My Last Arena Show

I'm getting too old for this shit.

Last night Green Day put on one of the best concerts I've seen in my life at Providence Park in Portland.

Playing through two full iconic albums - Dookie and American Idiot - along with some other hits and new songs, it was a night to remember.

I’m not sure how they’ve done it, but the guys from Green Day never seem to age. And from all the concerts I’ve seen on tv going all the way back to their historical show at Woodstock 94, where they got into a mudfight with the crowd, I’ve been enamored by Green Day. They are one of my all-time favorite bands.

The Smashing Pumpkins are right up there with Green Day, as their first 3 albums still find their way to regular rotation in my life all these decades later. They were also great, but also sort of weird, with some wrestlers coming out of nowhere to fight during a song at the end. It was truly baffling to me. But then again, Billy Corgan is a total freak. While I love the music of Smashing Pumpkins, Corgan has become a gross icky monster to me in recent years. The more I learn about him, the less I want to know. But I digress.

Hometown hero Chino Moreno from The Deftones came out for a song with them which was cool.

Chino from the Deftones joining the Smashing Pumpkins for a song.

Rancid was one of the openers and were also fun but man, they are grizzled these days. Plus, they were basically playing to an empty crowd and it was pouring rain still.

I have never seen any of these bands live so when the tickets went on sale earlier this year, I pounced on them. I wasn’t going to miss these two bands, especially at the soccer stadium, where they just started hosting concerts again.

The skies finally parted just before Green Day took the stage at a packed Providence Park in Portland, OR.

Even with wildly expensive seats, most of the time we watched the screen to actually see the show. I hate that.

I tried to capture some of the epic pyro, but never quite got a good shot. Ah well. It was cool, trust me.

All that being said, this might be the last big concert I ever go to.

The entire experience is exhausting.

Between the outrageous ticket prices, price of food and bevvies, enduring cattle crowds and crammed transit or parking lots, the travel to and from the venues and all the complications that go along with it, I'm sort of done with it.

I struggled last night with the rain, getting absolutely soaked on our way into the venue, but luckily our seats were under the rafters and it cleared up by the time Green Day took the stage.

But even with rain gear, I was soaked and cold. I froze my ass off.

Strangely enough, this ballon sums up how I feel about 2024 thusfar…

I also didn't get to eat because the venue ran out of food in our section. We stood in line for about 10 minutes to find this out. The staff didn’t make an announcement, they just told everyone one by one after they wasted their time waiting to order $20 nachos that weren’t there.

I didn't feel like missing the beginning of Green Day to see if other sections had food, so I starved. By the time I got home, I was nauseous and almost puked from not eating for nearly 12 hours.

The crowds at big shows are always a weird crapshoot of real fans and business execs checking their accounts during the show. So many people seemed bored and wiped out and not at all interested in really even being there. Then you have your overly loud, aggro-bros always acting dumb and loud and trying to be the center of attention.

And for the second show in a row, despite buying what was considered "great seats" I literally could not see the drummer!

For the money I spent, we should at least be able to see the entire band!

Shitty zoomed-in cell pic of Green Day, sans drummer, because, well, my seats “sucked”.

Less shitty zoomed-in cell pic of Smashing Pumpkins earlier in the day.

Given my past of having insane backstage access and close proximity to shows like this for many years, I have been spoiled. Being crammed into seats, venues, parking lots and transit with the normies and not being able to actually see the bands while also spending enough money to buy a brand new Les Paul has lost it's fun for me.

I have now seen pretty much every band I've ever wanted to see.

Swapping lighters for cell phone flashlights…

From now on, I'll spend my money on small clubs and local bands where there's always a good view, the ticket prices and drinks are cheaper, the crowds are cooler (mostly) and you have a genuine opportunity to see some freaky new band before they hit the arena circuit.

I guess if I’m going to call it a day on arena shows, I couldn’t have asked for a better tour to see. Despite all the irritations, crowds, food shortages and overpriced everything, I still truly loved finally seeing Smashing Pumpkins and Green Day.

I sort of had the time of my life.