Nimrod (album) - Promotion

Promotion

The Nimrod promotional tour began in the fall of 1997, and began with an in-store record signing at a Tower Records in Manhattan. The band was upset upon reading reviews that suggested the band had lost its punk edge, and started a riot during its scheduled eight-song set at the store. Armstrong then wrote the words "fuck" and "nimrod" in black spray paint on the storefront windows, and proceeded to moon the audience of 1,400 people. After the riot settled down, Cool threw his bass drum into the crowd. No charges were filed and no injuries were reported, but the store was closed for the day to repair damages caused.

On the tour in promotion of the album, Green Day aimed for simplicity and decided not to bring new instrumentalists to play for the new songs. Armstrong commented, "Right now we're refraining from pulling out a lot of that 'Nimrod' stuff. We want to make things small. We don't want to bring a horn section or a violin player out with us. A lot of people want to hear the old stuff, and that stuff is still just as significant to us." The Nimrod tour marked the first time the band performed its now-routine ritual of inviting audience members onstage to play instruments. During the tour, Armstrong felt that he became a better performer, noting, "I think some people walk away from a Green Day concert with the emotions you would get from some kind of theater performance where the crowd feels involved — where it's not just about the singer. It's not just about the band."

While performing at the 1998 KROQ Weenie Roast in Irvine, California, Third Eye Blind bassist Arion Salazar ran onstage and "bear-hugged" Dirnt, who was caught off-guard. The incident escalated into an on-stage scuffle before Salazar was taken away by security. After the performance, Dirnt confronted Salazar backstage, and as the two were arguing, a beer bottle struck Dirnt in the head, causing a small fracture in his skull. Eyewitnesses later attributed the bottle throwing to a fan of Third Eye Blind. Salazar and the band's management soon released a statement: "I am sorry that my attempt at doing something I thought would be funny escalated into Mike getting hurt. That was never my intention. I simply had too much to drink and made a very bad decision. If I had been in Mike's place, I am sure I would have acted similarly. My heart goes out to him and I hope he recovers quickly."

"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" appeared in numerous events of popular culture, including a scene involving the death of a cancer patient on the medical drama ER and the series finale of the sitcom Seinfeld in 1998. The finale of Seinfeld attracted record figures of 100 million viewers, and has been deemed "the most talked about show finale" in US television history.