Las Vegas Weekly

Green for a Day

Dreamt of being the fourth member of Green Day? (And really, who hasn’t?) You could actually get your chance on Friday. Throughout its summer tour, the band has invited audience members—real (read: not planted) ones, judging from various video evidence of their “skills”—onstage to play guitar on “Jesus of Suburbia.” Sounds easy enough. Except we’re talking latter-day Green Day here, and “Jesus” is no “Basket Case;” it’s a nine-plus-minute opus with five distinct movements.

Anyway, if you happen to get past the rigorous screening process—Billie Joe Armstrong might ask you what key the song is in (mostly C- and G-sharp major, apparently)—and earn the right to rep Vegas for a night, we’ve got a few suggestions for ways to make the experience even more memorable.

Introduce yourself with a bit of Van Halen’s “Eruption” Or the whole damn thing; it’s under two minutes long.

Windmill like hell. You know you’ve spent a lifetime practicing in the mirror.

Set fire to the guitar. WWJD? (That’s Jimi, obviously.)

Smash the guitar. Sure, you’ll probably get kicked out, but imagine your YouTube legend.

Run off with the guitar. But only if you promise to bring it through the casino and out the lobby doors. Quick escapes are for wimps.