San Francisco Sightseeing Articles

SAN FRANCISCO — In its second guerrilla-style gig of the week, the rock band Green Day unveiled songs from its new album, "21st Century Breakdown," due in May. The band, which is from the Bay Area, booked the DNA Lounge, a 500-capacity club here, just 24 hours in advance and alerted fans six hours before the 10 p.m. start time. Tickets sold out in 20 minutes. The intimate space let the band - which routinely plays stadiums — get personal, with the members grabbing outstretched hands, taking requests and crowd surfing.

Billie Joe Armstrong, the singer and guitarist, vowed to play its new punk opera "from front to back"; the often melancholy songs chronicle the lives of a young couple living in the first, tumultuous years of this century. The second half of the show included songs from 2004's "American Idiot" and older hits, and the audience seemed grateful for the chance to sing along. At one point Mr. Armstrong seemed to forget some lyrics and brought a stunned female fan on stage to sing in his place. Mr. Armstrong, the drummer Tré Cool and the bassist Mike Dirnt occasionally seemed weary of playing their 1990s mega hits. After "Basket Case," Mr. Armstrong made his fingers into the shape of a gun and put them in his mouth.

Long after midnight the crowd filtered out into the street. Jonathan Pirro, 24, a student with a blue mohawk, clutched a drumstick tossed into the crowd by Tré Cool. "That had a wonderful feel of spontaneity," said Mr. Pirro, pumped up on seeing big stars in a small club. “The new album has this big, huge, sweeping feel and it just sounds like they're having more fun."