GREEN DAY: "A Superb Arena Show... And A Back Catalogue Of Hits Spanning 20 Years"
Epic Adelaide show overnight
Photo credit: @danielbedford
Green Day paid Adelaide a visit and if you aren’t aware of this… Are you okay? Have you not left the house for a WEEK?
After spending a couple days walking around the streets (even cuddling some koalas at the Cleland Wildlife Park) they were being as normal as Green Day can be.
The American punk/rock band then went and put on one of the best concerts the Entertainment Centre has ever seen. So if you were there, enjoy reminiscing, and if you have some crappy excuse as to why you couldn’t make it, you’re about to be made extremely jealous.
So if you are wondering how a Green Day concert starts, it’s with an adult dressed as a pink bunny strutting on stage and the crowd screaming to Bohemian Rhapsody and Blitzkreig Bop. When the lights went out it was border line impossible to remain cool, and then all of a sudden the band that has been plastered on my bedroom walls for a decade was in the same room as me.
Know Your Enemy was the first tune of the night and it was followed up with Bang Bang, off their latest album Revolution Radio. Billie Joe Armstrong prompted an acoustic sing along intro into Boulevard of Broken Dreams and I accepted then that my voice was going to be on a downhill road for the rest of the night.
There is nothing better than when an American punk rock band covers another American punk rock band. That’s right, Green Day covered Operation Ivy’s, Knowledge- and yes it was as amazing as it sounds. The covers didn’t stop there, the audience were blessed with a mashup of Shout/ Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life/ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction/ Careless Whisper/ Hey Jude. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about how good that was.
I’m not going to lie, the entire band looked good! Formed back in ’86, the guys showed that they’re still kids at heart by playing dress ups for King For A Day. Billie showed off his musical talent by playing the kazoo and jamming with Jason Freese on saxophone. Dre Cool showed off with a drum solo and I was exhausted just after watching him do his thing. To top things off, it was guitarists Mike Dirnt’s 44th birthday… I hope he felt special with the entire audience singing a very off key Happy Birthday.
Speaking of guitarists, Billie pulled a girl on stage and gave her his guitar. She jammed for a bit and then as he does at every concert, told the fan she could keep it. I know if I was that girl, I would still be playing it to my grandkids it in 60 years’ time. Two other girls were also invited onto stage to take over the mic.
In his interview with Music Feeds, bassist Mike Dirnt says of the tour:
“It’s like ‘A Night With Green Day’. There’s a lot of solidarity and fun in the room. We’ve got lots of energy and we’re playing a long time on stage and it’s just a great show. Over the years we’ve curated this, it’s like the best of everything we’ve ever done.”
Green Day finished with a top notch performance of Forever Now and left the audience screaming for an encore. The first chords of American Idiot were loud and Green Day were back! How can you possibly follow up a classic like American Idiot? With Jesus of Suburbia. The night still wasn’t over once the band left the stage for the second time. But this time, it was just Billie and his guitar that came back.
If you hadn’t realised it already, Green Day are so much more than a noisy/political punk band. They have talent and passion. This was more evident than ever in the intimacy of the lead singers voice as he performed Ordinary World and the all-time classic, Good Riddance.
I am currently suffering post-concert depression, but still have the lingering buzzing ears and croaky voice to remind me how Green Day put on a concert Adelaide is going to be raving about for a long time.
I’m tempted to jump on a plane and catch them at their next Aussie gigs, starting at the Rod Laver in Melbourne:
- Fri 5 & Sat 6 May: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
- Mon 8 May: Brisbane Entertainment Centre
- Wed 10 & Thu 11 May: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
‘’Still Breathing’ heavily after the insane burst of energy, Armstrong had little time to regroup before returning to the runway in a denim jacket and screaming his lungs out during ‘Forever Now’ and ‘American Idiot’, leading into a theatrical finale in ‘Jesus Of Suburbia’ and touching solo performance of ‘Ordinary World’ and ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)’.’ – TheMusic
‘Punk heroes Green Day [have] once again proven how consistently exceptional they are.’ – Wall Of Sound
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frontiertouring.com/greenday
By Hannah Louise