Operation Green Day in neutral

In late May, a crazy idea came up in the newsroom. A three-part mission, if you will.

So many stories had been told by Mankatoans around for the city’s fleeting punk scene in the late 1990s about all the Green Day sightings. People had seen them play in garages, basements, even on top of giant wire spools on a farm near St. Peter. And we surmised, if all of this was true, it must be because frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was here for a girl. A Mankato girl, by the name of Adrienne Nesser, whom he was often seen with and whom he would later marry.

We had to get to the bottom of it. And our mission was as such:

1. Dig into the past. Compile stories from area residents about Green Day and Adrienne in Mankato. Find out what the punk scene was really like and what role Green Day played in it.

2. Find Adrienne. Send letters to her businesses, send word through acquaintances who would then send word to Adrienne’s friends and family that we’re trying to get a hold of her. And when we do, talk to her about her time in Mankato and her life now. Also, let her know about part 3 of the mission.

3. Which brings us to the loftiest part of our plan: Reach the band, and get Green Day to play a show in Mankato.

Perhaps, we thought, if we got a charity on board to do some good and also lower Green Day’s fee, we generated enough Web juice to get people to support our mission, and we somehow could reach the band and let them know that our little berg in the Midwest is proud of our Green Day history, this could all somehow come together. (The venue and fundage have always been in place, thanks to Eric Jones at the Alltel Center, who was our partner in crime since the beginning.)

So very much of the plan did come together. Thanks to many of Adrienne’s old friends and acquaintances, Green Day fans in the area, and even punk band Libido Boyz (who toured with Green Day in the early years), the first part of our mission was easily accomplished. A big story was published in Currents June 11. (Visit www.mankatofreepress.com and do a search for Campaign Green Day.)

We also got a lot of help from Green Day fan sites plugging our cause, KEYC TV and KTOE Radio who aired our story, and we have had a ton of followers of my blog, Katotainment.blogspot.com, where we have been tracking the progress of the campaign.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, a huge breakthrough. Word of mouth had worked its way to Adrienne, who e-mailed me saying she’d heard from family and friends that we were trying to get a hold of her. She graciously agreed to an interview and was even flattered that we had cared enough to find her after all these years. (See accompanying story for Adrienne’s responses to our questions.)

Today, we feel we have accomplished as much of our mission as we can — definitely parts 1 and 2, and even a small part of 3. Obviously, through Adrienne, we have reached the band, which — given their level of success — is a pretty cool thing.

But we don’t feel we have any control over what happens next. If the band decides to play a show in Mankato, that’s awesome. I, for one, would be sure to attend.

At this point, we’ve done all we can. The rest is up to fate.

So, as such, Campaign Green Day goes into neutral.

It’s been a lot of fun, everyone. Thanks very much for all of your help and support to get us this far.



—Amanda Dyslin