Live At The Santa Barbara Bowl

Author: Lisa Adam

Green Day and The Living End

At their core. Green Day are simply punk revivalists, recharging the energy of speedy, catchy, three-chord punk pop songs who bring the late 70s sound of punk to a younger generation. Throughout the early 90s, Green Day cultivated a cult following which gained strength with the release of their second album (the first was 39/Smooth released by Lookout Records, a southern California independent label). Kerplunk. The success of that album led to a wave of interest from major record labels and the band eventually signed with Reprise. Dookie was Green Day’s major label release and it became a hit within a couple of weeks; it also won a Grammy for Best Alternative Musical Performance. Insomniac, Nimrod and Warning have followed.

All of this was made possible because childhood friends. Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass) formed a band called Sweet Children when they were 14 years old. They changed their band name to Green Day when, in 1989, they released their first independent album. 1000 Hours. The hardcore punk scene received the album with open arms, the rest is history. Tre Cool (percussion) joined the band as a part of the permanent lineup shortly after the release of 39/Smooth.

The Living End has conquered their turf Down Under with an irresistible hybrid of classic punk and thoroughbred rock n’roll. Now the band returns with Roll On, their new Reprise release. With fourteen high voltage tracks, The Living End fully lives up to their promise as predicted in Rolling Stone magazine. which said of the band’s music “This is rock & roll that’s built to last.” The band’s beginnings were captured on Hellbound, also released in 1996. The recond won them a slot on a Green Day tour of Oz. Their follow-up. It’s For Your Own Good, was the first in a chain of radio hits, which ultimately led to prestigious support gigs for bands Blink 182 and The Offspring.