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So this guy on @reddit wants to help out his girlfriend who just got diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer. All she wants is a message from Billie Joe Armstrong of @GreenDay. I know if this got to Billie Joe, he’d help out.
To explain why, let me tell you a story (1/14)
To explain why, let me tell you a story (1/14)
My older brother & I grew up loving Green Day. We were boring, churchgoing, upper middle class white kids from the suburbs. But we thought of ourselves as punk rock. In the days before YouTube we learned to play guitar by listening to Green Day and deciphering tabs (2/?)
When I was around 12 and my brother was around 16, Green Day was coming to town on tour with Blink 182. My brother begged our mom for tickets. She didn’t like Green Day because, she said, “they swear too much” (3/)
Unfortunately, I couldn’t go because — I shit you not — I had a performance with my hip hop dance troupe that night. This tweet stands alone to mark my shame. (4/
Anyway, my mom, a conservative Christian at the time, is a little nervous about her teenage son going to a rock show without supervision, but she says okay.
We get home first and wait for my brother. My mom, to make sure he’s alive. Me, to hear about the show. (5/
We get home first and wait for my brother. My mom, to make sure he’s alive. Me, to hear about the show. (5/
He comes in the door and he is visibly shaken. His eyes are blurry. He can barely talk. My mom thinks he’s either taken drugs or been drugged. But she doesn’t panic. Slowly, he opens up about what happened (6/
Green Day does this thing at shows where they pull people from the crowd on stage and let them jam out for a minute. Miraculously, my brother got pulled up to play the guitar. For context, this dude went onto produce albums. But he got stage fright and absolutely bombed (7/
He got booed off stage. He was devastated. He spent the next couple of days sulking.
Meanwhile, I was stoked because my mom revealed that she’d gotten tickets to another show that week in the next town over. She was gonna drive me to see them (8/
Meanwhile, I was stoked because my mom revealed that she’d gotten tickets to another show that week in the next town over. She was gonna drive me to see them (8/
So mom and I go to the show (extremely cool, I know). We go to our seats and my mom starts searching around. I think she’s worried about getting stabbed or something. She’s actually looking for an usher. She has a note to give to Billie Joe. (9/
She hands the note to the usher, who looks extremely confused. He calls over his manager. The manager explains they have no way of getting to Green Day. My mom says it’s really important for her son. They say okay. I think: “No chance this gets to him.” (10/)
A few weeks later, I’ve forgotten about the whole thing. My brother is pretty much back to normal.
The phone rings.
“Whoa, hey, is this Ryan?” the voice says.
“No, this is David,” I say.
“Oh cool, can you get Ryan?”
“Who is this?”
“It’s Billie Joe from Green Day” (11/)
The phone rings.
“Whoa, hey, is this Ryan?” the voice says.
“No, this is David,” I say.
“Oh cool, can you get Ryan?”
“Who is this?”
“It’s Billie Joe from Green Day” (11/)
Billie Joe talks to my brother for 15 minutes. Tells him about times he’s bombed on stage and to keep making music because that’s what makes life worth living. And he says to look out for something in the mail. (12/)
Another few weeks go by, and a big box arrives at our house. It’s a brand new fender strat signed by the band, along with a poster with signatures too. As a family, we have a pretty good cry. (13/)
I asked my mom what she thought about what she thought about Green Day now. She said: “They seem like nice guys. I still wish they wouldn’t swear so much though.”
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