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Billie Joe Armstrong Revives Side Project Pinhead Gunpowder in L.A.

2/5/08, 11:01 am EST

Billie Joe Armstrong can still DIY when he wants to. His side project Pinhead Gunpowder hadn’t played a gig since 2001, but the punk-pop quartet roared back to life this week in a quick tour of SoCal club dates. On Monday, the Green Day singer-guitarist was back to basics at the top of a three-band bill of melodic loudfastrules at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. Ticket price at the door: $7. With a beanie pulled over his bleached hair, Armstrong strolled onto the stage like one of the roadies, a Red Stripe in one hand and a guitar in the other. It was only the band’s 19th show in seventeen years, but the room was packed with fans who sang and crowd-surfed to “At Your Funeral,” the new “Westside Highway” and a cover of Diana Ross‘ “Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To),” shifting the lilting Seventies ballad into punk-rock overdrive. Armstrong pulled fans up to watch from the stage, but also told them to put away the digital cameras. “YouTube can’t own everything,” he said. “There’s also something called memories.”

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[Photo: Kevin Estrada]


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Comments

mike4ever | 5/16/2009, 8:53 am EST

mike is the best of the green day!!!

sol | 4/24/2009, 5:30 pm EST

billie es re lindo mi msn es marisol-greenday…

Bella:)R | 3/13/2009, 2:05 am EST

Billie looks kinda drunk in that photo.
he should just stick with Green Day!
BUT he is sooo HOT!!!!

GDismylife | 2/27/2009, 5:49 pm EST

I’m from denmark and I’m only 12 years old, so I might not be very good at English… But I just want to say that it’s about time this album came out! I’m freaking out SO much right now! Looking so much forward to buy the new album!Green Day is the absolute best band that I’ve ever heard and will ever hear! Anyway, do anyone know if they’re going to DK??Oh-and by the way-BJ is so right about that youtube-thing, I really agree!

Dodee Shu | 2/19/2009, 3:20 am EST

I like your style Billie Joe,,,,
and I thinK I…….

Dennis | 2/11/2009, 11:14 pm EST

This is fucking old this band has been around forever

angelo | 10/30/2008, 5:55 am EST

hi,guys…i from naples…and i love green day…they’re my favourite group…

Ella R | 9/21/2008, 7:46 am EST

im 12 and from England, im in love with Green Day, my dad grounded me for talking about them too much(it was worth it:] ) also i think his son, Joseph, is really HOT!

GREEN DAY FAN 1,500,002 | 8/17/2008, 12:05 am EST

Green Day is so awsome! I’ve been a fan for only 2 years, but I have almost all CDs including Bulet in a Bible

Anonymous | 5/15/2008, 12:51 pm EST

y♥Green day!

DAN | 4/8/2008, 9:54 am EST

stick with green day billie

pu9k | 3/22/2008, 11:55 pm EST

i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.i love green day.

amrit | 3/22/2008, 11:53 pm EST

i m the boy of age 15 from nepal.

amrit | 3/22/2008, 11:49 pm EST

billie joe i love your style.and mike and tre they r very funny persons they r just like kids an d billie joe i m your fan upto that time until i leave this world by dying.

amrit | 3/22/2008, 11:42 pm EST

hi, green day and pin head gun powder.i m your fan.i love your songs .you havent released a video since long period of time.i hope you will publish it as soon as possible
sincerely yours fan amrit bhattarai

Anonymous | 3/22/2008, 11:10 am EST

I just love GreenDay. the best band in the whole world! I looove them! Tré is the “beeeeest” Drummer ever! And I “loooove” Him. Really much! Mike Is so damn beautiful. He is like an angel when he play bas! I love him!

mrw (anitals) | 3/17/2008, 8:43 am EST

he looks kinda weird with his hair all blond and his not shaved beard

greasy0charlie | 2/28/2008, 4:46 pm EST

what a load of crap. billie joe never left his punk roots. American Idiot wasn’t an escape or detachment from them. in fact, it probably strenghtened them

greasy0charlie | 2/28/2008, 4:46 pm EST

what a load of bullshit. billie joe never left his punk roots. American Idiot wasn’t an escape or detachment from them. in fact, it probably strenghtened them

Pizza | 2/26/2008, 10:01 am EST

lookout, your wrong billie joe left his punk rock self behind when he realeased american idiot with Greenday

Pizza | 2/26/2008, 9:57 am EST

i,m not to sure about all that shit,but if billie wants no camaras at “his” concert than you should respect that or leave

lOOkout!! | 2/23/2008, 5:48 pm EST

oh my god!!! billie’s hair looks like my grandmother’s hair!! they’ve the same color!! but i don’t care about it!!! the most important thig is that he’s a good musician!! PUNK-ROCK FOREVER IN OUR SOUL & MIND!!

fair cool | 2/12/2008, 11:54 pm EST

this is a great hobby of his.

but bj has a point with the youtube shit.

i just wish green day would leave Warner already.. are they under a 10album contract or something?

