Green Day play first 'official' gig in three years

Green Day played their first official gig in nearly three years last night (May 19) as their not-so secret alter egos The Foxboro Hot Tubs made their live debut at Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Following two secret warm-up shows, Billie Joe Armstrong - who introduced himself as the “Reverend Strychnine Twitch” – declared the show the “official kick-off” of the Foxboro Hot Tubs' tour.

Official or not, the band played a stirring set, playing all 13 of the Foxboro Hot Tubs garage rock inspired songs and several covers.

Armstrong took the stage with a big mop of curly, blonde hair, a faux furr-lined brown jacket, a Foxboro Hot Tubs t-shirt and a mess of chains and necklaces around his neck.

The band opened 'Stop Drop and Roll', the title song off the side project's just released album.

After the first song, the singer then donned red, vaguely heart-shaped sunglasses.

The set was a boozy, frenetic affair, with Armstrong riling the crowd, many of whom had been waiting in line for half a day or more to get into the 300 capacity club, declaring “We’re going to get drunk tonight!”

Later, he downed most of a big can of Pabst Blue Ribbon — the brand of beer he name checks in 'Ruby Room' – before pouring the leftovers over his head.

Fittingly, crowd pleaser 'Blood, Sex and Booze' quickly followed (you can watch a clip of the band playing the song at one of the warm-up shows below).

Returning after a set that included 'Highway 1', 'Dark Side Of The Night' and 'Red Tide', the trio and their backing band performed a short encore, playing an inspired, punked-up version of The Who’s 'A Quick One While He’s Away', with the six-piece sharing vocal parts.

As the set reached its climax, a smiling Armstrong told the crowd “For a town called Little Rock, there’s been a lotta rock here tonight!”

Earlier Smoke Up Johnny, a Little Rock-based band, had opened the show with a well-received set of Thin Lizzy-style barroom rock. The band are also set to open for the Foxboro Hot Tubs in New Orleans, Dallas and Austin.

Read Billie Joe Armstrong's comments on the first few Foxboro Hot Tubs shows on NME.COM now.

Did you go to the Foxboro Hot Tubs show? Are you going to any of the Green Day project's other tour dates? Send your reviews, photos, video and gossip to news@nme.com with Foxboro as the subject and we will publish the best.