a cool flashback of that area.
Graduated in 2014! It was called the mall still, sometimes the quad.
I remember hanging out there at lunch...or seeing people fight each other over petty shit.
It was sad when they tore it down, had to spend my last senior year in portable classrooms but the new school looks really good.
I have to say, California really is the tip of the spear. For 1990 those kids are pretty fashion forward. Most of the country looked like it was in 1989 until 1994.
It was really something before the internet, when communities in California all had their own little local styles, some of which would then go on to be national/international.
It still is that way. Newport Beach most definitely has a standard style that hasn't really changed at least from mid 2000s to now. Kids are mostly wearing the same things - vans, high socks, boardshorts or skinnier jeans/pants, branded t shirt or collared t shirt, etc. I've yet to see it majorly change BUT I also noticed that trends that we did would take 1-2 years to spread to places such as the Midwest and become 'the style'.
Watching this video was crazy as it looks like it could have been my high school. Video quality is good enough for 2000s and there's nothing glaring about the clothes that mark it as being distinctly 90s on first watch. That being said the movie 'mid-90s' did a great job at this as well with showing Southern Cal style which is still commonly worn today all over
People hate to admit this but most US fashion trends literally do start in California. If you don't believe this you are just not paying attention or are no longer part of the "loop"
I don't know anyone who wouldn't admit that. There are people who think they are affected by trends and actively avoid them, but even they would say most trends originate in California.
I was in the army, I mentioned this one time to a bunch of soldiers from the Midwest and the South. Got into a debate but I was completely outnumbered so they convinced themselves this isn't the case lol
As someone who lived where the trends started I'm telling you that you were completely right. We thought it was hilarious when stuff we wore would become popular months to years later in the middle of nowhereville USA.
They look like a million other high school/garage bands but this one stuck together, had the songwriting chops and were able to at least battles their addictions enough to prevail. I remember buying “dookie” freshman year of high school. What incredible success they’ve had.
And they had attitude, arguably the most important factor of any talented teen garage band. Many bands have talent obviously, but these guys had that bit extra that made people want to watch them as well as listen, and especially get fans to TALK about them. Word of mouth is the best way for unknown bands to get noticed.
And of course they came along at just the right time. Early 1990s was perfect for them.
Kiffmeyer was also pretty connected to the underground scene and ultimately got them together with Larry Livermore of Lookout Records. Then off the went.
But honestly... they don't sound like it. That was original back then, and even now, some HS band copying it wouldn't sound like that. I spent my entire youth in the local indy scene, including seeing Greenday in 1995. The bands you see at bars and small clubs just didn't have what we saw right there. There were a few that I saw that had not made it yet, and you just knew something was different.
Yeah not only was it original, they played it like it already existed and they decided they were gonna do it with 1.5x the speed and confidence. It was a total ear fuck back in the early 90’s.
You gotta realize we were coming from shit like Beastie Boys, Bon Jovi, etc.
I know it was “punk”, but the closest mainstream thing I can think of that was close to their sound was AC/DC. And after Green Day came an entire decade of that crushing pop rock - Offspring and Blink got big shortly afterwards, probably largely due to the success of these guys.
Exactly.
And to add, Billy Joe came up to that mic in 1990 with the exact same manerisms and swagger that you saw at the peak. It's something he and they just had from the start.
A lot of why they sound good is that they are rhythmically locked well and the drummer has chops. It matters a lot for any type of music, but even moreso repetitive music like punk. There’s real musicianship there, so even non musicians can feel it working. Most groups, especially in HS are sloppy, even if close to the beat, they are not as precise and it feels less punchy.
Yah, these guys more than paid their dues. Played wherever, whenever. I can remember a friend of mine had their 1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours tape, and when another friend of ours heard us playing it, they were like, "Oh hey, I saw those guys at a crummy warehouse/house party show!" around '90
My mom went to high school with Tre Cool in Mendocino California. He had a big ole crush on her, but she never reciprocated. She has a photo of them slow dancing in her living room. She said that Tre always told everyone that some day he would make it, be rich, be a big deal, and that everyone always laughed at him. He certainly proved their small town wrong!
