30 ............... Thursday, January 19, 2017 1SM

GREEN Day are staging a giantgig in Scotland on the 4th of Julybecause they couldn’t face anIndependence Day in the US withDonald Trump as President.

The chart-topping band havealready endured a backlash fromTrump supporters after frontmanBillie Joe Armstrong chanted “NoTrump! No KKK! No FascistUSA!” at the American MusicAwards in November.

Now Armstrong and bandmatesMike Dirnt and Tré Cool say theyexpect American IndependenceDay to be hijacked by “racist andxenophobic” Trump supporters.

Speaking days ahead of Trump’sinauguration as the 45th Presidentof the United States tomorrow,Green Day told The Scottish Sun:“Honestly, a lot of people love the4th of July, but it is basically justan excuse to get drunk and wearAmerican flags.

“It is appropriate for us NOT tobe in America on IndependenceDay with who we’ve gone andelected.

“Electing Trump gives the racistsand the xenophobes a voice andan excuse.”

Tré said: “We don’t want anypart of it so we would rather beoverseas on Independence Day,definitely, 100 per cent.

“We should get back tocelebrating that we foughtoff the British with sticksand rocks, but it’s coolbecause we can getdrunk just as well inScotland.”

The punk iconshope 25,000 Scots willhelp them get overthe political upset ofthe century by singingFlower Of Scotlandinstead of the Star Span-gled Banner at Bellahous-ton Park this summer. Tréadded: “I just hope that the audi-ence will sing the Scottish anthembecause that has happened in thepast and it gives you chills.

“It makes the hair stand up onyour arms to see 25,000 Scottishpeople sing Flower Of Scotland.It’s incredible.

“The 4th of July — that would bea good occasion to belt that songout and we can leave the StarSpangled Banner over here.”

Trump previously declared him-self a fan of Green Day.

The 70-year old President-electattended the band’s stage musicalAmerican Idiot with wife Melania,tweeting afterwards that it was“amazing”.

But he’s probably had a changeof heart after Armstrong comparedhim to Hitler.

The Green Day frontman toldrock mag Kerrang: “He just said,‘You have no options and I’m theonly one, and I’m going to takecare of it myself.’ I mean, that’sf***ing Hitler, man!”

The trio’s new single TroubledTimes was released on Monday,which in the US was MartinLuther King Jr Day.

The video for the song depictsTrump as a monster alongside theKu Klux Klan, suffragettes and thecivil rights leader, who was assas-sinated in 1968.

Armstrong wants to challengeTrump “on all of his ignorant poli-cies and his racism” despite threatsand insults hurled their way by hissupporters.

Tré Cool added: “A lot of peopleare afraid to say what is on theirmind or they have nothing ontheir mind.

“We’re still going to be here andwe’ll say what we feel. We’re notafraid of a knee-jerk reaction tosomething, especially when it is usstanding up to injustice or racism.We’re not just going to stand back

and watch. We’re going to saysomething, because it’s sad.

“We had a lot of progresssocially and it feels like they aretrying to push us back into the1950s in a lot of ways.”

Squaring up to US presidents isnothing new for the band — their2004 album American Idiot and thesingle of the same name criticisedthe George W Bush administration.

Tré said: “Now I’m sick to deathof politics — 2016 was ridiculouslybrutal in the political spectrum. Itwas ugly.”

The German-born drummeradded: “But it’s not the end of theworld. There’s no way 2017 is goingto be as ridiculous.

“If anything, you can see who is

reallyouyourthe

“Thwe kandthe

“Ityou

“Wknowon t

EXCLUSIVE By

Music WriterJOHN DINGWALL

Sa

PUNKS SNUB TR

We’rthe

Scotspunksare cool -hardcore

A CHRISTMAS tree wassaved from the axe aftera pigeon nest was found.

Bosses pledged not tochop the fir until thebird leaves despite naturechiefs giving them theOK to scare it away.

But the tree’s lights willbe switched off in FortWilliam, Inverness-shire.

Councillor ThomasMacLennan joked: “Bynext Christmas theremight also be four callingbirds, three French hens,two turtle doves and apartridge in our tree.”

Xmas firoverdoo

PREZZO and Itsu restau-rants have been rankedworst on the high streetfor sustainable seafood.

