Month: October 2024

It seems as though there is no love lost between Green Day and Las Vegas, after the seminal rock band recently trashed the city in response to the Oakland Athletics relocating there. And now, at least two local Las Vegas radio stations have banned Green Day from their rotation.

The remarks came during a concert at San Francisco’s Oracle Park on Sept. 20, just days before the A’s would play their final game in Oakland. According to People, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told the crowd in no uncertain terms: “We don’t take no s–t from people like John f–king Fisher who sold out the Oakland A’s to Las f—ing Vegas. I hate Las Vegas. It’s the worst s—hole in America.”

Armstrong was dragging A’s owner John Fisher, who is not well liked among A’s fans due to the team announcing the move to Vegas back in April after more than 50 years in Oakland. During the A’s last game at the Oakland Coliseum on Sept. 26, the crowd broke out into a collective chant of “F–k John Fisher.”

Construction will get underway in the spring for a new, state-of-the-art stadium in Las Vegas on the site of the Tropicana, which closed earlier this year. The new stadium will cost an estimated $1.5 billion and is scheduled to open in time for the 2028 season.

In response to the slight, Vegas rock station KOMP 92.3 announced on Instagram last week that it “has pulled any and all Green Day from our playlist.” The post added: “It’s not us, Billie…it’s you.”

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A post shared by KOMP 92.3 (@komprocks)

Likewise, alternative rock rock station X 107.5 proclaimed on its website that “in response to Armstrong’s inflammatory comments, the station is banning all Green Day music, effective immediately.”

“Maybe he (Billie Joe) should take a look at the city and the people involved in that transaction than talking SMACK about the city of Las Vegas,” midday host Carlota announced on-air during her show last Wednesday. “And hey, I hate to say it and as much as the Raiders suck, but when they were in Oakland, they were worth a billion or two. Now they’re worth six. It was a good business decision and the A’s want some of that and I don’t blame that.”

In a recent Instagram post, Armstrong shared a throwback of himself wearing an A’s hat around six years old.

“The athletics leaving Oakland is devastating,” he lamented. “I feel for all the fans and the people that will lose their jobs because of greed. Three sports teams have left Oakland in the past five years, leaving a cultural hole in the East Bay hearts and sport.” In addition to the Raiders moving to Las Vegas, Armstrong was referencing the Golden State Warriors moving back to San Francisco in 2019.

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A post shared by Billie Joe (@billiejoearmstrong)

It seems likely that Green Day will continue to thrive as a rock band despite being banned from two Las Vegas radio stations. Though, it certainly might make it awkward next time they play a show there.

Spirit Halloween issued a surprising response to Saturday Night Live’s sketch parodying the well-known seasonal superstore on last weekend’s 50th season premiere.

The sketch in question is a fairly routine SNL commercial parody which positions Spirit as a Habitat for Humanity-esque organization that sweeps into devastated American towns to boost the economy…but only for six weeks each year.

“When others leave, we show up,” a Spirit employee intones in voiceover. “We don’t see a dead-end town. We don’t see an abandoned K-Mart. We see a Spirit, a Spirit Halloween,” the ad continues. “Thanks to us, what used to be a condemned AutoZone where a murder happened is once again a thriving business…where a murder happened.”

According to SNL, Spirit Halloween provides “vulnerable communities with the things they need most: wigs that give you a rash, single-use fog machines, and costumes of famous characters tweaked just enough to avoid a lawsuit.”

Surprisingly, Spirit issued an incredibly barbed response to the parody in which they called the venerable sketch show “irrelevant.” The company retweeted the sketch with the caption, “We are great at raising things from the dead, @nbcsnl,” alongside a hastily photoshopped picture of an “Irrelevant 50-Year-Old TV Show” costume. The packaging reads: “Includes dated references, unknown cast members, shrinking ratings.”

We are great at raising things back from the dead @nbcsnl https://t.co/TSlPALgKJ0 pic.twitter.com/EjrYa86Erz

— Spirit Halloween (@SpiritHalloween) September 30, 2024

What specifically upset Spirit about the commercial parody is unclear, as it’s fairly benign by SNL standards. Neither the show nor NBC have responded to Spirit’s jabs. Although it’s worth nothing that the store’s response follows a well-worn meme format that produces parody costumes using its branding. 

A temporary Halloween store calling anything “irrelevant” is certainly bold, but the brand couldn’t have picked a less opportune time to lash out at Saturday Night Live. In addition to the buzz surrounding its milestone anniversary, the season 50 debut posted the show’s biggest viewing numbers for a premiere episode since 2020. Adding to the show’s cultural moment is Jason Reitman’s film Saturday Night, a well-reviewed biopic about the mounting of SNL’s 1975 pilot episode. It debuted in New York and Los Angeles last weekend to strong figures, and will roll out nationwide on Oct. 11.

SNL also draws particularly strong viewership during election years, and this season’s revolving door of guest stars all but guarantees a buzzy run for at least for the next five weeks—roughly seven days after Spirit packs up and skips town.

when others leave, Spirit Halloween shows up #SNLPremiere pic.twitter.com/W3Kcd9pvtX

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) September 29, 2024