Well this was an upgrade in size from most of the “”shows”" I attend, with this one venturing into “”concert”" territory. Just a few days ago I saw ALKALINE TRIO in a place of about 300 people – for GREEN DAY, Hammerstein packed in oh, 4000 – 5000…In any rate, both of the bands on tonight’s bill have the expressed ability to engage the crowd they are playing too no matter the size or condition of the venue. Simply put, these guys are one up from being just a band, they are indeed professional entertainers.

At exactly 8pm, THE LIVING END, a three piece power punk trio showed up in grand style. Featuring a checkered stand up bass, a guitar that screamed “”rock city,”" and some of the most thunderous drums this side of an ancient tribe, THE LIVING END dutifully stamped the audience with their unique take on many influences past. Although these guys are clearly a punk rock band at heart, the amount of classic rock and glam metal spikes that fly around allow THE LIVING END to truly embrace a more open minded and expansive audience. Watching the crowd, both young and old, seemingly fall in love with THE LIVING END was pretty awesome, but not terribly unexpected. With their current single, “”Roll On,”" in hand, the audience soaked up the familar sound, fists raised in the air. The second coming of such showing of excitement was during the anthemic brow-beater, “”Prisoner of Society,”" a song that will wake up and incite any crowd into a frenzy of epic proportions. Other tracks included, “”Dirty Man,”" “”West End Riot,”" and the ferocious, “”Silent Revolution.”" Just watching those manic LIVING END guys was highly entertaining, especially with their bassist standing on the actual bass for much of the set, if not doing that, swinging it around in a whipping fashion. If you like THE CLASH, RANCID, and of course, tonight’s headliner, THE LIVING END should be on you “”check-out”" list.

At this point, in between bands, it should be noted that I was battling a terrible headache/sickness all day, feeling nowhere near my right state of mind. As thankful as I was for the air-conditioning being on full-blast, it was making me shiver uncontrollably. Joy. In light of this, I couldn’t wait for GREEN DAY to get onstage and let the place fire up again. And so it did, 30 minutes later.

Coming out to a revved up version of “”Nice Guys Finish Last,”" I quickly noted that the rest of the night was going to be one heck of a rollercoaster. Within seconds, Hammerstein turned upside down, bodies flying everywhere, kids bouncing up, kids bouncing down, and so fourth. Heck, the floor was shaking as if a two hour earthquake rolled through town! Hitting mostly a mesh of songs from the biggest selling punk record of all time, “”Dookie,”" and their new one, “”Warning”" it was a highly varied evening. Although the band didn’t forget about their other major releases entirely, tunes on those stuck to the radio singles, and virtually all of the old Lookout! era stuff was completely untouched except for “”2000 Light Years Away,”" and a few of the comedic tunes.

Although I think “”Warning”" was a pretty good album, I was a tad wary as to how the songs would song live, however, my fears were unfounded as the band played the new stuff much louder and heavier than I could have imagined. “”Castaway,”" and “”Church on Sunday,”"were huge, as was the 12 minute version of “”Minority.”" GREEN DAY is so much fun on stage it’s scary. At least five of their songs were broken into “”extended”" versions, built up with crowd interraction ranging from jumbo water guns, massive “”heeeeeeeeeey-hoooooooooooooos!”" and clapping exercises. At one point, Billie Joe and company picked out three people from the crowd to take over playing the OPERATION IVY cover “”Knowledge,”" selecting one kid from the balcony only if he jumped from up there into the awaiting crowd below. Insanity!

I don’t think the crowd got any more enthusiastic tonight than during “”Longview,”" where much of the audience sung louder than Billie Joe, but “”Basketcase,”" and my personal favorite, “”Welcome to Paradise”" certainly gave it a run for its money. “”Brainstew”" brought out the precious moments of headbanging for the evening – that song has such great guitar tone. A surprise song played was “”Jar”" from the Angus soundtrack of five years ago. From “”Nimrod”" came “”Hitchin’a ride,”" (another 10 + minute version that ended in an incredible display of power), and the chilling, but alreadly classic “”good riddance (time of your life).”"

On this tour, GREEN DAY is far more than the three-piece they used to be, while Billie Joe handed over much of the guitar duty to another musician, and many songs were assisted by a slick saxaphone and trumpet player. At first, I was a bit muffled on why Billie Joe played guitar on only a few songs, but watching him tend to the crowd instead was far more interesting – he truly is a master showman – and he threw in a quip about only playing the best songs for New York and not Boston (take that Boston!). I admit, I was expected tonight’s set to be juvenile and “”youth angst ridden”" but refreshingly, GREEN DAY has moved far behind the punk rock base they built upon and helped launch the masses in 1994. As a hard rock band entering their second decade together, they seem stronger and more complete than ever before. And hey, I didn’t even mention how sick I felt during their set because their music appeared to be the best remedy in sight.

LIVING END photo courtesy of Reprise Records, GREEN DAY photo from the 6/26 show in Asbury Park, NJ, courtesy of www.greenday.com