Hey punk fans, this show bites
Green Day's Tre Cool slams Edgefest lineup
by Steven Sandor
Vue Weekly July 2- July 8, 1998

Green Day's Tre Cool has a warning for music fans: Edgefest just plain sucks.
After hearing a roll call of the bands who will be sharing the stage with the Orange County punk wunderkinder, drummer Cool responded with a groan. "Like, we're the only there."
His opinion of Sloan? "A band that's not worth talking about. They're totally unmemorable. It's not even worth saying that they're a bad band."
How about the Watchmen? All Cool did was groan when he heard that they'd be part of the Edgefest lineup.
But he did see some silver lining in this musical cloud: Cool's happy that his most-hated Canadian act isn't on this year's Edgefest bill. "At least we're not playing with Our Lady Piss [sic]. I know that they're popular in Canada, but that's one bad band. Our Lady Piss are to rock 'n' roll what Huey Lewis and the News were to music in the '80s-- and the singers both look the same."

At least the drugs are good Still, Cool, singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt will make the best of their time on the quintesstential Canadian rock road show. The band has played Edmonton many times before, and the city has the distinction of giving the Orange County punk rockers some best narcotic experiences they've ever had.
"We've had some really great acid trips in Edmonton," says Cool. "Once we were there and I saw the northern lights on acid. At least I thought it was the northern lights--it might have been all the drugs I took. We were all tripping at the West Edmonton Mall. The guy who brought us there-- his mom ran the amusement park. Just as we were peaking, we got these wristbands to go on the rides."

Teen prodigies, adult stars Hey, Steven, since you're already about halfway through the story, why not actually include some descriptive paragraphs about the band's music? As we all know, Green Day were the kings of the Orange County scene, a group of California bands that mixed pop hooks, metal-ish guitars and punk aesthetics into a musical package that ruled the charts four or five years ago. After an indie career which saw the trio start making records while only in their teens, Green Day's major-label debut, Dookie, spawned hit single after hit single and dragged punk into the mainstream. The band's 95 follow-up, Insomniac, came out just as the Orange County fad had finished running its course. It was received with lukeward reviews and far less commercial interest than Dookie. But the band's new disc, Nimrod, sees the punkkids making their most mature music to date. Damn, you could even say some of the band's songs now put the soul in front of the tongue-in-check attitude.
Nimrod was a project the band took far more seriously than they're taking Edgefest. The trio took six months off and then spent the nine months writing a total of 32 songs. The reason? Cool, Armstrong and Dirnt felt Insomniac didn't have a focus-- that its songs so they could have the luxury of editing their work.
But even with separation, Cool claims that three are still as close now as they were in their teen years.
"We all still fuck each other in the ass," he says.
Oh, and he's not finished bitching about Edgefest, either.
"It'll be a totally unmemorable show. We'll be the only band worth watching. At least with those bands on the bill, we won't have to worry about any attitude backstage."
Except yours, Mr.Cool. Except yours.

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