May 1, 2001 – It was one award after another for Green Day, who cleaned house at this past weekend's California Music Awards, taking home "Bammies" in all eight of their nominated categories. The band and their platinum album Warning came out on top of a field of California musicians including Beck, Neil Young, Deftones, Limp Bizkit, No Doubt and the Wallflowers. Green Day's winning categories were as follows: Artist of the Year, Outstanding Group, Outstanding Album, Outstanding Punk/Ska Album, Outstanding Songwriter (Billie Joe Armstrong), Outstanding Male Vocalist (Billie Joe), Outstanding Bassist (Mike Dirnt) and Outstanding Drummer (Tre Cool).

All this excitement came on the heels of an eventful trip to New York that found the band performing their new single "Waiting" on "The Late Show with David Letterman." During the introduction, the host noted the band's tradition of memorable Late Show performances: "It's always exciting when Green Day is on the program and it's great that we have a pain management doctor here (in the audience), because every time, the drummer -- who's unstable -- does something strange and he hurts himself," referring to the band's last visit and Tre's leap from a stack of amps onto the panel guest chairs. Never a live disappointment, Green Day attacked their radio hit "Waiting" with energy and focus. Then, during the song's musical break, Tre stood on top of his seat and showered himself with a box of instant potato flakes before sitting back down to finish the tune without missing a beat. At the song's end, he crashed through his drum kit and ran through the audience, jumping on a few audience members along the way, heading out the studio's back door.

That same evening, Green Day visited New York's legendary CBGB to see friend Jesse Malin's new band Bellevue (Malin's formerly of D Generation). Just after midnight, Billie Joe, Mike and Tre took to the stage before an intimate crowd of 100. Borrowing local band Tiereds' gear, Green Day played an impromptu set that consisted mainly of the group's older material, ending just after 2:00 in the morning with their smash "Minority."