Secure This!

Like the saying goes, you can take the boys outta punk, but you can't take the punk outta the boys. In a move that appears to have caught the band's label off guard, Green Day pulled out of their opening slots for the Rolling Stones. "They wanted those gigs, they actively went after them. I don't know what went wrong," a Reprise source said.

Official word from Green Day's publicist at the Mitch Schneider Organization, however, was that Green Day dropped off the shows -- which were to occur on Feb. 9 and 11 in Anaheim, Calif., Feb. 15 in Minneapolis, Feb. 19 in Milwaukee and Feb. 22 in Detroit -- because they wanted to work on the follow-up to 1997's platinum-selling Nimrod. Interestingly, the Reprise source mentioned nothing of the irreverent trio's reported plans to enter a studio any time soon.

Green Day's publicity firm has not sent out a press release on the matter, attributing the delay to MSO's desire "to add the producer's name, instead of saying they haven't determined who it will be, if they have." Which, in simpler terms, could mean that Green Day aren't planning to use Rob Cavallo, the former Reprise A&R man who produced their last three albums. "Not so," said a source close to the Green Day camp. "I understand Rob will produce the next record, and is due to go into the studio to do some roughs. They are not going in to record their next album yet. They're just going in to work out some ideas and put them on tape."

If they happen to have second thoughts, the Bay Area punkers might have a chance to kiss and make-up with Mick and the boys. The Stones reportedly will arrive in San Francisco a week before the kick-off of their latest North American tour, which is due to start at the Oakland Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 25. The Stones' European fan club postulated yesterday (Jan. 12) that the band would rehearse for the shows in either San Francisco or Vancouver, B.C., where a new arena stage for the upcoming No Security tour is currently being constructed at the Pacific Coliseum. But late last night, crews were seen unloading equipment into San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, despite the fact that there are no shows scheduled until Jan. 28. When queried, one of the workmen replied, "I don't know who is playing, we're just loading stuff in." A veteran scene watcher says that the band is rehearsing on Treasure Island, a former naval base in the middle of San Francisco Bay, which once housed interned Japanese prisoners during World War II. To further confuse fans, the Rolling Stones newsgroup posted an item yesterday noting that the band has been rehearsing at the Pacific Coliseum for the past three days and will continue ironing out the kinks until the weekend.

As for Green Day's vacated slots, Bryan Adams will take over in Anaheim, Jonny Lang will perform in his hometown of Minneapolis, and Wide Mouth Mason will pick up the slack in Detroit and Milwaukee.

JAAN UHELSZKI
(January 13, 1999)