Green Day has prepared tons of new songs that will appear on the band’s forthcoming ninth studio album.

Billie Joe Armstrong, songwriter and lead singer, says the new album will have a high energy and fresh sound.

On his Twitter page, Armstrong said, here’s the scoop, every day we have been jamming on new songs. We have tons of new songs that are high energy and have a fresh direction. It feels great.

Armstrong also said that his band mates, drummer Tre Cool and bassist Mike Dirnt, are having a great time laying tracks down for their new album.

He added, I can’t give too much away. However, just know me, Tre, Mike and Jason are having a great time playing and collaborating on music. No bull.

Recently, “American Idiot,” the musical based on the band’s concept album with the same name, closed on Broadway. However, Armstrong said he was very proud with the way the musical moved people.

It moves people, he said. I think for the same reason that you want to watch a band performing live. The record comes to life, it’s a story, it is right in your face.

“American Idiot” does that. It does that in the music as well as onstage.

Anyone who was able to catch Green Day‘s 2010 summer tour already knows how awesome the  concerts were.  So it isn’t surprising that the band is planning to release a live DVD/CD package to remember the good times.  Appropriately, the album’s title is “Awesome as F—.”  On Amazon the forthcoming set has a listed release date of March 15.

In August buzz about a live album to chronicle the live shows in support of the band’s 2009 set “21st Century Breakdown” began to circulate.  That’s when the band said on Twitter they’d been recording the shows since the tour started.  In August Billie Joe Armstrong, the band’s frontman, also announced they were recording during a show when the group was performing a new song called “Cigarettes and Valentines.”

It won’t be the first live concert album from Green Day.  They released “Bullet in a Bible” in 2006.  The live LP was recorded in 2005 during the band’s gigantic show at Milton Keynes Bowl in England.  Armstrong, in advance of their new live disc being released, will be reprising his St. Jimmy role in the musical “American Idiot.”  The run will start on New Year’s Day.

Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong will be gracing the Great White Way not as a musical composer or a playwright but as a thespian, playing the role of “St. Jimmy” in the famed musical “American Idiot” which is currently running at the St. James Theatre.  Armstrong will be filling in for actor Tony Vincent who is on leave for personal reasons but will return onstage on October 12.

Armstrong will play the role starting tomorrow, September 28 until October 10.

“American Idiot” is a rock musical that is set after the tragic and devastating 9/11 bombings took place.  It chronicles the life of three friends who are in the crossroads of continuing to live a quiet life in the suburbs or taking a risk by living in the concrete jungle where dabbling onto sex and drugs is almost inevitable.

The Tony Award winning musical features music from Green Day’s “American Idiot” album –  from which the show’s plot line is adapted – and some tracks from their current release, “21st Century Breakdown”.  The production is written for the stage by Armstrong and Michael Meyer.  It also stars John Gallagher Jr., Stark Sands of “Journey’s End” fame, and Michael Esper, best known for his work in “A Man for All Seasons”.

Meanwhile, Green Day will be back in the touring scene when the emo-rock trio hits Caracas, Venezuela on October 8 followed by a slew of South American dates wrapping up right before Halloween.

On June 19 Green performed at Wembley Stadium in London.  It was the biggest effing show of their lives.

The punk pop American trio played a gigantic set list lasting nearly three hours and drawing from their musical catalog that spans 20 years.

The set list featured hits and tracks from seven out of eight of the band’s albums.  The set was also peppered with shooting flames and pyrotechnics.

Green Day kicked their show off with “Song Of The Century,” the opening track from “21st Century Breakdown.”  Billie Joe Armstrong, soon afterward told the entire stadium that they should stand up.  This show is the biggest one of our effing lives.  This will be the greatest rock-n-roll show ever seen at Wembley.

The singer throughout the show declared how much he loved England, wrapping himself up inside a St. George flag.  On several occasions he also wore a wig that had a cross in it.

The frontman, as always, brought several fans up to the stage to help with vocals.  At one point a fan sang “Longview” in its entirety as the band played behind him.

The entire stadium earlier on sang the band’s hit song “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” in unison.  Joe Armstrong then joked that Green Day was going to win the World Cup.