Wetherspoons pubs alsoscored badly with dinersstruggling to find outwhere their food issourced from.

Cafe Rouge, Bella Italia,Harry Ramsden’s, Beef-eater, Carluccio’s and CoteBrasserie topped the poll.

The Marine Conserva-tion Society urged firmsto “bolster traceability”and do more to informcustomers.

Fail overseafood

ROYAL BEEDRUG RAPA ROYAL beekeeper gave hisinsects banned drugs.

Murray McGregor, 61, admitted usingan illicit vet medicine on his hives.

The apiarist, who has made honeyfor Balmoral and Prince Charles’sDuchy Estate, is believed to be thefirst person in the UK prosecuted forgiving “unauthorised” drugs to bees.

At Perth Sheriff Court yesterday, healso admitted charges of illegallyimporting and possesing theantibiotic Terramcyin 100MR.

The drug is used to treatand prevent bee diseaseAmerican foulbrood, whichcan wipe out entire hives.

Claims that McGregor,owner of Denrosa Apiaries inBlairgowrie, Perthshire, alsoused banned pest control prod-uct Checkmite+ were dropped

by prosecutors. A further allegationthat he failed to remove all traces ofoxytetracycline — the chemical foundin Terramycin — from his hives in2013 was also dropped.

In 2009, McGregor’s farm in Brox-burn, West Lothian, was hit by thieveswho stole 11 hives due to be sent tothe Queen’s Balmoral Estate.

He previously said: “The mostlikely reason is that they have

taken them just for the moneybecause honey prices are quitestrong.

“You would need specialistknowledge to do this so it

would have to be a beekeeper.”The court was told yesterday

that a further expert report onthe case was being prepared

for the court. Sentence wasdeferred.

Keeper’s illegal vet medsBy GORDON CURRIE

Honey rap . . . McGregor

1SM Thursday, January 19, 2017 ............... 31

ly racist in America. Wouldrather have a snake under

r bed or out in the middle ofroad where you can see it?

That’s how I look at it. At leastknow who is feeling what waywho believes what — it’s out inopen now.

t’s not going to go away unlessmake it go away.

We’re going to do our thing. Iw that people are trying to lookthe bright side but f***ed-up

politics is f***ed-up politics.” With75 million sales already under theirbelts, Green Day’s latest offering istheir 12th studio album RevolutionRadio.

Armstrong said: “We were plan-ning to come along and wanted todo something unique and specialthat we haven’t done yet.”

Main support for their Scotsshow will come from the trio’sCalifornian’s punk pals Rancid,with two more acts still to be

announced. Tré said: “BellahoustonPark is the perfect venue for that.

“To play in front of 25,000 andbring our friends Rancid along isthe perfect package.

“Everyone is going to have areally good time.”

Tré added: “During our earliestvisits to Scotland I rememberthinking that Glasgow was a prettysurly town.

“We were pretty impressed.There are a lot of record stores,

record collectors, music buffs,people in bands.

“Just everywhere you gothere is good music and it isnot just rock. There’s all kinds

of music.“I could be wrong, but it seems

people have a wider taste in musicwhereas people in some towns likeone kind of music and that’s it.

“Glasgow is like, ‘Yeah. I’ll go toa rock show, I’ll go to a pop show,I’ll check out some electronicdance music. I don’t give a f***. It’sa good time’.

“The punks there are cool —they’re hardcore.

“It’s obvious people in Scotlandlove their music and I’m glad thatScotland didn’t give up on us.” But

he also has a bit of tongue-in-cheek advice for Scots fans.

He said: “Try to stay conscious. Iknow that at a lot of these outdoorgigs people start the day drinkinga little bit early.

“We know the Scots like to drinkand Scottish crowds are alwaysimpressing us.

“They are good singers, they’reloud and raucous.

“They are a tough bunch andthey are definitely not afraid ofbad weather.

“They’re going to have a goodtime and nothing is going to get intheir way.

“We’re going to play our music— and hopefully the world won’timplode in the meantime.”

Say GREEN DAY

RUMP FOR 4th OF JULY GLASGOW GIG

re not going to bee American Idiots

HEART ON SLEEVE. . . Billie Joe called

out Donald Trump atAmerican Music

Awards, right

You canseewhoisracist inAmerica