djrossstar

LONG BEACH, California — Surfboards, a "mystery" bartender and stage-diving security guards: Foxboro Hot Tubs pulled out the shenanigans for the final stop of their brief tour on Wednesday night.



Alex's Bar, a tiny venue that only holds 178 people, was filled to capacity by 6:01. It was easily the smallest venue of the three Foxboro shows I attended this week.

The first surprise of the night came during opening band Mystic Knights of the Cobra's set. While standing toward the back of the bar, I noticed one bartender in particular who wasn't there before — Tre Cool! The Green Day drummer was handing out free drinks to whomever he saw, yelling, "Tips! Tips!" It was hilarious, although the whole scene only lasted for a couple of minutes.

After finding my spot in the very front of the stage, Foxboro hit the stage at 11 p.m. ... but where was Billie Joe Armstrong? The past two nights he had ran onstage with them. I felt something hit the back of my head — it was a giant surfboard with Billie Joe on top of it! The security guards had carried him from the back of the venue, all the way to the stage.

The band launched into Stop, Drop and Roll!!! and played the exact same set as the two previous nights — and it still sounded incredible. The songs never get old, and watching Billie Joe stage-dive, create giant chants and run around the stage (without playing a guitar!) is something I could never get sick of watching.



I did have a couple of complaints, though. My first was the crowd — half of it was made up of buff dudes who shouted and yelled with beers in their hands, while knocking people over for absolutely no reason, the entire time. The majority of the crowd did not know the words to any of the songs, including the one Green Day track they played ("Blood, Sex and Booze"). Many just came to stand and watch the performance ... but I wish I had people to sing along with.

My other complaint was that the giant security guards decided to stand onstage the entire time, blocking my view of the band. However, as soon as the bandmembers began jumping into the crowd, the guards did too.

The show ended at 12:30 a.m., and the crowd cleared out pretty quickly. I was able to meet both Tre and Mike Dirnt, although Billie Joe was nowhere to be found. These shows (much like the Pinhead Gunpowder gigs I attended in February) were another once-in-a-lifetime chance for me to see my favorite band of 14 years, performing in very intimate settings. I can't wait to see Green Day perform again but could do without the 20,000-seat arenas next time around!