During the show’s first part the band also performed a brief cover medley, including “Iron Man” from Black Sabbath, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” from Guns N’ Roses and “Highway To Hell” from AC/DC.

Next the band launched into “Brain Stew,” their single from 1996.  Armstrong sprayed the crowd down with a gigantic hose.  Then he gave the hose to a fan that he brought onstage as he fired a gun with toilet rolls into the crowd.  Then he shot t-shirts into the crow.

On “King For A Day” a saxophonist backed the band, as their singer came out on stage wearing white feather boa and silver crown.

Then the track segued to a long medley.  It started off with Tre Cool, dressed in Dame Edna style black glasses, white hat and red bar singing “Shout,” Lulu’s classic hit.  The frontman then took over, singing “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life” from Life of Brian, “Teenage Kicks” From The Undertones “Paint It, Black” and “Satisfaction” from the Rolling Stones, then “Hey Jude,” the Beatles classic.

As the band was wrapping the show up, Armstrong told the audience, I will remember this day forever, then launched into “When It’s Time,” acoustic style.

The show was closed by the band with “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends.”

Lollapalooza returns to Chicago’s Grant Park on August 6-8 for its 2010 edition of the longest-running outdoor music festival. It comes complete with the newly reformed Soundgarden, Lady Gaga and Green Day. Other key acts include Arcade Fire, MGMT, The Strokes, Phoenix, The Black Keys, Erykah Badu, Spoon, Hot Chip and the New Pornographers. For those looking to fill in the artist blanks, head over to the Lollapalooza site for an exhaustive list of performers.

The newly minted Soundgarden will be the band’s first time back together in 12 years. The previously played the Lollapalooza stage in 1992 and 1996. Green Day debuted back in 1994 when they were still punk and cool, and Lady Gaga took an inauspicious side stage in 2007. Last year’s festival featured big name acts like Jane’s Addiction, Depeche Mode, Lou Reed and Tool.

Tickets are currently on sale. The three-day general admission pass will set you back 215 clams while the bigwigs out there will want to extend your wallet a bit further and plunk down $850 for the VIP passes. Full details are available on Lollapalooza.com.

Green Day has started to announce dates for a summer amphitheater North American tour as they continue to support “21st Century Breakdown,” their Grammy award winning album released last spring.

The outing will feature AFI as special guests and kick off in Camden, NJ on August 3. Stops include Boston on August 16 and Dallas on August 26. The trek will wrap up in Irvine, CA on August 31. According to the record company for the band, additional dates are going to be announced soon.

The US tour will follow the Europe outing of Green Day’s, which includes visits to England, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Germany. The dates for their European itinerary are listed on the band’s website.

Green Day is comprised of Billie Joe Armstrong, singer and guitarist, Mike Dirnt, bassist, and Tre Cool, drummer. Last May the band released their first new studio album in five years, “21st Century Breakdown.” The set debuted in the No. 1 position on Billboard’s 200 chart, selling 215,000 copies during the first three days of its release.

In January, Green Day was awarded a Grammy for Best Rock Album in Los Angeles at the Grammy Awards 52nd awards ceremony.

In other news for Green Day, later this week review performances will start for “American Idiot,” the band’s musical, which will be opening on Broadway on April 20.

Broadway will be getting a heavy infusion this year of punk rock. Green Day will bringing a musical version of “American Idiot,” their 2004 album, to New York City at St. James Theatre. Earlier this week the show’s Broadway debut was announced the producers Ira Pittelman and Tom Hulce.

The stage musical previews will start on March 24. Opening night is scheduled for April 20. Ticketing information and performance schedules for this open ended production haven’t been announced as of yet. Fans, however, can subscribe to an email announcement list on the American Idiot On Broadway website.

“American Idiot” had its debut in early September 2009 in the hometown of Green Day, Berkeley, CA, at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Critics gave this limited engagement production rave reviews and it enjoyed sold out performances along with two extensions during the solid schedule before the run ended on November 15.

Lyrics and music for “American Idiot” come directly from Green Day, although Tom Kitt, music supervisor and composer, did add in some theatrical flairs to the musical score with some special string arrangements. Billie Joe Armstrong, band frontman, along with Michael Mayer, director, co-wrote the production’s play book. According to the official website for Green Day, the story follows three young men going from suburbs into the city and then to the Middle East.

