with Howie: Green Day's new album, 21st Century Breakdown, is yet another great piece of songwriting. I'm astonished that at the very least it equals American Idiot, which I thought would be an impossible album to top.

They're kicking off their national tour Friday night in Seattle at Key Arena. I still haven't wrangled a pass yet, but I'm hoping to figure out a way to get in and report back. In the meantime, I wanted to run this live version of "Viva La Gloria" as a kind of warmup.