Foxboro Hot Tubs... don't mess around with the mess-around!

After being a fan for 10 years, bought 8 of their albums, went to 6 of their shows, and lived in the bay area for the past 5 years, I FINALLY met Green Day.

So here's the deal... Green Day recently started doing this thing that in between albums they start side bands... between Warning and American Idiot there was The Network, and now between American Idiot and Green Day's next anticipated release, there is the Foxboro Hot Tubs.
Last week, Foxboro Hot Tubs announced their "world tour", which consisted of shows in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, and three SoCal shows. Everyone in the bay area was like "WTF? No hometown shows?" Well, just when everyone was about to give up hope, Live 105 announced on Wednesday that there were going to be TWO bay area shows... one in downtown Oakland on Thursday and one in Crockett (which is right next to the Carquinez bridge) on Friday. These venues had a max capacity of about 200-300 people.

I'll save you all the boring details of waiting in line during the two hottest days that the bay area has seen all year (Oakland hit at least 95 degrees), and I applaud you if you've managed to get this far into my story, so let's cut to the chase... at the Oakland show I managed to get to the front of the stage (which was elevated about six inches off the ground), got stepped on by Billie Joe, crashed into Tre Cool's drum kit, and got the ugliest bruise ever on my knee from hitting the stage. In return though, Tre Cool came up to me and handed me his drumsticks and Mike shook my hand and gave me his guitar pick. After the show the guys were all hanging out and I got to meet them... FINALLY. The best part was that they weren't jerks with rock star egos... not at all. They were genuinely nice, appreciative for their fans coming out, and excited to be playing these shows. The show in Crockett was even smaller than the one in Oakland (it was at the local bar) and all of their friends and family were at that show, so while they weren't able to come hang out with the fans after that show, everyone there still had an amazing time. Although Tre Cool did hang out in the mosh pit next to us for one of the opening bands.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of you coming out for graduation season! Let me know if you guys need a place to crash or pick ups from the airport. And for those of you who aren't... those of us in the bay area are still expecting a visit from you eventually ;)