Armstrong said in a statement, it was incredible to experience “American Idiot” in Berkeley on stage. Michael Mayer brought the “American Idiot” characters to life and the musical arrangements of Tom Kitt were breathtaking. We are very proud of show coming to Broadway.

No Broadway cast has been announced yet. The location of St. James Theatre is 246 West 44 St, NY, NY.

As they make their way across North America, Green Day has added to their tour in progress a gallery that includes visual artistic renderings for songs from “21st Century Breakdown,” the band’s latest album.

The roving gallery show draws from the work of 17 different international artists who have created works of art that were inspired by the album’s 18 songs. Green Day’s website has a full listing of the artists.

Logan Hicks, New York artist, curated the collection. He also created Green Day member portraits that will be included with the gallery on Green Day’s tour.

Billy Joe Armstrong, frontman for Green Day said in a recent press release, we’re very excited to tour along with this amazing show. It’s very exciting seeing the works of art that our new album inspired. Several of the artists that Logan selected show their art on the street. We have a strong connection with that kind of creative expression.

Green Day’s current tour kicked off in Seattle on July 3. Currently the North American leg is set to wrap up in Los Angeles on August 25 before they head overseas to New Zealand, Australia, the UK and across Europe.

Several intimate club shows preceded the arena tour, similar to the rollout for the 2005 trek in support of “American Idiot.”

This year, Pink and Green Day will be returning to MTV’s Video Music Awards. They are both scheduled to perform music from their new releases during the ceremony to be held in New York City on September 13.

At last year’s Video Music Awards show, Pink sang “So What” from “Funhouse,” her October release. This year she will choose another one of the multi-platinum album’s tacks to perform at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.

Meanwhile the band Green Day will be making their first appearance at the Video Music Awards since 2005. The band will be performing a song from “21st Century Breakdown,” their latest album. Three of the record’s tracks- “Know Your Enemy,” “East Jesus Nowhere,” and “21 Guns” are available now to download to use in the video game “Rock Band.”

Green Day and Pink are joining Muse and Taylor Swift, performers that were previously announced. Chace Crawford, “Gossip Girl” actor, Ne-Yo and Katy Perry are the first celebrity presenters that have been announced.

For the 14th time, the MTV Video Music Awards for 2009 will be held in New York City. Russell Brand, British actor and comedian, will be hosting the ceremony for the second year in a row.

Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and The Bravery will provide support on the North American portion of the upcoming world tour of Green Day‘s.

The pop-punk band will kick their tour off in Seattle,WA on July 3. Initial opening support will be provided by The Bravery until the July 25th show in Albany, NY. Beginning with the New York City July 27 date, Kaiser Chiefs will be taking over, with Franz Ferdinand then replacing them in Houston on August 8.

After wrapping up the North American tour in Inglewood, CA on August 25, Green Day will be heading over to Europe. Their overseas leg will run into November.

Green Day, consisting of band members Billie Joe Armstrong, guitarist/singer, Tre Cool, drummer, and Mike Dirnt, bassist, is supporting “21st Century Breakdown.” The new album was released earlier this month. It is the band’s first set in five years and eighth studio effort overall. They have been working on the album since early 2006. “Know Your Enemy,” the lead track from the album, is a Top 10 single.

In April Green Day performed their entire upcoming album on a California run of club shows.

“21st Century Breakdown,” despite only being out to stores for three days during its debut week, hit the No. 1 position on Billboard’s 200 chart. According to retail figures from Nielsen SoundScan reported by Billboard, the album sold 215,000 copies in its first week out. “Know Your Enemy,” the first single from the album, peaked at No. 43 on the Billboard Pop 100 chart, while topping the Hot Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.

“American Idiot,” the band’s previous studio album from 2004, debuted in the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart while spawning five hit singles. Since its release the album has sold over 14 million worldwide copies. The set was also made into a musical. Director Michael Mayer, Tony Award winner, will be unveiling the show at Roda Theatre in Berkeley, CA on September 4. The rock musical will include all the songs from the album and will run through October 11. The venue’s website has tickets available for sale.