So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind…
So long story short, I met Billie Joe Armstrong! (Again. six years later. Not on stage of a full-house stadium this time). The guy doesn’t seem to age! What started out as a casual day, with no specific agenda, of wandering around the East Village of Manhattan, before getting lost while looking for a (pop-up) cafe in NoHo, ended up being the most serendipitous night of my life! With the odds of being present at the right place and at the right time to witness a (Punk) Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and the daughter of an Indian legend who The Beatles once described as ‘the Godfather of world music’ (Ravi Shankar) under the same small roof of an NYC underground club, FoMO got me for sure this time(!)
Brooklyn’s bad girl Norah Jones (Geetali Shankar) in the background mesmerising her blue-eyed soul right into you. I was lucky enough to capture a lot of quality footage of the priceless night on my Canon SLR, which Rolling Stone also used for their article review. New York City truly is a magical city, when you least expect it.
After Green Day became the only artist this year to be eligible and to be inducted, within the same year, into the 2015 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame defeating iconic acts such as N.W.A and Nine Inch Nails over popular vote of musical influence, excellence and innovation (debut record must be at least 25 years old before you can be eligible for the nomination and induction process. Nirvana were on the same boat of induction in the Class of 2014 HOF since they debuted with Bleach in 1989), rumour was that Armstrong flew over from the West Coast of his hometown in San Francisco, California to play a secret solo (sold out) show at an underground NYC joint called the Bowery Electric to try out some new material for the next anticipated album and 10th era of the band.
The band’s speech at the 2015 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony back in April at Cleveland, Ohio can be read on RollingStone.
On a side note, I only recently discovered that the rock bar (Bowery Electric) is right next to a place where The Ramones played their first ever show, the iconic 1973 punk club CBGB & OMFUG (Country BlueGrass Blues & Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers) or more commonly known as CBGB’s. I didn’t even recognise it when I walked by the Bowery neighbourhood in the East Village, cause it allegedly got shut-down by the landlord (Bowery Residents Committee) in 2006 over a lawsuit of scaled increases in unpaid rent due, with an unsuccessful negotiation to renew the lease expiring that year. Since 2007, the venue at 315 Bowery Street has now turned into a John Varvatos fashion designer store. Shameful.
So right after I had just checked out the Greenwich neighbourhood in the West Village of Manhattan, a place commonly known as the most expensive neighbourhoods in New York City, which has been a famous spot of residence for several artists and celebrities and also in pop culture (NBC sitcom Friends), I decided to head down to the East Village and on the way got lost somewhere in NoHo on Lafayette Street. I knew the Bowery area was next door, which for me was only an attractive neighbourhood to visit due to the number of popular music venues there, such as: CBGB, Webster Hall, Irving Plaza, the Bowery Theatre, the Bowery Poetry Club, the Bowery Ballroom and of course, the Bowery Electric. So many musicians have played at these venue before (and after) they became global acts.
When I finally got to the Bowery around 8pm, the Ballroom was the first venue I checked out, next stop was the Electric. After walking a few blocks, I thought I had walked too far and missed the venue until a passer by told me it was a few steps away. When I finally got there, I had just taken a few shots of the club and I noticed the info board on the wall announcing a ‘Sold Out Secret Show’. That’s when I found out Billie Joe Armstrong was the secret act performing tonight! The timing could not have been any more perfect! The only problem was, how on earth was I going to bag a ticket for the show starting in less than an hour, and that’s when a photographer waiting outside introduced me to some girl who was selling her spare ticket at face value for $20 bucks, cause her friend bailed on her on the last minute. The look of defeat on my friend’s face when I proved him wrong in bagging a last-minute ticket. Heck, I couldn’t even believe it due to being so overwhelmed!
The night turned out to be even more surprising after it was announced in the last minute that legendary Indian musician, Ravi Shankar‘s daughter Norah Jones was joining the Green Day frontman to perform their Everly Brothers tribute album. What made this little secret live show so special and priceless was the fact that Armstrong and Jones had never toured behind the album before, due to conflicting schedules and were making their live debut together at the Bowery Electric last Wednesday (24th June 2015) to perform their tribute album, back to front, for the first (and last) time since it was released almost two years ago, for an intimate crowd of around 100 lucky fans. Apparently, the tickets were sold on a first come/first served basis exclusively to Fan Club members 12 hours before the event (sold-out). Had I been a shameful paying member of the so-called Idiot Nation (Fan Club), I would’ve known about the unpublicised show. Serendipity, I guess.
The intimate acoustic set consisted of Armstrong singing and playing guitar, while Jones sang harmonies and switched between guitar and piano. The set-up also included drums, double bass and at times a violin and a harmonica. The unlikely duo performed all 12 songs from their tribute album ‘Foreverly‘ (2013) which is a collection of covers and a unique reinterpretation of The Everly Brothers sophomore album ‘Songs Our Daddy Taught Us‘ (1958). The album found the Everly Brothers paying homage to their Tennessee roots with acoustic renditions of traditional folk, country and rock & roll songs. As an encore, the show ended with a cover of ‘Sure to Fall (in Love with You)‘ written by Carl Perkins, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (1955), which was also recorded by the Beatles (1962) during their BBC sessions.
Armstrong stumbled across the Everly Brothers LP and quickly fell in love with it, growing fascinated with the idea of pop and rock’s two earliest stars singing about death, jail and unrequited love. “I liked the whole concept,” Armstrong told Rolling Stone, “that this was something taught to them, and now it’s being taught to me. I thought it would be cool to pass the tradition one more time.”
Other not-so-notable attendees that night in the Bowery Electric included: Bob Gruen (legendary photographer), Frank Whaley (film director), Jesse Malin (musician) and Adie Nesser (the muse behind every song).
Set List consisted of all 12 songs on Foreverly. Song names highlighted below are the tracks that I shot using a Canon EOS 650D camera and Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II SLR lens. I pretty much recorded whatever I could before Armstrong’s security guard caught me and told me to take down my camera. I’ve uploaded 7 of the 12 songs on my YouTube page (1080 pixel HD). I was very lucky that I had my Canon SLR with me in hand around the city as the battery of my Samsung phablet had died Just as I got into the venue. Fluked!
1) Roving Gambler
2) Long Time Gone
3) Lightning Express
4) Silver Haired Daddy of Mine
5) Down in the Willow Garden
6) Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?
7) Oh So Many Years
8) Barbara Allen
9) Rockin’ Alone (In an Old Rockin’ Chair)
10) I’m Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail
11) Kentucky
12) Put My Little Shoes Away
Encore
13) Sure to Fall (in Love with You)
The thing that still fascinates me to this very day, even though I grew out of the pop-punk sound over a decade ago, is that I grew up listening to this band religiously, and as the years went by, I kept discovering older and older gems, rare tunes, demos, records, endless rare clips and videos of old live shows (on YouTube) that were recorded by people who had no idea that these three highschool dropouts would go from playing underground clubs and back gardens (1988) to selling out arenas and stadiums (1994 – present) around the world. They truly became a perfectly inspiring example of living the American Dream from Rags-to-Riches.
Now that I got the chance to meet the man himself, personally this time, and got to record this one-time-only live show with Norah Jones and upload it on YouTube for the world to see, I feel like I became a part of that same old community who has been documenting this guy’s music since day one. Above is a rare video of the band playing during lunch time at their highschool, Pinole Valley in May 1990. The saying ‘Before They Were Famous’ couldn’t be any more nostalgic here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.