GREEN DAY CONTINUE THEIR DEMOLITION DERBY AS THEIR PLATINUM `NIMROD’ ALBUM TAKES 20 POINT JUMP ON `BILLBOARD’ ALBUM CHART

FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/AMANDA CAGAN

GREEN DAY CONTINUE THEIR DEMOLITION DERBY AS THEIR PLATINUM `NIMROD' ALBUM TAKES 20 POINT JUMP ON `BILLBOARD' ALBUM CHART

For GREEN DAY, the madness continues. At the WHFS Festival at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., the band stole the show by playing a reliably maniacal set in front of 60,000 people before capping things off with a special touch.

Let the Washington Post pick up the story: "GREEN DAY's lead singer, BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG, donned a mask for a crowd-pleasing spoof of shock-rock ghoul Marilyn Manson and later stripped down to leopard-print bikini panties. It seemed as if the entire stadium sang along to the anthem of self-loathing `Basket Case,' and after a spectacularly pyromaniacal closing in which the band set its drum kit and guitars on fire, ARMSTRONG managed to pull off the relatively quiet and reflective `Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).'"

Elsewhere, at the Asbury Park Convention Hall in New Jersey, BILLIE JOE gazed out at the crowd (a sea of kids, some with parents in tow) and said, "How many of you little guys would like to say `fuck' for the first time in front of your parents?"

GREEN DAY's demolition derby was also on display at a gig in Portland, Maine when they played the Civic Center. The show climaxed with a "complete demolition of the stage," reported the Portland Press Herald, which went on to comment: "First, drummer TRE COOL beat the crap out of his drum kit. He climbed on top of MIKE DIRNT's stack of bass amps with the bass drum and heaved it into the air. With his bass guitar still plugged in, DIRNT launched it skyward where it was intercepted by an airborne floor tom. Both came crashing down to stage to the sounds of deafening feedback. People concerned for their long-term hearing ability went running for the exits. Too bad for them, for by leaving early they missed the most audacious move of the night." Want to know what that is? You'll have to go to a GREEN DAY show yourself.

Meanwhile, all of this madness on the road–combined with the huge airplay and video spins for their new single "Redundant"–has resulted in a 20 point jump for their platinum NIMROD album, moving from #98 to #78 in next week's Billboard album chart.

What's next for GREEN DAY? Stay tuned…you've been warned.