GREEN DAY SUPER SUPER FAN | 2/9/2008, 12:33 pm EST

hey guns look stop saying green day is overrated. look just cause people listion to green day doesnt mean that they dont like other music. DUR! and green day are punk gods. they rock!. your just mad cause green day is better than those band you metioned. And Rock on BJA! its great you are doing side projects with another band. and hey guns if you dont like green day why are you looking them up???? GREEN IS THE BEST BAND EVER!!!

me | 2/8/2008, 2:54 pm EST

i live in germany so how will i ever get to a gp show in america?? youtube is my only way ^^

wouldnt you like to know | 2/8/2008, 2:12 pm EST

i wish green day would stop messing around with side projects and get back to writing the new album! either they think that because American idiot was such a popular album, all the ppl who bought it will remember them so they dont have to worry about getting a new one out anytime soon, or they dont care what people think. either way, i have been waiting for this new album for 3 years!!! and i am getting rather impatient!
PS on the digital camera note, i dont think he has the right to say that. if anyone who was there was like me, you would video the whole thing to make sure you never forgot! i would also like to say that i think Billie is rather preachy lately, and not all of it has been good.

pressure | 2/8/2008, 1:36 pm EST

if billie joe punk rock god told me to turn off a camera i would, pinhead g must be a gr8 memory and hes so right about youtube not owning everything.

serge | 2/8/2008, 8:26 am EST

heh, sorry about the outburst, couldnt see the post on my comp at home, but now i do. sorry! =)

serge | 2/8/2008, 1:11 am EST

“i wish people would listen to the mars volta, muse, the strokes, queens of the stone age, etc.”

muse = radiohead, think about it.
the strokes = a first album of two chord garbage and some decent follow up songs.

qotsa = one guy with a random mish mash of musicians and one (maybe two) platinum albums. they are my gf’s favorite band and even she admits they are probably not coming out with another album anytime soon.(era vulgaris kind of sucked, but the concert was good)

green day = 60 million records sold worldwide. i’d say thats pretty relevent. only 22 million of those were in the US, so they are reaching alot of people outside of our penis-licking country.

oh yeah, and the mars volta, i’m sorry, just sucks. i’d rather listen to sparta, or better yet, at the drive-in

Avital | 2/7/2008, 7:37 pm EST

What about that one band…The Foxboro Hot Tubs, or whatever they’re called? Wasn’t that him…?

Amy | 2/7/2008, 4:59 pm EST

i have a video of him saying that. but im not gonna post it anywhere!! i believe him and agree.

Dear Matt Mo | 2/7/2008, 4:00 pm EST

When billie wants to tour enough so that people dont need to bootleg/share, then when says put cameras away I’ll listen.

Screw billie joe, people want to share good music, big deal!

Get over yourself Billie.

Mandolin | 2/6/2008, 10:33 pm EST

I have a video of Billie saying “YouTube can’t own everything,” Sadly the only place I could put it on was YouTube… Sorry Billie…

Matt Mo | 2/6/2008, 10:22 pm EST

I put my camera away when billie joe asked. He was right.

Best show of my life.

Eric Was There | 2/6/2008, 10:19 pm EST

hey GUNS! The Strokes suck! everyone else you mentioned is cool. you’re just mad because the guys in Green Day have matured and they’ve reinvented themselves as musicians. just like The Beatles, The Who, The Stones…Green Day will go down in the history books right next to them. it is AWESOME that the guys in Green Day have so many side projects for all their styles. guest what? they excell in all of them! Pinhead Gunpowder has been around just as long as Green Day and they’ve had a whole different style from the begining. they put on a great show. i would know, i was there!

Bleeding munk | 2/6/2008, 3:59 pm EST

Penis…… there I said it …penis….. thats all I have say about BJA …… and possibly insert “eats” to that aforementioned phallic appendage….

mathias de la | 2/6/2008, 11:40 am EST

i think it’s great that he does stuff like this outside of Green Day. Im in a band and ive played some big shows and some really small shows. and it always seems the small shows are always the best to go to. it’s great he is going back to the roots of where he came from. Kudos…btw. anyone listen to Foxboro Hot Tubs yet??

Jeremy | 2/6/2008, 11:16 am EST

Guns, do you have Green Day confused with Blink 182?

Green Day is and has always been relevant.

Kaboom | 2/6/2008, 9:49 am EST

Looks like guns blew his head.

Green Day is not overrated. Look at their track record and pay attention. And it’s possible to actually like Muse, the Strokes, QotSA AND Green Day. I know I do. Quit being a hater and get laid.

guns | 2/6/2008, 4:07 am EST

who gives a shit. im tired of people sucking green day dick. they are overrated, and their time should be up. i wish people would listen to the mars volta, muse, the strokes, queens of the stone age, etc. they are the ones keeping rock alive. oh my god, billy joe had a beanie on his head and a red stripe in his hand? the only thing surprising about that is that he drinks classier than the music he makes. they are a nice band, nothing more nothing less. they do nothing for rock music. seriously people.

Carrie M | 2/5/2008, 4:22 pm EST

I think it is cool that bille is also doing something on the side by playing with an old band of his..that is pretty kick ass if you ask me. But dont get me wrong Green Day is my FAVORITE BAND IN THE WHOLE FRIKIN WORLD!~! oh yh and when bille said “YouTube can’t own everything.” he is totally right!~! HAHAHA. ~♥carrie♥~

Ricky Stevens | 2/5/2008, 3:24 pm EST

BOOM! PG returns with a bang! Ding a ling ding!

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