Omaha, NE

• MarQ Manner: "Pansy Division was a gay punk rock band that opened for Green Day at The Ranch Bowl in the early 1990's. They asked me and my friend to walk them to their van as they loaded equipment. Not sure what I would have been able to do, but they were pretty scared about playing the Midwest at the time."
• Kevin C.: "A week after I left Omaha a new band called Green Day played the Ranch Bowl. I read it got torn down. That's a shame because I don't think there was another place like it.

Armstrong also reminisced about passing through Omaha during the band's early days, on a tour to support its 1994 album, Dookie. 'We played at this bowling alley. Was that the Ranch Bowl?' he said to cheers, recalling the former bowling alley and rock club on South 72nd Street. 'Where else can you play at a kick-ass rock club and work on your spare in the meantime?'"

• rockcandy.omaha.com: "Kiel also caught Green Day a few years later. The punk band's major-label debut, Dookie, was doing really well, but in Omaha they played the Ranch Bowl.

While opening act Pansy Division played, 'I was standing about halfway back from the stage, outside of the cluster part of the crowd, watching. Looked to my right and remember noticing a really short guy with a few facial piercings and green hair standing right next to me watching the show. We both stood there and watched, enjoying the show.' 'It wasn't until Green Day took the stage that I realized the person with whom I had watched the Pansy Division set was indeed Green Day's drummer Tré Cool. It was so hot with that many people in the place, the windows were fogging over and singer Billie Joe Armstrong made some comment about that.'"