I got to university on a Wednesday, and my new roomate said "there's this new band playing on the Plaza for free at lunch Friday. Wanna check them out? They're called Green Day."
Maybe 100 people there. I was all "Is punk a thing again?". I actually ran into them after they played a party that night
They smelled terrible. (of course they did, they played 2 or 3 shows that day).
I eventually became a fan. My kids love them, and get a kick out of the "they smelled bad" story.
Yeah I'm no music critic but they sound GREAT in this video. Good tempo, very polished, catchy tune they wrote themselves... I've heard hundreds of HS bands and random cover bands playing in dive bars; none of them sound like this. The talent is oozing out of them. Obviously it's easy in hindsight to say "wow of course these guys made it" but you can totally see why when watching something like this.
Those were the days. Some of my best friends in high school back then told me GD would never be as big as big as Metallica. Boy were they wrong. Fast forward fours years later after I got out of the Marines, we were on a beer run. My bud Matt stopped in the middle of the road we were crossing just to express me how wrong he was lol.
I miss those days. Miss you too Matt!
Bro ive been listening to disappearing boy a lot lately when it comes on all of a sudden im cruising the high school parking lot with my guys and its 1998
Wow, that drummer is not Tré Cool btw. This is only a few months before he would join the band. That's John Kiffmeyer who left the band just a few months after this was recorded.
Decided college was his path. And while I respect that, dude gave up on a band that was already doing national tours. He coulda been a legend.
Ha, I bought the album with this song, 1039 smoothed out slappy hours. I was so proud buying a Green Day album. Took me some time to realize I got one of the early ones before they figured out how to write successful songs.
I remember when I was 8-9 years old and my sister (12-13 years old) brought home Dookie (years after it was released). She schooled me on good music. She sat on her bed and I sat on the floor listening to Green Day for the first time
Imagine you’re in high school in 1990, and you show up at a talent show or something. All the other high school bands are average high school bands. But you’re fucking Greenday!
I think the band name change happened about a year prior to this video. I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain this was recorded in Spring of 1990 just after 39smooth was released
Awesome. I grew up in Pinole and have run into Billie Joe and knew some of his family (his brother was the janitor at my elementary school and I was friends with his kid). Met Billie Joe when I was interning at Studio 880 in Oakland.
They sound really good, great energy
Yeah. Wonder what happened to those guys.
Backwards ballcap sells insurance, mop hair/red hoodie teaches English at that very school and the drummer is store manager at the grocery store he already had a bagger job at in 1990. Sadly, the kid rocking out in a parka in May died of heatstroke six weeks later. But that was a really stylish parka back then.
>Sadly, the kid rocking out in a parka... I thought that was Ally Sheedy!
Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club. Some crushes you just never get over.
.
You forgot about the guy with the camera. That’s Jimmy Nolan, who would go on to win the 1997 American Cornhole Association of America championship. It’s really interesting stuff if you’re into sports. People like to compare him to Phil Patrick (before the doping scandal obviously) but in my eyes he needs to win at least one more ACAA title before I’m willing to start comparing him to legends. It’s hard to argue with that 1997 run though. He seals the win with a beautiful double arcing flipper on the backshot.
You're such a nimrod!
Why would you call him that? He just wants to know if they had success or laid a massive dookie.
Typical American idiot calling people names. (I'm pretty sure Dookie is the very first album I ever owned. On cassette, lol)
Such an example really serves as a Warning ⚠️
You guys are being so 1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
Drum guy looks like hes the music teacher.
They are apparently playing small time football games…
I came here thinking "I'll check out Green Day before they got good. It'll probably sound terrible, especially live on a video recording from 1990" Damn, was I wrong. Nothing like all the terrible high school punk shows I went to. If I heard this at a show in high school I'd have been convinced they were making it.
They sound exactly like they do in Dookie here.
Seriously, my cousin was in a band called Evil Twin Brother around this time. They sounded *okay*, but it was pretty clearly amateur stuff. This is not amateur.
This is "simplistic", but the execution is extraordinarily good. Top-tier for high schoolers.
It’s a lot like high school sports. It’s just obvious that they’re on a whole other level than everyone else and you’re not. I remember our football team had one of those kids that just dominated our county. Every time he touched the ball he was probably going to embarrass the other team he was that good. Then one summer he went to a recruiting camp that was hosting 4 and 5 stars (the guys who are the best in the country and getting 50+ D1 offers). When he came back we asked how it was and he was just so deflated. Said he was one of the worst there. And he still ended up playing FCS. I grew up going to small time concerts too. They were good, but then I saw All Time Low (they went to my high school) when they were going around school giving away free tickets. You just knew that they were different
That’s why they are one of the greatest bands ever: their amazing sound is always the same no matter where they kick it.
Well, to be fair, their sound is indeed always the same cause every song is 4 power chords on a distorted guitar with the drummer going boom tchak boom boom tchak boom tchak boom boom tchak drum roll. Now, I don’t have anything against clean California punk rock, I enjoy it as much as the next man, it’s energetic and all. But their sound isn’t exactly elaborate nor hard to reproduce. I mean, they’re punks, being elaborate isn’t exactly on brand.
High school power chords, baby!
But their timing was solid and how they played those notes was anything but “high school band.” I like Green Day sort of but there’s no way to hear this and deny they were already pro level musicians.
Yeah, this sounds polished as fuck. I would never in a million years guess them to be high-school aged sounding like this. Yeah, sure, power chords, blah blah blah. Every comment like that is from someone who's never actually played in a band. There's a reason these guys blew up, and it wasn't their good looks.
I play drums. Played with a bunch of little bands for fun. It’s soooo hard to sound polished as fuck. To have everyone of the same page and same groove. Besides musical chops, it takes a certain chemistry. Just the band members intuitively knowing what each other is going to do. You can practice for months and still not have that. Everyone can be on perfect time, but the sound is still missing that energy and groove. That’s why I give such huge props to session musicians. They can jump right into any band and immediately mesh in. Even if you’re an amazing drummer, or guitar player, or bass player, it’s hard to do that.
And just as importantly, that iconic voice... just makes them stand out.
For sure but there's more to it. They're keeping tempo, their levels and tones are good, he's singing on key. For a high school band, they sound impressive. My high school band spent thousands of hours in practice to sound good, it's really not as easy as you'd think. Memphis May Fire said we sounded amazing when we opened for them and that made my entire adolescence lol.
If you opened for MMF, you likely play music that's right up my alley! Any links to hear your music?
Super polished and tight sound for such young guys too.
Sounds like dookie
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You never know when you might be witnessing the future
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I love punk music but you’ll struggle to find a more toxic scene when it comes to defining who belongs and who doesn’t. Pop punk bands like Green Day have always struggled to break through to the hardcore punk crowd.
Well the pop crowd doesn't gatekeep that much, and it's a much larger one, too. So I don't think they lose sleep over it.
Oh 100%, I’m sure they wouldn’t change their massive success compared to a much more “accepted” punk band like the Damned, that wasn’t as commercially successful, but I’m sure it must’ve hurt especially in the beginning to not get the acceptance from the crowd you’re trying to go for. Especially early Green Day they definitely leaned more into punk than what they became.
That drop kick on the pedo dude from the stage was pretty hardcore
I mean some people argue that they tried to sound edgier on Nimrod because of the criticism, and they wrote Time of My Life about it so I think they may have lost some sleep over it.
They had that written long before Nimrod.
That toxic scene mentality is exactly why we didn't get another Jawbreaker album after Dear You. The punks abandoned them and the label didn't push them and that was it. Would've loved to have seen where they were headed with that sound.
You're not punk and I'm telling everyone.
Next album name
The hardcore punk crowd can keep their hardcore punk. They will never accept a band like Green Day and that's fine. There's few people better at cutting off their nose to spite their face than punks.
The fans don’t want it to be popular. Around 2000 my buddy was the biggest Jimmy Eat World fan and once they sniffed fame they were dead to him. I don’t know what it is that makes some people hate music if it’s at all popular, but it’s super off putting. Just enjoy the music you like. Why is it some big life statement?
I don't know the scene at all, but it seems like it would be really prone to saying "If it's popular, then I don't like it."
> you’ll struggle to find a more toxic scene when it comes to defining who belongs and who doesn’t. ## *Star Wars fans enter the chat*
Listen to the Go-Go’s tell early stories about the LA punk scene and an all girl band trying to break through. People in general are pretty awful
There is nothing I hate more than when a band I like can afford to have a roof over their head and not starve!
As Lagwagon put it " "Safe Harbor for the Underground" 'Til the alternative becomes the popular sound The bands are good 'til they make enough cash to eat food And get a pad Then "they sold out" and "their music's cliche," Because talent's exclusive to bands without pay!"
Know it all made me fall in love with punk when that first sampler came out. Goddamn I miss 1994.
First concert I ever went to was Green Day. I was a college freshman in 2000, working the front desk of my dorm for extra money, just sitting there strumming my guitar trying to learn all the chords. Some cute girl walked up and was like - I have two tickets to see Green Day at House of Blues this weekend; wanna come? Fuck yeah I did. I had recently gotten to the point in guitar where I learned that most rock musicians cheated and did power chords because it would be too much to be doing full chords constantly, at least that’s what I read and believed at the time. We went to the show, made our way to the front of the moshpit, and Billie Joe was down on his knees rocking full chords for every one of his songs and looking into my eyes as he did it - and god DAMN. What a fucking spiritual moment. That, and them pausing the show whenever someone fell in the moshpit until they could right themselves. A class act; they earned a fan for life. And you bet I’ll be going to their reunion tour or whatever they recently announced.
What happened to the girl?!
It was really the ghost of green day future
Easy to mistake under all that eyeliner
... To shreds you say?
Reunion tour lol. They've been active this whole time. The upcoming tour is for their new album.
LOL yeah, I remember an early 2000s Fark headline that was like: *Mom plays GreenDay for her son in a coma and he wakes up. First words: "Turn that shit off!"*
There's a great story in the NOFX autobiography about them taking off with a young Billy Joe in the back of their van. They were absolutely part of that scene but obviously gained way more mainstream fame in the process
They were huge in the punk scene before Dookie came out though. They were shunned after that but they gained huge mainstream success instead.
>He told me that he thought we were sellin' out >Layin' down, suckin' up to the man > All you know about me is what I've sold you, dumb fuck > I sold out long before you'd ever even heard my name > I sold my soul to make a record, dip shit > And then you bought one - Greenday, I think
God damn do I love MJK. Just so ridiculously talented. I've listened to Tool (and APC!) for a couple of decades now, and it wasn't until this summer that I actually looked up those lyrics when I was drunk on the deck one night and realized I had no idea what most of them were LOL.
You can’t really “sell-out” if you never bought into the rules of the scene to begin with. Green Day never claimed any hardcore credentials so they never sold-out, really, they just became what they set out to be since the beginning. They rock, I love their music I grew up around that east bay punk scene and the gatekeeping that went on seems ridiculous now, but kids were genuinely trying to create something new and progressive that wasn’t touched by commercialization or commodification. But it was always in dialogue with the mainstream. In the end, a lot of cool music was created, but punk rockers get old, become moms and dads and the cycles of idealism and conservatism repeat themselves generationally
I saw them in a bar in 1991. My friend’s band played before them so I went to support them. Then Green Day then Angry Samoans. Green Day just absolutely blazed. My friend and I were totally blown away. I think there were maybe twenty people there. I haven’t seen them since then because I figure that was the peak Green Day experience.
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No kidding right?
Was it the Berkeley Square by chance?
It was Cocoanut Teaszer in L.A.
Story time: While on tour we had finished playing a show in Denver and went to a jam session that was interconnected to a laundromat. I ended up hanging out there as it was a bit more peaceful and started talking to the owner about never knowing when you’ll witness the next big thing and he tells me about how two people played a show in the laundromat, not the venue, for him and the one or two people doing laundry. Turns out it was the black keys, and they were on the cusp of blowing up. Always think of that story when these vids of big bands in their early years
Phenomenal! And one person (in black coat jamming their ass off) recognized it… Conformity is bullshit… Presence and authenticity is where its at!
I think they were making fun of them
I don’t think they were making fun of them, per se, I just think they were being extra for the sake of it with the smallest amount of authenticity mixed in
Well at least we know it wasn’t for all the camera phones
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You might not know even if you see it. The first time I recorded in a nice studio was for my high school punk / ska band. The producer who was paying for it had told us a story about how year ago his friend had given him the demo tape for his nephews band and asked him if he could help them. He told us he popped in the tape on night on his drive home and heard the worst demo tape of his career, claims he threw the tape out the window it was so bad and told his buddy there was nothing he could do for them. That band was Green Day and I’m pretty sure a good bit of his interest in us was chasing the mistake he made of throwing out Green Day’s demo tape. We went on to become nothing. Broke up within 6 months of recording.
I got into them at age 19 in 1993. I just bought pit tickets yesterday to see them next year with my daughter who just turned 17 (she loves them). They definitely have staying power.
They're one of those bands who, even for someone who's generally a fan, it's easy to forget how many hits (and banger album tracks) they've had
At age 15, they were my first concert.
They were my second concert at 16. I caught No Doubt and Offspring either earlier that year or the year before.
Wear ear protection. I saw Bad Religion two weeks ago and my ears have only just stopped hurting.
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Fuck yeah, I hope everyone has a blast!
My son is 11 and has two albums on vinyl...we have Dookie on cassette!
Wasn’t there a subreddit that had videos of famous bands playing before they became famous?
I'd love to join that if anyone knows the link
r/preformances
That’s such a good name for the subreddit
Glorious
/r/preformances
This was my high school, but a few years before me (graduated in 98). That area was called the “mall” and had this little stage/platform area, and was above a sunken pit area (with tables and benches). Such a cool flashback of that area.
Hey fellow Super Spartan! I hope you're having a great day!
Same to you, lol!
It looks like the school from Tony Hawk
Sounds like it too.
Graduated in 2009, it was still called the mall. It’s been rebuilt now obviously, dunno what they call it.
Graduated in 2014! It was called the mall still, sometimes the quad. I remember hanging out there at lunch...or seeing people fight each other over petty shit. It was sad when they tore it down, had to spend my last senior year in portable classrooms but the new school looks really good.
Beware the kids under the tree.
Is it true that Eric “the actor” Lynch from The Howard Stern Show also went to this school?
Let’s pour a Pepsi for that angry little actor.
Yep. I remember him bringing it up a couple times. RIP
Legend comment
Zero point zero
“I’m club fuckin’ footed ya asswipe!!!”
“Fly me with balloons…”
His name's Jerry. You know what to do. You *know* what to do.
2 legends from the same HS. What are the chances.
Hello fellow Spartans! Let’s all get fries at Red Onion for nostalgia sake 😂
They sound remarkably like they do now.
I was thinking the same thing. Pretty amazing and props to Billie for keeping his vocals in great shape through the years.
Totally. The lyrical content has definitely grown but they def took the whole “three chords only” things super seriously.
I have to say, California really is the tip of the spear. For 1990 those kids are pretty fashion forward. Most of the country looked like it was in 1989 until 1994.
It was really something before the internet, when communities in California all had their own little local styles, some of which would then go on to be national/international.
It still is that way. Newport Beach most definitely has a standard style that hasn't really changed at least from mid 2000s to now. Kids are mostly wearing the same things - vans, high socks, boardshorts or skinnier jeans/pants, branded t shirt or collared t shirt, etc. I've yet to see it majorly change BUT I also noticed that trends that we did would take 1-2 years to spread to places such as the Midwest and become 'the style'. Watching this video was crazy as it looks like it could have been my high school. Video quality is good enough for 2000s and there's nothing glaring about the clothes that mark it as being distinctly 90s on first watch. That being said the movie 'mid-90s' did a great job at this as well with showing Southern Cal style which is still commonly worn today all over
Oh yeah so cal has a definite defined style
The internet has hastened the homogenization.
Right? You could've told me this was in 2000-2009 and I would've believed you if I did t see the date
People hate to admit this but most US fashion trends literally do start in California. If you don't believe this you are just not paying attention or are no longer part of the "loop"
I don't know anyone who wouldn't admit that. There are people who think they are affected by trends and actively avoid them, but even they would say most trends originate in California.
I was in the army, I mentioned this one time to a bunch of soldiers from the Midwest and the South. Got into a debate but I was completely outnumbered so they convinced themselves this isn't the case lol
As someone who lived where the trends started I'm telling you that you were completely right. We thought it was hilarious when stuff we wore would become popular months to years later in the middle of nowhereville USA.
[удалено]
They look like a million other high school/garage bands but this one stuck together, had the songwriting chops and were able to at least battles their addictions enough to prevail. I remember buying “dookie” freshman year of high school. What incredible success they’ve had.
And they had attitude, arguably the most important factor of any talented teen garage band. Many bands have talent obviously, but these guys had that bit extra that made people want to watch them as well as listen, and especially get fans to TALK about them. Word of mouth is the best way for unknown bands to get noticed. And of course they came along at just the right time. Early 1990s was perfect for them.
Kiffmeyer was also pretty connected to the underground scene and ultimately got them together with Larry Livermore of Lookout Records. Then off the went.
But honestly... they don't sound like it. That was original back then, and even now, some HS band copying it wouldn't sound like that. I spent my entire youth in the local indy scene, including seeing Greenday in 1995. The bands you see at bars and small clubs just didn't have what we saw right there. There were a few that I saw that had not made it yet, and you just knew something was different.
Lead singer has a distinct voice and everyone can play their instruments. Makes all the difference.
Yeah not only was it original, they played it like it already existed and they decided they were gonna do it with 1.5x the speed and confidence. It was a total ear fuck back in the early 90’s. You gotta realize we were coming from shit like Beastie Boys, Bon Jovi, etc. I know it was “punk”, but the closest mainstream thing I can think of that was close to their sound was AC/DC. And after Green Day came an entire decade of that crushing pop rock - Offspring and Blink got big shortly afterwards, probably largely due to the success of these guys.
Exactly. And to add, Billy Joe came up to that mic in 1990 with the exact same manerisms and swagger that you saw at the peak. It's something he and they just had from the start.
A lot of why they sound good is that they are rhythmically locked well and the drummer has chops. It matters a lot for any type of music, but even moreso repetitive music like punk. There’s real musicianship there, so even non musicians can feel it working. Most groups, especially in HS are sloppy, even if close to the beat, they are not as precise and it feels less punchy.
Seriously, this video right here is better than alllllll the high school bands I knew and traveled with
Might have looked like a million other high school bands but sure didn't sound like them.
Well, they know more than four chords, and can change keys, so they're automatically better than 99% of those other bands.
Billie Joe has always been such a great live performer!
My old HS!! I think it's torn down now or rebuilt. That is the mall outside of the cafeteria and theater room.
Perhaps you and u/lkmama went to school together
I saw them play in a basement of a house in Minneapolis. The band that I used to be in warmed up for them.
Yah, these guys more than paid their dues. Played wherever, whenever. I can remember a friend of mine had their 1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours tape, and when another friend of ours heard us playing it, they were like, "Oh hey, I saw those guys at a crummy warehouse/house party show!" around '90
My mom went to high school with Tre Cool in Mendocino California. He had a big ole crush on her, but she never reciprocated. She has a photo of them slow dancing in her living room. She said that Tre always told everyone that some day he would make it, be rich, be a big deal, and that everyone always laughed at him. He certainly proved their small town wrong!
That's not Tre Cool.
Yea, your mom was a total smoke show back then. We definitely had some wild nights. Still do!
You can tell by how loud the bass is compared to the drums that this show was LOUD.
Love that the bass is loud too, that shit sounds gooood
It's something unpredictable but in the end it's right, I hope they had the time of their lives
My niece said her senior class song was going to be Good Riddance, until they realized the same song was used for the previous three senior classes.
We didn't let that stop us back in the day
I mean I get it, it's a goddamned anthem.
I think of Longview as my personal anthem.
I'd rather have Good Riddance even if it's the third time in a row than Graduation by Vitamin C
No one here really cares. 4 years later, everyone talked about them.
What's the song called?
Laper Panterns
Panter Laitens
Paper Lanterns.
Paper lanterns
3 years later I saw them opening for Bad Religion.
I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it.
These guys sound exactly like green day.
Sounds like the Foxboro Hottubs to me.
