Toronto rocker DANKO JONES recently launched a column at Canada's Huffington Post. Following is an excerpt from his latest article:

"By now, everyone has probably seen or at least heard about Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong's very public meltdown at the iHeartRadio Music Festival a couple of weeks ago. It's elicited a lot of response from all sides and made Armstrong's quotes 'I'm not fucking Justin Bieber' and 'I've been around since 19 fucking 88' this season's pop culture catchphrases along the same lines as Charlie Sheen's 'Winning' and Borat's 'Sexy Time.'

The Green Day camp quickly went into clean-up mode and put out a press release stating Armstrong had entered rehab. To me it really seemed like a genuine meltdown and I can only empathize. I've had enough experience around addicts to know that it's anything but a picnic, and behaviour as erratic as Armstrong displayed at iHeartRadio is quite heartbreaking. I feel for him, but I also feel for his family and bandmates whose loyalty and patience gets tested during things like this.

However, there was one thing that bothered me about the whole thing: at the end of the meltdown Armstrong and his bandmate, bassist, Mike Dirnt both smashed their guitars. I'm sympathetic to Armstrong's tantrum, and I appreciate Dirnt's need to stand beside his bandmate, but I just don't understand the knee-jerk decision to smash their guitars. In fact, I've never understood this overused stage antic that bands have been aping since Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix did it back in the '60s. You know, like, 50 years ago. I get why Hendrix did it, the dude was on acid! But in 2012?

I also understand the concept of upholding long-standing rock 'n' roll traditions, but in these tough economic times smashing one's guitar seems more wasteful and affected than anything close to symbolizing outrage or rebellion. I'm a little more forgiving when KISS' Paul Stanley smashes his guitar at the end of Rock and Roll All Nite considering KISS is a band whose popularity and success have rested on their extravagance. Still, smashing a guitar after thousands of dollars have been sunk into pyro, lights and costumes always seemed a tad underwhelming."

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Catch Danko Jones live at the following shows:

October

16 - The Circus - Helsinki, Finland
17 - Debaser Medis - Stockholm, Sweden
18 - Pustervik - Göteborg, Sweden
19 - John Dee - Oslo, Norway - SOLD OUT -
20 - KB - Malmö, Sweden
21 - Docks - Hamburg, Germany
23 - Schlachthof - Bremen, Germany
24 - Melkweg - Amsterdam, Netherlands
25 - Ancienne Belgique - Brussels, Belgium **
26 - Le Trabendo - Paris, France **
27 - Komplex - Zürich, Switzerland**
29 - Arena - Vienna, Austria
30 - Longhorn LKA - Stuttgart, Germany
31 - Theaterfabrik - Munich, Germany

November

1 - Postbahnhof - Berlin, Germany
2 - FZW - Dortmund, Germany - SOLD OUT -
3 - Batschkapp - Frankfurt, Germany - SOLD OUT -
13 - Mavericks - Ottawa, ON
14 - The Casbah - Hamilton, ON
15 - Call The Office - London, ON
16 - Virgin Mobile Mod Club - Toronto, ON
17 - The Oak - Winnipeg, MB
18 - New City Legion - Edmonton, AB
20 - The Gateway - Calgary, AB
21 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC