After a surprise performance last Friday at 1-2-3-4 Go! Records in Oakland, Billie Joe Armstrong’s new side project band, The Longshot, had their second official show at Thee Parkside. I love that Billie Joe has made Thee Parkside his go to bar to play a small intimate show in San Francisco. Back in March I saw members of Green Day perform in a covers band called The Coverups. Just like the last month’s The Coverups show, this event sold out in minutes. When I arrived to the venue I immediately jumped in line and saw a lot of familiar faces from the March show. I saw Adam Carson from AFI, Kepi Ghoulie from the Groovie Ghoulies in attendance as well. The room filled up fast with eager Green Day fan. I found my spot near the back of the bar, as much as I would love to stand up front, I figured I don’t want to ruin half the crowd’s view for the night due to my tall height.
There was only one opener, Dead Sound, featuring Bill Schneider on guitar (Green Day fans would recognize him as the bassist with Pinhead Gunpowder). I really enjoyed their set. Dead Sound has that East Bay/a band you would hear on Lookout Records/90s Alternative sound that had everyone in the room dancing in their place. Even Billie Joe Armstrong came out and stood behind me to watch part of Dead Sound’s set. I can’t wait to hear their full album in the near future.
The Longshot were up next. Since I saw The Longshot the previous Friday night, I had an idea of what the setlist might be, luckily for me they added some more songs. I find it interesting in less than a week’s time since The Longshot released their three song EP, how everyone in attendance knew the lyrics to those songs when the band played them. Also, I got a kick seeing everyone enjoying all these new songs live for the first time. Just like The Coverups, The Longshot added some cover songs to fill up the setlist, including a Ramones cover, along with some Green Day covers. I have to admit it’s weird saying The Longshot covering Green Day, since they are Billie Joe Armstrong’s songs that he wrote himself, but I guess you have to call it a cover since it’s a different band lineup. I geeked out so hard when they covered Green Day’s “Stay The Night.” When Billie Joe started strumming the opening chords, I immediately recognize them and the same guitar tone from the album so I busted out my phone to film it. The Longshot also added covers of The Nerves and Generation X. I thought all their original songs sounded great live and the band fed off the crowd’s energy to really kick things up a notch. My favorite song from The Longshot is “Chasing A Ghost.” I love the melody and the emotional journey the song takes me through, a perfect song for the band to use to end their set.
For the encore, The Longshot covered Ozzy Osbourne’s “Goodbye To Romance,” which they recorded for their debut album. Followed by David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” and The Replacements “Bastards of Young.”
Overall, I enjoyed this setlist more than their first show since it was longer and incorporated some covers and Green Day songs. I loved the energy from the crowd, it was mixture of friends of the band and die hard Green Day fans. Even though I had to be up early the next morning for work, I’m so happy I was able to catch round two of The Longshot.
Click here to check out The Longshot’s new album “Love Is For Losers” on iTunes.
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Here is The Longshot’s setlist:
1. Kill Your Friends
2. Devil’s Kind
3. Taxi Driver
4. Rockaway Beach (Ramones Cover)
5. Body Bag
6. Cult Hero
7. Fell For You (Green Day Cover)
8. Love Is For Losers
9. The Last Time
10. Walking Out on Love (The Nerves Cover)
11. Kiss Me Deadly (Generation X Cover)
12. Stay The Night (Green Day Cover)
13. Happiness
14. Turn Me Loose
15. Chasing A Ghost
Encore:
16. Goodbye to Romance (Ozzy Osbourne Cover)
17. Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie Cover)
18. Bastards of Young (The Replacements Cover)
Here are some photos Baby Huey took from The Longshot’s set:
Here are some videos Baby Huey filmed from The Longshot’s set.
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