I said at the time that it was one of the best gigs I had ever been to - that boiling hot day in the middle of June sitting on the browing grasses of the Milton Keynes Bowl witnessing Californian pop punk deities Green Day blow 60,000 people away. And now Reprise records have not only released a CD recording of the two gigs, but there's a DVD of the show as well.
Bursting in with 'American Idiot', punching through with 'Jesus Of Suburbia' (the band's most recent single from the 'American Idiot' album) then straight in with 'Holiday', Green Day's latest biggest hits fly at you like an enraged swarm of bees and the memories just come flooding back. Even if you were not one of the lucky people to have a ticket to the weekend when this was recorded, you get a feel for the kind of event it was - Billie Joe Armstrong's banter with the crowd, the eruption of fireworks, the shrieks from the fans etc etc.
Dookie's 'Longview' and 'Basket Case' get great receptions, as does 'King For A Day', 'Minority' from the Warning album and la piece de resistance, 'Good Riddance' which as a show closer is one of the most endearing, heart-warming, emotion-tingling ballads ever written.
This is an absolute necessity for anyone present over that weekend, as well as any Green Day fan and, while we're at it, anyone with any sense at all. Green Day's rise back to the pinnacle of pop punk has surpassed all expectations and this release only reinforces the fact that Green Day are one of the best bands in the world today.
And I haven't even watched the DVD yet. I CAN'T WAIT.
