I have just had the most incredible weekend and the delight you see on my face being hoisted above the crowds on Friday towards the end of an epic Green Day concert in Manchester captures my current status perfectly. I knew there was a similar picture, green hair, same T shirt and open mouth from about 2 years ago but I was a little surprised to discover it was within just a few days of exactly 2 years ago. The photos look so similar they could have been taken on the same day, the reality of what was going on in my head however, couldn’t be more different. A warning for the Insta dependent folk out there!

Reflecting on that difference also got me thinking about the stories leading up to both photos and then reflecting further back in terms of Green Day and how a love for their music developed and was shared to become such an important part of some happy family memories.

I first discovered Green Day’s breakout album Dookie while working in Oman in the early part of 1995 through the purchase of a dodgy bootleg cassette copy from a little shop in Ruwi, just outside Muscat. The music became one of a number of soundtracks to that time on my headphones and was a part of keeping me sane during the 3-4 months I spent there along with the wonderful female voices of Jackie Abbot (The Beautiful South), Dolores O’Riordan (The Cranberries), Heather Small (M People) and Lisa Stansfield – trust me, when you spend your entire time around male colleagues there is a need to listen to female voices! It was that Green Day album though, upgraded to a bootleg CD copy, that I remember playing after my return home and particularly during our celebratory holiday to Butlins in Ayr with an 18-month old Abigail keeping us entertained.

The 10 years that followed with growing the family and very busy time of family life and career, music was only in the background and all the subsequent Green Day albums were purchased and familiarised, I even bought a legit CD version of Dookie since I felt guilty at enjoying it so much without having bought it. Gigs were just not on the radar for us and with the exception of a few pilgrimages to see David Bowie in 1995, 2002 & 2003 I can’t actually recall attending any.

Then in 2004 Green Day released one of the all time great punk rock albums, American Idiot. The title track became my phone ringtone and the album was played on a constant loop, I still adore it to this day. I needed something special for my godson Marc’s 16th birthday present in March and therefore purchased him 2 tickets to see Green Day in Milton Keynes for the 18th June 2005, I had no plans to attend but was happy to be taxi driver for him to go along with a mate. Marc had different ideas and made it clear that it would be Uncle Adi who was to go along as his gig buddy, something I remain so proud and happy about it brings a tear to my eye. We had an amazing family weekend in Broughton Astley with the whole Williams clan down for the weekend before Marc and I headed off to Milton Keynes. We missed all the support acts but had a fantastic time, Billie Joe at his peak of refusing to let the crowd rest for a second during the whole gig, a gig that was recorded and released on DVD and CD as Bullet in a Bible.

Now, although she was only 11 years old at the time I took Marc to that gig, it really pissed off my dear daughter Abigail, who had clearly been paying attention her whole life to the Green Day backing track that accompanied everything we did. The first opportunity to restore her faith in me was therefore the 21st Century Breakdown tour and all 4 of us went along as a family to Birmingham NEC on the 27th October 2009. We had become quite regulars at attending gigs as a family around this period and would include Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, The Cult, Fratellis as highlights amongst others.

On the 19th June 2010 Green Day brought the 21st Century Breakdown tour back to the UK and we were lucky enough to secure tickets to see them at Wembley Stadium on that day. The whole Williams clan joined us for a weekend in London and then Jackki, Abigail, Michael and I were joined by Marc and Cameron for the gig itself. I didn’t realise until writing this post that it was almost exactly 5 years to the day since that first time in Milton Keynes.

I was a fully signed up member of the Idiot Club at this time and followed news of upcoming albums and tours as closely as I could which paid dividends in 2012 when a surprise and somewhat exclusive set of announcements were made for tour dates just after the album Uno had been released. Abigail was at the Reading Festival and I was feeding her rumours of a secret performance that meant she was able to get to the early morning unannounced show. The highlight for me though was the warm-up gig they did the day before where we had the privilege of seeing Green Day up close and personal at the relatively small (2000 capacity) Shepherds Bush Empire on the 23rd August 2012. Mike and I were standing near the front and I managed to get a 3rd ticket so Jackki had a comfy seat upstairs. As a music gig, this was perhaps the best night I have ever had but it also effectively put me off attending gigs at larger venues since I couldn’t see how they could possibly compare to this experience and would therefore be a waste of time and money.

So the tour that followed, Revolution Radio largely passed me by, although the kids went along to Hyde Park I think and life was moving on for Jackki and I as the nest emptied and we made our move to Lanehead. I don’t need to go into the Covid pandemic and the tragic events of 2021 but in the period between Abigail booking tickets for the Hella Mega tour that was supposed to happen in summer 2020 and it finally happening in summer of 2022 it is fair to say our world had shifted quite significantly. I had no plans to attend that tour when originally booked, but equally we had no thoughts of gaining two Grandsons and losing both Jackki and Dave either. In fact, once the news of Perry’s expected arrival was confirmed, Jackki and I were expecting to be on baby sitting duties while the big kids enjoyed the gig.

By the time that the Hella Mega Tour confirmed date of the 25th June 2022 in Huddersfield came around it was clear I was expected to attend and use up one of the tickets freed up different child care arrangements. It is hidden well in the photo above but perhaps obvious from the things I was writing on here around that time but I was still in a state of shock and dealing with a whole host of unanswerable questions when the kids pretty much scooped me up and looked after me through that whole summer. Gigs attended and holidays organised and I just had to show up, I didn’t recognise what was going on at the time but looking back, I know they were absolutely looking after me and that makes me incredibly proud.

Once I had accepted that I should attend, even if I was still reluctant in the days prior, I decided to go all in. I’ve never been one for fancy dress, apart from a few years around the age of 16-20, but I wanted to say a bit of a “fuck you” to the normal world and get over myself a little bit, hence the green hair made its debut accompanied by my red T-shirt from that Shepherds Bush gig 10 years earlier. Have to say I loved the gig and to have Marc back as part of our gig family again made it almost perfect. We all moshed and partied and I lost them all in the crowd until immediately prior to the last song of the night, one we all knew would be tough, when they all gathered back around the green haired old man. We sang, we cried, and cried a lot – “we hope you had the time of your life”.

So if you have been paying attention to recent posts you will already know that the green haired shell of a man that attended that gig in 2022 has most certainly found a happy place once again. I have been looking forward to the Green Day gig in Manchester for months with the opportunity to show Caroline exactly what all the fuss is about and I think she now understands. The green hair didn’t spook her at all, in fact quite the opposite, and we had an absolutely fabulous time. Since Caroline came into my life in March 2023 my life has been transformed and we both share the determination to live out every second of our lives to the max, to be Honest (excuse the bad grammar using a capital, its a private joke) I should write a blog post just about the month of June 2024 since we just haven’t stopped making memories. Of course we all still shed a tear for Jackki during the last song, but the tears are different these days and a reflection of our love rather than the bitterness of loss. The story behind my photo rising above the crowds involves the strength of the shoulders of that same young man who first joined the Idiot Nation back in 2005, a perfect place to end this little tale x