It was hot and humid and I feel like I lost at least 5 pounds of water weight jumping up and down. When Green Day took the stage, I knew I was in for an amazing show and of course Billie Joe (vocals/ guitar), Tre Cool (drums) and Mike Dirnt (bass) did not disappoint.
They opened up with “Song of the Century”, and then went into their title track “21st Century Breakdown”. After getting the crowd pumped, they played their first released single “Know your Enemy”.
After those, the show was in full force. Billie Joe then pulled a young child on stage (Kevin) that needed to be saved during “East Jesus Nowhere”. He waited for a big bang before pushing the child’s head knocking him to the ground to show he saved a sinner.
This concert was for any true Green Day fan. They played music off of Nimrod (“Minority", "Hitching a Ride"), Dookie (“When I Come Around”, “Basket Case”) American Idiot (“Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, “Jesus of Suburbia”) and even songs from thier second studio album, Kerplunk (“Scattered”, "One for the Razorbacks"). Before playing these old songs, Billie Joe asked the crowd if there were any old school Green Day fans, in which the entire crowd let him know they were.
Billie’s stage presence was nothing short of spectacular. He invited people up on stage to sing/dance to “2000 Light Years Away” and made sure the crowd know that “tonight you’re not at your job, and there are no bosses here”. He kept informing the crowd that he was going to play forever and was not going to stop.
One of the highlights of the show was all the covers that the band played. Halfway through their set, they busted into Billie Idol’s “Dancing with Myself”, eventually played some of Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child of Mine”, and even played the chorus to AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell”. This is my fourth time seeing them, and this was a good change to their standard “Shout” cover, which they did play. This was interesting because Billie played drums while Tre sang, and then handed the microphone to Mike, who gave his bass to Billie while Tre returned to his instrument.
The stage was small, but the band made due with that they had. The backdrop was simple and changed from song to song. My only gripe came with songs that I felt should have been played. I would have like to have heard “The Static Age” off the new album, but was surprised when they played “J.A.R.” off of Dookie.
When playing “Longview”, Billie Joe picked “Green Man” to come on stage and sing the lyrics. The lead singer felt he did so well, he gave him the guitar that he used to play the song. One funny aspect was when Billie asked the crowd to hold a note and at the end told us we held it longer than New York. He also made reference to the Boston accent saying “wicked retated” to get a laugh from the crowd. Billie even dedicated a song to all the people that went to the 1994 near riot show at Boston’s Hat Shell.
The pyrotechnics included sparks falling from the ceiling, fire shooting from the stage and mini explosions to signal the end of some of the songs. The pyrotechnics were not overused and were a good addition to the small stage.
All in all, Green Day came to rock and they did just that. They provided a double encore and ended with their signature song “Time of your Life”. Green Day played a whopping thirty-three-song set and played for 2 hours and fifty minutes. This band has yet to disappoint me, and their ability to pour their heart and souls into every live show continues to be one of the reasons I call them my favorite band.
10 OUT OF 10 STARS!!! * * * * * * * * * *
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