Wildly successful American rock band Green Day is heading out on an anniversary tour this fall across North America and Europe. This is their first tour since 2021, but as the band gets older, are they still the energetic punk icons fans know and love? Green Day was formed in 1987 with three members, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and John Kiffmeyer. Tré Cool, the current drummer, joined in 1990 after Kiffmeyer left the group to pursue college. Since 1990, the band has released 14 albums, including “American Idiot” and “Dookie”. These albums were released in 1994 and 2004 respectively. With all the main members nearing their mid-fifties, how will they compare to earlier tours?
OPENING ACTS: Compared to the 2021 tour, the opening acts were significantly better. American rock band, The Lina Lindas were first, and even though it was almost empty, they still brought lots of energy. This was an inspiring group of young musicians who took advantage of a great opportunity. Rancid, a group that got their start in the same place as Green Day, 924 Gilman Street followed, bringing their unique style to Comerica Park. Their sound was an interesting mix, almost like Sublime mixed with the Dead Kennedys. Throughout their whole set, they had crowd interaction and high-energy songs, keeping the audience engaged through their performance. The last of the openers was the Smashing Pumpkins. This group has been around since 1988 and has released multiple albums. These guys by themselves had the ability to sell out smaller venues like Pine Knob, and it showed through the set. They had high-energy songs, intense breakdowns, and had many fans singing along. They were good enough that they could have been the headliners. They played hits like “1979”, “Today” and “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”, which are all very popular songs, even outside of their fanbase. A Green Day fan, Anna Alioto, said that even though she didn’t know much about them, she “enjoyed the music for the music”. The danger with having lots of openers is that there is a risk of losing crowd interest. There was none of that. Overall, all the openers brought energy to the venue and kept it there. They did an amazing job setting up Green Day.
GREEN DAY: Green Day is an amazing group of musicians. Not only did they perform an astonishing 37-song set, but they kept the energy high throughout it. They opened their set with “The American Dream is Killing Me”, a hit off their new album, Saviors. This song intrigued older fans who are unfamiliar with the new album and hooked the newer fans in for the rest of the set. After that, they moved on to play Dookie, arguably their biggest album of all time. This gave a lot of nostalgia to fans from the 90s, as they have never performed some of these songs live. Unfortunately, just before the third verse of hit song “Longview”, the band got violently rushed off the stage, leaving the audience confused for over ten minutes. Eventually, they returned to the stage and finished the song, but they never explained what happened, with Armstrong only saying a slight remark. One fan, Anna Alioto, stated that it “dampened the crowd a bit”. After the show, an article was released explaining that someone had flown a drone over the stadium, causing security concerns for the band. Even though they had this setback, they came back, fast and ready to perform the over thirty songs left. They finished the album completely, ending with the Tré Cool solo song All by Myself, a solo guitar and vocals song that incorporated a comedic act by Cool. After the album concluded, they played six songs, including three from their new album. During Know Your Enemy, a fan was brought on stage to perform the bridge with them. This fan had a great time and a memorable experience that she will never forget. They ended the six-song transition with Brain Stew, a popular song off the album “Insomniac”. During this song, Armstrong forgot the lyrics to one of the verses, but he saved it by saying “shoot I forgot the lyrics” and laughing it off. Next up was American Idiot, another contender for their biggest album, even inspiring a Broadway musical of the same name, which features songs from the album. This album brought lots of nostalgia to fans, including Ms. Alioto. She, like most fans, got introduced to the band by this album. Hits like American Idiot had everybody singing and Wake Me Up When September Ends, had some fans becoming emotional. Overall, the performance of this album was amazing. After having played what would be a full-length set to most, they played strong and fast through “American Idiot”. They ended the night with another song off their new album, Bobby Sox, and a performance of Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), which was a nice way to end off an energetic and nostalgic night.
EXTRA CONCERT SUBJECTS: Parking was simple and efficient, since most lots close to the stadium became pass-only, meaning the spots were reserved ahead of time. This made it easy for people who booked ahead to just drive in and park. For the people who did not buy parking in advance, there were other options slightly further away, such as the MGM casino parking and outdoor gated lots. As for leaving, the people who left before or just after the concert ended had an easy, traffic-free time leaving. As for those who left with the crowd, the traffic was heavy until the highway, where it cleared up quickly. Merchandise was sold at many locations, both inside and outside of the stadium. They had a large selection of items, including hats, bags, shirts, hoodies, and even a soccer jersey. They had custom patches, unique to each show, with the band’s name and a stitched graphic representing the city they were in. For this show, it depicted a punk-style image of a tiger with the band’s name in old English. This patch was priced at ten dollars, which is a little steep for a patch, even if it is exclusive. Most of the other merchandise was costly, with the shirts being $45 and most other things over $30. However, the foam trucker hat was $35, which is about what someone would pay online or even in a store for a hat. In terms of food, the food was stadium cost, with most meals outside of a hot dog being $15 or more.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Overall, the concert was amazing. With stellar opening acts, high energy, great nostalgia and lots of merchandise options, they did an amazing job. The transitions between bands were lightning-quick, with basically nonstop music for almost four and a half hours. I would personally say that this is one of the best concerts I’ve been to. Green Day provided lots of happiness to fans, and they also gave big opportunities to lesser-known groups like the Linda Lindas. I’ve heard lots of great things from other fans I talked to, and they all came to agreement that even though it went a little long, it still brought them joy and fond memories from when they were younger. In my opinion, this concert was a nine out of ten, and Green Day is definitely still worth seeing in 2024.
