In true punk rock fashion, Green Day tested the censors at the Grammy Awards on Sunday – and the censors were ready. The Bay Area rockers, on a career high with their “American Idiot” album, added a shot of rock ‘n’ roll adrenaline by performing the title cut. The disc won the Grammy for best rock album.
The song includes a prominent obscenity in one of the lyrics, but the censors were plainly prepared and neatly excised the word. They couldn’t delete, however, singer Billie Joe Armstrong’s pointed political reference to not wanting to be part of a redneck agenda.
Green Day was energetic and confident, a band that’s grown up but hasn’t left its punk roots behind: witness the smoothly practiced leap and landing from the riser by drummer Tre Cool. And Armstrong was a live wire.
By the way, what’s up with trios that expand to quartets onstage but pretend the other member doesn’t exist? At least the camera operators didn’t completely ignore the mysterious fourth member on guitar.
