Members of Green Day will bring their cover band, The Coverups, to Retro Junkie in Walnut Creek Thursday. The cover band was founded by Green Day members Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt in 2018. They began their career playing punk shows with Green Day in the east bay in the late eighties and early nineties.
Retro Junkie in Walnut Creek is a hidden gem. A full-fledged bar, it doubles as a venue for some fun and impressive acts just like The Coverups. The bar Mr. Hydes into a venue multiple nights a week, and on Thursday February 2nd, the lineup will be a particularly raucous one for a weeknight.
The Coverups will headline the show, with doors slated to open around 6PM and the show starting at 8. One more band, East Brothers, will open. Following The Coverups, DJ Espinosa will spin 80’s, 90’s, and 2000’s music until last call. Retro Junkie always keeps the party going until closing at two.
There will be a local food truck from 7PM - 12AM. Tickets are general admission and standing room only, but parking is ample if you pop behind the building.
The Green Day side project has recently been active in playing around California. Their sets have been known to include covers of David Bowie, Nirvana, The Ramones, The Cure, The Heartbreakers and The Misfits. This means they play some of both their heroes’ and their contemporaries’ music.
Green Day itself had a big 2022. In 2022 social media posts captioned “1972”, the band has been alluding to a new album. Speculation is that the title itself will be “1972.” 1972 is the year that Billie Joe, Mike, and Green Day member Tre Cool were born.
Billie Joe said, “I wrote like six songs since all of this has been going on. I hope down the road we can get back in the studio.” The band has released multiple singles, but has not announced an album officially, though excitement is building regardless.
A video from the YouTube account Rock Sound, firing off educated guesses about “1972” said that Green Day are true legends who’s singles affect people deeply and stretch back decades. An artist quoted in the video explained it well: “When you get to some of those Green Day songs, they’re actually baked into people’s DNA.”
He underscores something I feel as a Green Day fan: When you start remembering their hits, over a hundred tracks come flooding back like visceral memories–memories of teen angst, and of releasing that angst through live music (or music on a CD-player with styrofoam over-hear headpones in your lonely bedroom in the suburbs).
And today, Thursday February 2nd, you have the chance to see original Green Day members on their home turf (they’re east bay natives). More than that, you have them taking classic rock from the 70’s-90’s and beyond and repackaging it in pure Green Day style. Don’t miss The Coverups at Retro Junkie.
Comments / 1