Green Day is one of the most successful Punk Rock bands of all-time and this concert shows that after 16 years they still have it. They are 100 percent pure adrenaline yet they continually thanked the crowd for showing up as if they still play in some empty concert halls.
Some bands know how to start out a concert and some don’t. These boys opened with “American Idiot” and that got the crowd jumping up and down for that song and for most of the evening. If the group wanted to, they could market their concert as an exercise video because you automatically start to jump up and down and there is no reason to stop for the two hours that the band plays.
Lead singer, guitarist, and ass shaker Billie Joe Armstrong was as energetic as any front man that I can remember. He did the Pete Townshend windmill and the Mick Jagger mic twirl and the all-important Jimi Hendrix behind the neck trick with the guitar. He left no stone unturned besides wearing a variety of ridiculous but funny outfits.
This band had the crowd perform the wave and later on they had three people from the audience play during “She.” They were all quite good and this was a real crowd pleaser.
Bassist Mike Dirnt was amazing. He was wound up like the Energizer Bunny playing his instrument to perfection leading the way in many of the band’s best songs of the night like “Holiday” and “When I Come Around.”
The concert had plenty of pyrotechnics, comedy, audience participation and a large smattering of f-bomb laden anti-political rants.
The one song that caught the audience by surprise was a fantastic rendition of “Shout.” I had a John Belushi flashback as he shook all over the place in the cult film Animal Houseand the fans in the floor section did a similar dance.
The band played four encores including a haunting rendition of Queen’s mega hit “We Are The Champions.” After that encore, the fans would have left the arena satisfied but Billie Joe played “Time Of Your Life” all by his lonesome.
The trio’s music is hypnotic and their showmanship will keep audiences going to multiple shows on this tour to get another dose of energy before it’s over.
