Excerpt of the GDC Wembley review.

The lights were dimmed, plunging us into seductive darkness, enveloped in the halo of light which came from the arch hundreds of feet above us. The sky was clear, neither a cloud of a star penetrated its perfection. The only light on the stage was the blue under lighting of the stairs leading to Tré’s drum set. Something about that moment made me feel more secure than I had ever done that entire night. Surrounded by the buzz of chatter made me feel I wasn’t alone. A cool breeze dances through the stands of my hair. I felt invincible in that moment. Green Day had made me feel untouchable. I was on top of the world and nothing was going to bring me down.

Billie Joe walked back onto the stage, holding his custom acoustic guitar. A single spotlight was put on and lit Billie up beautifully. He walked to the microphone playing the melody of Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones. The crowd was abnormally subdued - if the acoustic guitar was out, something beautiful was about to happen. And it did. 21 Guns happened.

The entire crowd sang the first verse. The sound of that one collective voice floating into the stratosphere. This was one of the only times I didn’t sing. I wanted this to me in my mind for the rest of my life. I closed my eyes and mentally pressed the record button of my mind. With my eyes closed, I found it easier to breathe. It felt like I was floating above the crowd. It was the same sensation I had when I had a John Lennon song dedicated to be during one of John Roecker’s radio show. That feeling of being weightless and empty. The feeling that inner piece was mine. I was in Nirvana, true Enlightenment. I was where I belonged. The place I had been searching for my entire life. I was home.

The words of that song I did sing, the chorus, just flowed out of me of their own accord. One. Twenty one guns. Lay down your arms. Give up the fight. One. Twenty one guns. Throw up your arms into the sky. You and I. My eyes were still closed. My heart beat slowed. My body was rocking back and forth. I had only felt music like that one, with Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. That was how I knew that my life… my life force was Green Day. I opened my eyes and there was Billie Joe standing in front of me. For all I cared, this was the man who created me, gave me my life and would eventually hand me my death. This was my God, my Saviour, my Messiah.

One. We raised a finger to the sky. Twenty. Two fingers. One. Back to the one. Guns. Making a gun shape with out fingers. Everyone else had dance routines. Green Day had hand actions. This was how the family, the essential Green Day Mafia was established. This was something like a private joke between all 71,000 of us.

The one thing that could have made that song perfect was rain. Well we didn’t have rain as such, we had rain of golden sparks shower down from the rafters. My heart stopped and my jaw dropped. This was perfection. I was seeing perfection. Something I never thought I would see. Something I always thought I never deserved to see. I wish I had a photo of that moment, the moment I saw perfection. The moment I felt like I was worth something. It was that moment that the screens were filled with footage of Christian and Gloria from the music video. Jason Freese began to play the piano interlude. Tré had come out from behind the rums to say thank you to us all. Mike was pounding his fist on his chest. Green Day loved us and we loved them so entirely.

“Thanks a lot for coming out. I’d like to say thanks to Frank Turner.” We cheered, yay Frank Turner. “And I wanna say thanks and I love you to Joan Jett and the Blackhearts!” We cheered again, yay Joan and the Blackhearts.

The song died down and the cheers became louder. That was the loudest we had screamed all night. The most heartfelt we had been all night. It was at this point that I was starting to feel emotionally drained but I didn’t care. This was a Green Day show, there was no time to be drained of emotions.