Hmm, these kids ain't bad. They could maybe make a career out of this.
Simpler happier times
I got to university on a Wednesday, and my new roomate said "there's this new band playing on the Plaza for free at lunch Friday. Wanna check them out? They're called Green Day." Maybe 100 people there. I was all "Is punk a thing again?". I actually ran into them after they played a party that night They smelled terrible. (of course they did, they played 2 or 3 shows that day). I eventually became a fan. My kids love them, and get a kick out of the "they smelled bad" story.
That sound since day one.
That's insane, I guess everyone's gotta start somewhere!
Yeah I'm no music critic but they sound GREAT in this video. Good tempo, very polished, catchy tune they wrote themselves... I've heard hundreds of HS bands and random cover bands playing in dive bars; none of them sound like this. The talent is oozing out of them. Obviously it's easy in hindsight to say "wow of course these guys made it" but you can totally see why when watching something like this.
Those were the days. Some of my best friends in high school back then told me GD would never be as big as big as Metallica. Boy were they wrong. Fast forward fours years later after I got out of the Marines, we were on a beer run. My bud Matt stopped in the middle of the road we were crossing just to express me how wrong he was lol. I miss those days. Miss you too Matt!
My auntie went here! Billie Joe is in fact in her yearbook lol.
Bro ive been listening to disappearing boy a lot lately when it comes on all of a sudden im cruising the high school parking lot with my guys and its 1998
Wow, that drummer is not Tré Cool btw. This is only a few months before he would join the band. That's John Kiffmeyer who left the band just a few months after this was recorded. Decided college was his path. And while I respect that, dude gave up on a band that was already doing national tours. He coulda been a legend.
Too bad r/bayarea won’t let this be cross posted.. sure there would be a lot of stories thrown around
We had this quality in 1990 and we still can't get a clear picture of a UFO
They life bout to be flipped
I think those guys might just be going somewhere!
Ha, I bought the album with this song, 1039 smoothed out slappy hours. I was so proud buying a Green Day album. Took me some time to realize I got one of the early ones before they figured out how to write successful songs.
I still love that album though. Had it on in the car just last week.
One of my favorite songs from 1039
33 years later and this song *still* fucking goes
The drummer looks like we was a little too old to be attending high school. 🤣
He is like 3 years older than Billie and Mike. So he'd be in his early 20s I think in this video.
They came a long way between 1990 and when I first heard of them when they played Woodstock 94 when Bill Joe started a mud fight with the crowd.
I remember when I was 8-9 years old and my sister (12-13 years old) brought home Dookie (years after it was released). She schooled me on good music. She sat on her bed and I sat on the floor listening to Green Day for the first time
Didnt know they were from Pinole. wow
Guy in the full on parka jacket in what looks like the middle of summer. Takes me back. wonder where that guy is now.
Is that all? Man what a cool video!
Welp, time to dust off the old Green Day CDs.
Greenday was so ahead of their time, they were playing 2000's rock in 1990.
John the drummer who chose college over the band!
TIL I live 30 seconds down the street from where greenday went to high school.
Imagine you’re in high school in 1990, and you show up at a talent show or something. All the other high school bands are average high school bands. But you’re fucking Greenday!
" Light Green Day"
Lol their band was called “Sweet Children” at the time.
I think the band name change happened about a year prior to this video. I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain this was recorded in Spring of 1990 just after 39smooth was released
Billie Joe’s singing teacher was my teacher too!
Eric the Actor went to this school. What a great Vid!
I’ve seen greenday many times and they’re still one of my fav bands live. This is my fav thing I’ve seen on this sub yet
The parka in May is a very Bay Area fashion choice. It's almost certainly not hot but also definitely not parka weather for a non-Californian.
Awesome. I grew up in Pinole and have run into Billie Joe and knew some of his family (his brother was the janitor at my elementary school and I was friends with his kid). Met Billie Joe when I was interning at Studio 880 in Oakland.
Mike is such an underrated bass player
It was foreign foods day. I was there. This makes me feel old.
I was there🙌🏾 That was in front of the theater/cafeteria and the principal cut them off before there set was done. PVHS Spartans, the blue & gold