New Orleans’ Voodoo Experience Festival will return once again this year, and Green Day and Neil Young & Crazy Horse will perform as headliners at the event.

As per usual, the festival will be held during Halloween weekend, from October 26-28. This year will be the 14^th annual incarnation of the festival.

Along with the two headliners mentioned above, a select list of other artists that will perform at the festival also was released. Among those include Skrillex, Gary Clark, Jr., Justice, Tomahawk, Bootsy Collins, Say Anything and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The final lineup is expected to include around 150 artists and will be announced in the coming months.

Green Day’s appearance at the festival is set to be the group’s only U.S. concert date this year, and festival founder and organizer Stephen Rehage said that their set along with Neil Young’s will be one of the reasons this year’s festival will help him realize the dreams he had when he started the festival.

“I believe this year’s lineup is developing into something really special, Rehage said. “Green Day’s set in 2004 is one of the greatest performances in the festival’s 13-year history. Having them choose to do their only U.S. show of 2012 at Voodoo is pretty extraordinary. And the confirmation of Neil Young & Crazy Horse is epic. They are one of a handful of artists that you hope to have the privilege to work with at some point in your career. It’s what you dream of when you create something like Voodoo.”

A first this year will be that the festival will offer on-site camping. Festivalgoers can camp under 200-year-old oak trees in City Park, though camping passes have an additional price to the regular festival admission. A special VIP camping pass provides guests with a tent, complimentary breakfast and backstage passes.

Green Day’s most recent two records, American Idiot and 21^st Century Breakdown, were both rock operas that went on to inspire a Broadway musical. So it’s only fitting that the band continue there recent ambitious trend. Which is exactly what is happening.

Yesterday it was announced that the group currently is recording three different albums that will be released as a trilogy late this year and in early 2013. The three albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tré!, are currently being recorded in Oakland, Calif., and the first will be released September 25.

The other two albums in the trilogy will follow shortly thereafter, with ¡Dos! Scheduled for release on November 13 and ¡Tré! coming on January 15, 2013. The band released a statement saying that the trilogy is the product of creative streak for the group.

“We are at the most prolific and creative time in our lives. This is the best music we’ve ever written, and the songs just keep coming,” said the band in a press release. “Instead of making one album, we are making a three album trilogy. Every song has the power and energy that represents Green Day on all emotional levels. We just can’t help ourselves… We are going epic!”

The announcement comes a couple months after Green Day started on the album, but apparently the plans have expanded during that time.

“Happy Valentine’s day! Officially started recording the new record today,” tweeted singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong. Apparently the writing process has been a long time in the making, according to a post on the band’s website last year referring to some then-new songs the band had been performing live.

“We have been in jamming and writing new songs for the last few months,” said the statement. “It felt great to play these new Green Day songs live and share our “work in progress”.. Stay tune for more!”

The band currently does not have an extensive tour schedule, likely keeping time available for recording, though they will play a handful of summer festival dates in Japan and Europe. The group’s website says more dates will be added soon.

Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong gave Green Day fans an extra special Valentine’s Day present yesterday when he tweeted that the band is officially working on a new album.

“Happy Valentine’s day! Officially started recording the new record today,” he tweeted.

Rumors of a new album that would be the follow up for 2009’s 21^st Century Breakdown have been circulating for months, and the band has reportedly been recording demos since last May.

“O.K. here’s the scoop,” Armstrong said at the time. “Green Day has been jamming new songs everyday. There’s a ton of new material.”

Later, at an August gig in Costa Mesa, Calif., the band debuted a new song dedicated to Amy Winehouse called “Amy.” The lyrics to the songs were later posted on the band’s official website, along with a message from the band alluding to additional new songs.

“We have been in jamming and writing new songs for the last few months,” said the statement. “It felt great to play these new Green Day songs live and share our “work in progress”.. Stay tune for more!”

Rolling Stone reports that working titles of new songs include “Wow, That’s Loud” and “Make Out Party.” The magazine also reports that the new songs feature straightforward lyrics that don’t seem to be as politically charged as many on the band’s previous two records, American Idiot and 21^st Century Breakdown. A new record would be the group’s ninth studio album.

Though the band is not currently on tour, a musical adaptation of American Idiot is making its way around the country. The production currently is being performed at the Oriental Theater in Chicago, where it is scheduled to run through February 19. Performances in various cities are scheduled through the end of the year, when the show will play at London’s HMV Hammersmith Apollo from December 4 through December 9.

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.