LIFE - Green Day Warming Up For Tour

Green Day at the Fonda Theater

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:17:16 EDT

June 4, 2009: As a warm-up for their upcoming tour supporting the album "21st Century Breakdown," Green Day played a typically rocking, sold-out show for a rapturous crowd at Hollywood's Henry Fonda Theater. Among the die-hard fans there: photographer Stephen Albanese, who captured the band in action for LIFE.

Billie Joe Armstrong, Front and Center

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:27:22 EDT

Green Day's frontman wields his ax at the Fonda Theater. Photographer Albanese had shot the band in concert three times before, but never anywhere so intimate. "The Fonda is my favorite venue in town. The stage height is perfect. You can feel the crowd right behind you."

A View of the Stage

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:02:57 EDT

Photographers at the Fonda had two songs -- about eight minutes, Albanese estimates -- to get their shots of Green Day. Once the lensmen were allowed into the venue, they had to catch up to the down-to-business trio, already launching into their energetic set.

Billie Joe Raises a Fist

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:11:37 EDT

The show "saw frontman Billie Joe Armstrong scuttling about the stage with an eagerness somewhere between James Brown and a riled-up badger," wrote the L.A. Times reviewer August Brown.

In the Pit

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:48:13 EDT

As Mike Dirnt plays, photographers rush the stage.

In the Thick of the Crowd

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:11:05 EDT

In those fleeting eight minutes, Albanese captured the action in various formats and using various cameras. How was he able to carry around all his equipment and maneuver in such a crowded space? "I have a backpack and a big pocket," he says, laughing.

Billie Joe Armstrong in the Spotlight

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:47:29 EDT

The small size of the venue gave the show a more freewheeling, anything-can-happen feel, says Albanese. "At this show at least, Billie Joe would just shout out to the crowd, 'What do you want to hear?' They played the most random four or five songs from the archives that I didn't even remember the lyrics to."

Billie Joe's Guitar: A Closer Look

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:58:25 EDT

For Albanese, shooting Green Day was more than just an assignment. "They are my favorite band," he says. "I remember when I was a freshman in high school when 'Dookie' came out, and playing the hell out of that. With this new CD, [they've emerged as] the only creative entity that has continued to get older with me and get better."

Power Trio

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:54:23 EDT

Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool (on drums), and Mike Dirnt have been making music together for close to two decades. "For a marriage to last that long is an achievement," Tre Cool told Entertainment Weekly in 2005. "And that's only two people -- this is three!"

Might as Well Jump

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:36:42 EDT

Armstrong, spry as ever at age 37, leaps on stage.

The View From Below

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:11:17 EDT

Like their previous album, "American Idiot," Green Day's "21st Century Breakdown" is a politically charged epic. Divided into three acts, it tells the story of a couple surviving modern times. "'American Idiot' marked a really high bar for us," Armstrong told Rolling Stone earlier this year. "It's easy to go, 'OK, we can just write a collection of songs.' But there was something about trying to keep going for it."

Towering Bille Joe

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:45:45 EDT

"There is such a difference from when they were just playing 'Dookie' songs, and it was just a loud, fast, fun, great show," observes photographer Albanese, describing how the band has matured in concert. "Now there is this conviction with what they say."

A Moment With Mike Dirnt

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:14:36 EDT

"Ten years ago, a lot of people [wrote us off]," the bassist told EW back in 2005. "'That's just a snotty little band from the Bay Area.' But we're a career band."

Pointing the Way

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:22:17 EDT

Armstrong gets into it. The band's 38-date North American tour kicks off July 3 in Seattle.

The Ecstatic Fans

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:41:50 EDT

After his time shooting the band ran out, photographer Albanese scurried to join the crowd as just another fan. "Thankfully I was parked pretty close, so I literally went out the back door, sprinted to my car with my camera bag, and put my cameras away. I was sprinting back to the venue...then got back to 5 or 6 feet of the stage. I watched the rest of the show in the pit, jumping up and down, screaming every lyric."

Furious Fingers

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:10:07 EDT

Using black-and-white film with a Pentax, photographer Albanese captures Armstrong mid-riff.

A Little Bit Softer Now...

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:10:37 EDT

With their touring guitarist Jason White, Armstrong and Dirnt lie on the stage, part of their performance of "King for a Day/Shout." "I took that with a camera phone after I got back down to the pit -- it was just something to have to send to a couple of friends. I definitely wasn't Twittering at the show!"