CANNES — Billie Joe Armstrong pulled the ultimate rock star move at Cannes Lions on Wednesday, throwing his guitar in the pool after closing his set at a Live Nation and Citi bash with “Time of Our Lives.”
“Oh man, that’s a rental ” one of his crew was heard exclaiming. “It costs £5,000.” ($6,623).
The Green Day frontman played a number of his hits and covers by the Ramones and David Bowie on a stage built over the pool at the luxurious Villa Alang Alang, which rents for $165,000 for the festival, according to a website. “I grew up in a refinery town,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the view of the Cote D’Azur.
“This is winery town!” shouted a guest. Before launching into “American Idiot,” Armstrong got political.
“It’s so important that we look out for each other and we show compassion for humanity and our neighbor. I don’t know who it is in France, but in California it’s called Mexico.”
He then leaned into the mike to whisper, “I f–king hate Donald Trump. It’s like acid gone wrong. LSD and the alt right, what the hell? I didn’t think this s–t was going to happen.”
Armstrong, whose son Joe played drums, also revealed how he met his wife in Minneapolis while touring when he was 18, and shooting bottle rockets at her outside a club. “I was a dork,” he stated. The pair wound up becoming pen pals, with him sending her records. He continued to reminisce, saying that being in a band “was always about building a like-minded community. The weirdos and the freaks who wanted to see something cool and be a part of something cool or uncool.”
Armstrong also recalled a tale about the late Chris Cornell, saying he told him he once got kicked out of a Soundgarden show for stage diving. “He’s like, ‘You shouldn’t have done that, young man.’ He was joking.”
The intimate bash, known for being the hottest ticket of the week, was hosted by Global President of Media and Sponsorship at Live Nation, Russell Wallach and Global Consumer Chief Marketing Officer at Citi, Jennifer Breithaupt. About 200 guests attended with senior execs from Vox Media, Asics, Anheuser-Busch, Cisco, Pepsi, CBS Interactive, Diageo, Twitter and more who mingled along the manicured grounds.
As for that guitar … we hear it was fished out of the pool and given to Breithaupt.