photos: Suzanne Cordeiro Chelsea Lauren
www.RollingStone.com
by: Patrick Doyle
Fans who attended Willie Nelson’s show at San Francisco’s Fillmore earlier this month were surprised to see an unexpected guest onstage: Tré Cool, the longtime drummer of Green Day. According to reports, Cool was onstage for almost the entire show, playing bongos and a washboard, without being formally introduced.
Cool appeared again onstage in California a few nights later; the site Saving Country Music quoted one fan who observed, “I’m sure 99 percent of the arena had no idea who the dude playing a washboard was.”
It turns out the appearance was a lifelong dream for Cool. He grew up a Nelson fanatic and connected with his band through Nelson’s son Micah, after attending one of Micah’s concerts with Particle Kid.
Says Micah, “I used to bounce around head-banging on the school bus listening to Dookie on my Walkman, so it kinda blew my mind to see Tré doing the same thing in the front row of a Particle Kid show. We connected afterward about music, drumming, and our love for Bowie and the Blackstar record.”