Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte Done Good
By: Glennie Rabin - ModernRock.com
It’s your classic tale of local boys done good. Only a few years ago, the Waldorf, Maryland punk-pop band Good Charlotte was just a fivesome of friends, faces in the big crowd at Washington’s springtime rock ritual, HFStival. Back then, guitarist and vocalist Benji (no last names, sorry) recalls lying to festival security guards to get in on the backstage action, saying his sister was hurt and he had to find her there.
Now Benji and Good Charlotte have their own dressing room backstage.
The early twenty-somethings still have stars in their eyes, rubbing elbows with fellow local-boy-done-good Dave Grohl and other heavyweight artists on hand.
“We’re still giddy little boys,” says Benji.
It’s experiences like this that inspired the young Good Charlotte members to pursue music and try to make it onto the stage themselves. And it was WHFS, Washington and Baltimore’s alternative rock radio station, that not only provided the venue but also gave the up-and-comers immense support. GC’s next single “Festival Song” is the band’s love letter to the HFStival. And to seal it with a kiss, they enlisted Mark Wood (who directed their first video, “Motivation Proclamation”) to shoot the video for the song on day two of the 2001 HFStival at RFK Stadium.
The quintet took the stage with huge energy at 1:00 p.m. and worked the crowd up with its angst anthem, “Motivation Proclamation.” Then singer Joel (Benji’s twin brother) jumped into the frenzied audience. Good Charlotte’s music is honest and their style charismatic. Who doesn’t love the guys that dedicate a song to “all the kids who got picked last in gym class?” Only one thing could have motivated the audience more.
“You’re all going to be on MTV,” Joel shouted.
They performed “Festival Song” with cameras panning the crowd and the stage, and then invited the crowd to hurl toilet paper rolls at them. “You can say I'll never be a millionaire / Tell me this guitar won't get me anywhere.”
Well, it got them backstage at HFStival.
Look for Good Charlotte in the upcoming film, Not a Teen Movie, a spoof on the—duh—teen movie genre. They recorded four 80s cover songs for the film, including “Foot Loose,” and will also appear as the prom band. And watch for them to come back through town on the Vans Warped Tour.
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