Warning! Green Day’s first live concert DVD and CD combination, “Bullet in a Bible,” might give people the immediate urge to crowd surf or run out and form a band of their own. It rocks that much.
“Bullet in a Bible” captures the indelible punk band on what has been hailed as its biggest tour ever. The CD and DVD both contain content from two performances on June 18 and 19 before 65,000 fans each day in the Milton Keynes National Bowl in London. “Bullet” features a few Green Day classics like “Longview”, “Basket Case” and “Minority”, but most of the song selection comes from the Grammy-winning punk-rock epic, “American Idiot.”
The CD, like the concert-film shown on the DVD, covers 14 of the concert’s 20 songs, but doesn’t seem like a condensed version of the sets due to almost seamless editing. From the crowd’s cheering and screaming to Billie Joe Armstrong’s spontaneous interaction with them, the tracks blend together as if one solid set had taken place.
The DVD also includes documentary segments and behind-the-scenes footage interspersed between songs.
The production of the DVD succeeds to capture the energy of the concert. The film edits rotate between band members Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass) and Tré Cool (drums), using helicopter shots, stage and pit views, over-the-audience crane shots and a stylish color to black and white technique, although some viewers may find this distracting at times.
During one of the interview segments with the band at the Imperial War Museum in London, the origin of the DVD’s title is revealed. As they take a walk through the museum, which one band member calls “a gallery of someone else’s nightmare”, an employee asks if they’d like to see a Bible with a bullet in it.
In another featurette, Dirnt expressed his feelings about how Green Day has evolved over the years. He said that while looking into the crowd, he saw many people who knew “Longview”, but he also saw a good number that didn’t.
“And that was a point that I knew we had gotten out of the shadow of “Dookie” (Green Day’s 1994 hit album) entirely. At this point, Green Day is synonymous with good music,” he said.
Along with interviews about the deeper meanings of songs on the album and the band’s insights on touring, other segments include hilarious behind-the-scenes footage of the band.
Drummer Cool is definitely the live wire of the bunch, at times sporting a Canadian Mountie uniform while pretending to snort doughnut sprinkles. During one pre-show practice session, the band harmonizes, adding occasional farm animal noises where silence would normally be, Cool being the most vocal of them all.
But, beyond the laughs, it is apparent that the members of Green Day, even those that don’t share the spot light with the front three, are hard-working and very talented. The DVD gives the viewer an insider’s perspective of what it takes to make a punk-rock epic come alive.
“Get pumped. Get ready,” said Dirnt. “You can’t just be sitting on the couch goofing around, playing Playstation and go up and rock a zillion people.”
A featurette shows Dirnt running back and forth and hopping to break a sweat before taking the stage.
“It’s the biggest gig, pretty much in the history of punk rock and we don’t take it lightly whatsoever,” Armstrong said.
Some fans have said that Green Day’s concerts are more than concerts; they’re huge events. Armstrong explained why during an interview segment.
“A lot of bands have a problem with playing in front of that many people and trying to create intimacy,” he said. “When you play in front of that many people, you don’t try to create intimacy. You try to create a spectacle, a splash. It’s about having something that’s massive.”
For those who have never been to a Green Day concert or haven’t touched Armstrong’s hand from the front row, the concert DVD gives fans a chance to see the band up close. Sweat can be seen dripping from the punk rockers as the numerous stage lights reflect in their eyes. Cool’s nutty facial expressions can be seen in living color as he bangs away behind the drums, occasionally tossing a stick into the air. From Dirnt’s hard-core rocker stance to Armstrong’s running leaps off stage equipment, it is all energy and emotion.
Green Day has been around for 16 years and if they continue to produce quality music and give performances like the one seen in “Bullet,” they should be around to rock another 16.
