Green Day‘s Revolution Radio concentrated the bandmates efforts into a solid punk effort with songs that mesh well with their oeuvre. Bigger and brasher in many cases and a little more mellow and heartfelt in others. The current tour for Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt take the band around the world for several months of hard hitting shows. Right out of the gate Green Day smash the audience with “Know Your Enemy” and, at least at the Barclays Center, welcomed a fan to join them on stage, sing some verses and then throw herself into the raised arms of the fervent crowd.
The stage for these shows has been adjusted to give the band ample space to run around, including adding a perpendicular extension in the center of the arena floor, and for pyrotechnics lending extra gravitas to the madness. The extension in particular allows for fans to build up extra speed before they dive off the stage. The pyrotechnics include flames shooting up, sparks cascading down and deafening booms that are massive even through earplugs.
Green Day blend hits from their extensive career into an action packed show. “Bang Bang” and “Revolution Radio” followed the first song and these new songs were no less frantic. My favorite track from the new album the inspirational “Still Breathing” came near the end of the main set with Armstrong still running around, in fine shape to fight what is yet to come. Later on, after Armstrong made a quick reference to Trump, the audience jeered loudly as they remembered they too are part of a continual struggle but otherwise the band’s energy had pushed aside persistent concern of the President’s shenanigans — the focus here and now was on Green Day. As Armstrong implored to the sold-out arena, “This is about being together, everybody, here, tonight. We’re going to leave all this shit behind us.”
The band mashed the two lead tracks from American Idiot (the self titled track and “Jesus of Suburbia”) into their first encore set before departing. Yet Armstrong returned once more to perform a warmer acoustic set — new song “Ordinary World” (which he had premiered last year after the Tribeca Film Festival screening of the related film) and the ever popular sing-along “Good Riddance”.
This was one of the most fun shows I’d ever seen and I’m planning to catch Green Day once more this year hopefully — they’ve got a run of amphitheater shows this summer. Check out photos from the Barclays Center show and tour dates below.
SET LIST
Know Your Enemy
Bang Bang
Revolution Radio
Holiday
Letterbomb
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Longview
Youngblood
2000 Light Years Away
Hitchin’ a Ride
When I Come Around
Burnout
Waiting
Scattered
Minority
Are We the Waiting
St. Jimmy
Knowledge (Operation Ivy)
Basket Case
She
King for a Day medley (Bump N’ Grind / Shout / Always Look on the Bright Side of Life / (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction / Hey Jude)
Still Breathing
Forever Now
[encore break]
American Idiot
Jesus of Suburbia
[encore break]
Ordinary World
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
TOUR DATES
3/20 – Hamilton, ON – FirstOntario Centre*
3/22 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre*
3/23 – Quebec, QC – Vidéotron Centre*
3/25 – Pittsburgh, PA – Petersen Events Center*
3/27 – Detroit, MI – Joe Louis Arena*
3/28 – Champaign, IL – State Farm Center*
3/30 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center*
4/1 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center*
4/3 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena*
4/5 – Broomfield, CO – 1stBank Center*
4/7 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena*
4/8 – San Diego, CA – Valley View Casino Center*
4/30 – Perth, Australia – Perth Arena
5/3 – Hindmarsh, Australia – Adelaide Entertainment Center
5/5 – Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena
5/6 – Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena
5/8 – Boondall, Australia – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
5/10 – Sydney, Australia – Qudos Bank Arena
5/11 – Sydney, Australia – Qudos Bank Arena
5/13 – Auckland, New Zealand – Vector Arena
5/14 – Auckland, New Zealand – Vector Arena
6/4 – Landgraaf, Netherlands – Holland Pink Pop Festival
6/6 – Ljubljana, Slovenia – Ljubljana Dvorana Stozice
6/7 – Munchen, Germany – Olympiahalle
6/9 – Interlaken, Switzerland – Greenfield Festival
6/11 – Bretigny-Sur-Orge, France – Download Festival Paris
6/12 -Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg – Rockhal
6/14 – Lucca Lu, Italy – Piazza Napoleone
6/15 – Milan, Italy – Autodromo Nazionale Monza
6/17 – Nickelsdorf, Austria – Nova Rock
6/18 – Budapest, Hungary – Papp Laszlo Arena
6/21 – Goteborg, Sweden – Scandinavium
6/23 – Scheessel, Germany – Germany Hurricane Festival
6/24 – Neuhausen Ob Eck, Germany – Germany Southside Festival
6/28 – Belfast, United Kingdom – Ormeau Park
6/29 – Dublin, Ireland – Royal Hospital Kilmainham
7/1 – London, United Kingdom – Hyde Park
7/3 – Sheffield, United Kingdom – Sheffield Arena
7/4 – Glasgow, United Kingdom – Glasgow Bellahouston Park
7/7 – Madrid, Spain – Mad Cool Festival
8/1 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre^
8/2 – Portland, OR – Moda Center^
8/5 – Oakland, CA – Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum^
8/7 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre^
8/9 – Englewood, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre^
8/11 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center^
8/12 – Omaha, NE – CenturyLink Center^
8/14 – Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre^
8/16 – Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center^
8/18 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage^
8/20 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center^
8/21 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center^
8/24 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field^
8/26 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center^
8/28 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center^
8/29 – Hartford, CT – The XFINITY Theatre^
8/31 – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion^
9/1 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek^
9/3 – West Palm Beach, FL – Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre^
9/5 – Tampa, FL – MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre^
9/6 – Orange Beach, AL – The Wharf Amphitheater^
9/8 – Austin, TX – Austin360 Amphitheater^
9/9 – San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center^
9/11 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater^
9/13 – Chula Vista, CA – Sleep Train Amphitheatre^
9/16 – Pasadena, CA – Rose Bowl^
* With Against Me!
^ With Catfish and the Battlement