DVD/CD REVIEW: Bullet in a Bible: Green Day’s War Protest Concert CD/DVD
By Melody McPhersonHuntington News Network Columnist
Huntington, WV (HNN) -- "We're NOT Anti-American! We're ANTI-WAR!" With those soon-to-be-famous anti-war cry, Green Day started off their war protest CD/DVD that is "Bullet In A Bible".
BIAB isn't for the faint of heart, but then again, neither is Green Day or punk rock for that matter. The live concert was taped in front of 130,000 frenzied fans over the course of two days in London, England during the group's 2005 "American Idiot" tour, and is quite possibly the largest punk rock anti-war gathering ever.
When war protest songs come to mind, usually you think of hippies, the Grateful Dead, Peter Paul & Mary, and acoustic or minimalist ballads; generally Green Day doesn't come to mind.
Green Day the band, made up of musicians Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tre Cool, originate out of California. They broke onto the national scene with their historic and highly popular, multi-platinum album "Dookie", whose songs touched on the teenage angst and anger of the times, in a solid punk rock voice. Their follow-up albums, including "Nimrod" and "Insomniac" were successful, but on the whole did not rise to the same level of popularity as "Dookie".
The over-two-hours-long DVD is packed with personal interviews and insights, including the revelation that before "American Idiot" was even thought of, there was a time of decision with the group, a time when they weren't sure if they wanted to continue with Green Day. In separate interviews with Rolling Stone magazine and cable TV's FUSE channel's show "Comp'd: Green Day" the members of the band attribute their ambiguous feelings to a lack of focus, or vision.
But then, they say, September 11, 2001 changed all that. Their former political activist roots became to emerge in response to what they felt like was a war that we shouldn't be in, and the terror of the government's color-coded warning system, which felt to them like a way to control the populace. It was from that center of thought that their 2004 release "American Idiot", the song and the CD, were written, and it was from that CD and subsequent tour that "Bullet In A Bible" was produced.
Green Day is a talented, exciting concert act. Their display is fun, full of frivolity, and is a celebration of life. You can truly tell that these guys are having more fun than even the fans are having, and are taking the ride for all that it is worth. Green Day has an acute awareness of their audience, and are constantly keeping them mentally and emotionally involved with the show. The whole concert affair has almost an air of "greatest hits" about it: most songs from the "American Idiot" CD are played live on the BIAB DVD, but they also include fan favorites like "Longview", "Minority", and "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)".
For all of the fun that is going on, though, there are also poignant moments, such as when the band visits the British Imperial War Museum, or when Billie Joe talks earnestly, truthfully, and from the heart about his beliefs regarding the current state of not only American politics, but also global politics and the politics of war.
"American Idiot" is a mature, focused work that urges even the casual listener to sit up, pay attention, and stand up for our rights, as Bob Marley would say. Without a doubt, "Bullet In A Bible" makes Green Day punk rock demi-gods in their fan's minds. With "American Idiot", Green Day seems to have placed their guitars - and Drums, for you Tre - on the heartbeat of one of the greatest issues in American society right now. And they totally punk rock it out.