In a House With Unlocked Doors… Part 4

In a House With Unlocked Doors… Part Four

By Sharon Mitchell

Up Close and Intimate in Paris

The Monday after the audience with my gods, (May 11th), I was left at home for the evening whilst my husband, the long suffering Graham, went out. I had a text message come through on my phone, around 8.30, I think, with a surprise offer – would I like to see one of Green Day’s tiny warm-up shows tomorrow night? The down side was that it was in Paris. If I had been asked five years earlier, I would have said no, but I was desperate to see them – the earliest tickets in my possession at the time were for October – and I bit the bullet and said yes. At eleven at night, I sent Graham to the all night supermarket because the printer had run out of ink and I needed to run off my ticket on the Eurostar train for the next morning.

At the time, I hadn’t flown for 25 years, so the train was the only option, and so it was that, nine days before my fiftieth birthday, I travelled abroad alone for the very first time. That was a pretty significant moment for me, but if there is one thing this band has taught me, it is that life is for living, and it is better to regret something you did than to regret not doing it. This particular decision, I do not regret for one moment.

The Eurostar train to Paris runs from a station close to my home, and the whole trip is about two hours. I spent the time with my iPod, listening to 21st Century Breakdown in order, the whole way through for the first time. As Billie sang “I just want to see the light” in my ears, the train sped out of the Channel Tunnel and I was in French daylight. Great timing, Billie.

The show was for contest winners only, and for only 200. The Trabendo Club is in a park in a rough-ish area of Paris, and took a long time to find, but we got there and found a few familiar faces in the small crowd, too. The venue was tiny – a small nightclub, but the audience was even tinier.

The show was great – this was the first time most of us had heard anything from 21st Century Breakdown live, and the tracks sounded amazing, especially See The Light – so appropriate! – although this is the one and only time I have seen this song performed. Pity. The band were in high spirits, playing the fool throughout the set, Billie and Mike being particularly naughty at one point.

After the show, we went outside, hoping to catch the boys before they left, but the radio station that sponsored the concert whisked them away, and we stood outside just making friends. After a while, one of the band’s permanent crew came out and spoke to us, and after a short conversation, he disappeared inside, coming back with gifts – a setlist for me and guitar picks for everyone.

So now my tally of Green Day shows was up to four, two of them having been free. On the way home, I couldn’t help but wonder what other surprises being a fan of this band were going to be sprung on me.

I could never have guessed.