Billie Joe Armstrong speaks out for those hit by LA wildfires and calls out “shitposting” at The Coverups London gig
The band covered classics by the likes of David Bowie, Nirvana and The Strokes at the intimate show The post Billie Joe Armstrong speaks out for those hit by LA wildfires and calls out “shitposting” at The Coverups London gig appeared first on NME.
Billie Joe Armstrong has shared his support for those caught up in the LA wildfires, while calling out some of the online “shitposting” about the disaster.
- READ MORE: LA music community tell us about “tragic” impact of wildfires: “This will be felt for years”
The Green Day frontman delivered an impassioned speech during an intimate gig with his covers band, The Coverups, at the O2 Islington Academy in north London last night (January 15).
“I just wanted to tell you guys to keep everybody in your hearts, and don’t be afraid to reach out or anything like that,” Armstrong told the crowd ahead of the show’s final song – a cover of ‘(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding’.
“I don’t know… This is gonna keep going for a long time,” he continued. “I don’t know how specifically you can do anything [to help] right now ’cause there’s a lot of stuff that’s on the internet, that people just are shitposting right now.”
The singer and guitarist, who is from Oakland, California, then introduced the “last song” of the evening. “I just want to dedicate it to the people that are survivors of [the California wildfires],” he said. “This song’s called ‘Peace, Love And Understanding’.”
The original track was written by Nick Lowe, and initially released with his band Brinsley Schwarz in 1974. It was famously covered by Elvis Costello and The Attractions, and featured on the US version of their 1979 album ‘Armed Forces’.
You can see fan-shot footage of the moment here:
Billie Joe Armstrong's speech during The Coverups' show at O2 Academy Islington
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