In August of 1994 Green Day’s ‘Dookie’ had only been released for merely five months and at number 19 in the album charts, an adolescent blue haired Billie Joe and his musical brothers were about to play one of their most memorable performances of their music life-span. You could even say that this performance put them on the map of success.   

 

On the final day of Woodstock ‘94, the not-so-known punk trio strides onto the South Stage, Green Day hope to appeal to a wilder young audience, and for the next 35 minutes, that is exactly what they got.

 

True to the punk aesthetics Armstrong taunts the audience with, " What’s this free, hippie love shit? " and kicks straight into angst-filled anthem ‘Welcome To Paradise’.

 

While a wide-eyed, crazy looking Billie Joe spits and paces the stage the beginnings of the famous low-end drum sounds of ‘Longview’ fills the mud-soaked fields.  The atmosphere seems to be getting more outrageous as the chorus is sung - "Bite my lip and close my eyes". Bodies suddenly submerge from all angles of the sea-ridden crowd; let’s just say if Wally were there he would never have been found.

 

Towards the end of  ‘When I Come Around’ slabs of thick , heavy mud is thrown between the crowd and stage. Slabs become faster and quicker along with the pace of the songs. It’s surprising that not one member of the band has been stricken down yet.

 

A Hell pit begins to open in one of the final songs ‘P.O.D’. It’s hard to concentrate on the band as there is so much going on. Accompanying the hurdling mud heaps is random mud stained bodies appearing on stage and getting pounded down by security, the crowd is completely out of control.

 

Congested with adrenaline Green Day retaliate and start sliding around the stage throwing the sticky mud back to the audience. Billie Joe stands, arms open wide like if he’s a religious god-like figure and takes every heap of mud thrown at him as if it’s nothing. Humorously Armstrong comments ‘ This isn’t love and peace, it’s fucking anarchy’.

 

Three months after the wild performance, ‘Basket Case’ and ‘Longview’ was plastered on the radio and ‘Dookie’ climbed to a phenomenal number 4 in the album charts. If only every live show was as anarchical and chaotic as this one.