WISCONSIN

Did Green Day skip a Milwaukee date because of Billie Joe Armstrong's 1995 arrest for indecent exposure?

James B. Nelson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Green Day singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong performs at the Resch Center on Thursday, March 30, 2017, in Ashwaubenon, Wis. 
Adam Wesley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Did the rock band Green Day skip playing Milwaukee on their current tour because of the 1995 arrest of lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong for indecent exposure?

The band, touring behind its "Revolution Radio" album, could easily have fit a Milwaukee date into its schedule.

Green Day played a sold out show at the Resch Center in Green Bay Thursday night. They were off the night before and tonight, before playing in St. Paul on Saturday.

It's likely they rolled right through Milwaukee en route to the Green Bay gig.

On Tuesday, the band played Champaign, Ill. and, according to Google Maps, the most direct route for the five-hour drive to Green Bay would have been up Interstate 43. That would have taken them less than a mile from what's now the Milwaukee Panther Arena, the site of Armstrong's 1995 arrest for indecent exposure.

Then 23, Armstrong was ticketed after mooning the crowd during a performance at the MECCA Milwaukee Auditorium on Nov. 21, 1995.

According to the transcript of an MTV report at the time, the lead singer said: "he only drops trou at so-so shows."

MTV reported that "Officers went out of their way not to disrupt the concert, in order to avoid a potential riot. Instead, they waited until the last notes were played and apprehended Armstrong on the way to his limo."

The music channel had this from a Milwaukee Police spokesman Thomas Christopher: "The problem was he exposed himself to a crowd of about 6,000 people," said Lt. Christopher. "Including people as young as ten. That was our main reason for taking the action."

In the same interview, Green Day drummer Tre Cool said "that it only happened because the cops were upset that Green Day wouldn't hang out with them backstage."

Last fall, Armstrong, who is now 45, exaggerated the incident in an item in an Oct. 6, 2016, interview with US magazine, which carried the headline: "Billie Joe Armstrong: 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me (I Was Arrested for Getting Naked on Stage)"

The "naked" item is No. 7: I was arrested for getting naked on stage in Milwaukee in 1995. (Others tidbits in the list include No 3. I’ve seen every episode of The Brady Bunch,  No15. My ancestor is Benedict Arnold, No. 22. I completely rebuilt my 1963 Ford Falcon and  No. 24. I wear the same pants every day.)

There was no indication that Armstrong got naked in Green Bay Thursday night. And it apparently was a good night for the band - they played a 2 hour 20 minute set, compared with about an hour in Milwaukee in 1995.

Here's the Journal Sentinel's front page story from the day after Armstrong's arrest in 1995.

By JOE WILLIAMS and TINA MAPLES, Carrie Kirby of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report
Journal Sentinel staff

The lead singer for the band Green Day was arrested Tuesday night following a show at the MECCA Arena in which he mooned the audience.

"One of the entertainers from the band was arrested," said police Lt. Ronald Quackenbush, who declined to provide any other information other than that the charge would be indecent exposure, he said.

Witnesses said Billie Joe Armstrong, 23, was arrested after leaving the Arena's State Street exit about a half hour after the band's show.

"He was getting into a car with a whole bunch of people when about seven police officers surrounded the car with lights and prevented him from leaving," said Jeremy Prach of Milwaukee, who was waiting near the exit after his back-stage pass was rejected.

"It was pretty exciting, everyone was pushing and shoving," Prach said.

Prach, who took photographs of the arrest, said officers attempted to take his camera away.

Green Day emerged last year as one of the country's most popular bands and arguably the most commercially successful punk act ever, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide of its 1994 breakthrough album, "Dookie."

The trio has been touring since early fall in support of its new album, "Insomniac." The band was scheduled to perform Wednesday at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago.

Armstrong often playfully baits the crowds at Green Day concerts, encouraging them to shout profanities back at the stage. At one point after an exchange with the crowd during Tuesday's show, he turned his back to the crowd and mooned the audience.

Security was tight before Tuesday's show. Food, beverages, cameras and potential projectiles are often banned from concerts. However, security personnel took the unusual step of banning binoculars from the Green Day show.

A member of the group's entourage said before the show that the precautions were for the protection of the band. The group has had trouble with crowd members throwing objects on stage during the shows, he said.

At Tuesday's concert, the primary objects being tossed on stage were rolls of toilet paper.

Milwaukee in recent years has had a history of controversial stage acts, some resulting in arrests:

-- In July 1972, George Carlin was arrested after a Summerfest performance for using language that was almost demure by modern-day standards. Carlin raised the issue of the "seven words you can't use on TV." Eventually, the city dropped its charges of disorderly conduct, and Carlin has played here many times since.

-- In March 1990, the lead singer of Faith No More, Mike Patton, exposed himself during a performance at the old Eagles Club and pretended to urinate in a cup. He then took a sip and threw the rest at the crowd. Patton was not arrested.

-- Shock rocker G.G. Allin and his band, the Toilet Rockers, were charged with disorderly conduct in 1989 for reportedly defecating on the stage of the Odd Rock Cafe and allegedly performing other lewd acts on stage.

-- Punk rocker Wendy O. Williams in 1981 was arrested for making obscene gestures during a show at the old Palms nightclub, 2616 W. State St. During the ensuing arrest, a melee broke out, and Williams and her manager were charged with resisting arrest and battery to a police officer. She later was found not guilty of obstructing an officer, and the remaining charges were dropped.

-- In September 1994, authorities investigated rapper Tupak Shakur after reports that Shakur and another man on stage flashed guns at the crowd. Fifty-six police officers were rushed to the Arena from around the city. Officers found two guns in the rappers' dressing room. The disturbance moved onto the street and into the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee, where fans followed the rappers and damaged hotel property. Three juveniles participating in the melee were taken into custody.

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