Do you remember listening to Green Day’s “Dookie” album when it first came out? That record hit! Great singles, videos all over MTV, over 20 million copies sold. If you DO remember that, congratulations, you’re old. The record is now 30 years old and Green Day has been touring to celebrate this milestone. To make the tour even more enticing, they’ve brought along the Linda Lindas, Rancid, and the Smashing Pumpkins!
This was a tour I wanted to see, but when I woke up with a fever the day of the show and feeling like overall crap, I had a choice to make…and I chose to go to the show. I figured if I could sit through a concert with appendicitis last year, then why would a fever, major sinus congestion, and a sore throat stop me? To Boston we go!
The Linda Lindas were first and by far the youngest band on the bill. They weren’t for me though and my wife didn’t dig them either. If you’re into girl punk bands, maybe they appeal to you, but I say “meh!”
Rancid was next and this was my 2nd time seeing them. You may remember them as the dudes from the 90s with the crazy mohawks. Well, they’ve lost the hair and replaced the ‘hawks with tattoos and beards. Fun band tough, and they sound great with plenty of energy. I enjoyed the bantering with the crowd about Massachusetts, baseball, Oakland A’s, etc. I definitely don’t know their catalog, but they ended with their two big songs, Time Bomb and Ruby Soho. By the time they were done, only an hour had passed, and the show was 1/2 over (as far as bands go).
The Smashing Pumpkins were next and came on right around 6:25pm. Going into this show, I was a little disappointed that the Pumpkins were opening for Green Day. For me, they are the superior band. I used to consider myself a “Pumpkinhead” because I love this band and for quite some time, had everything they ever recorded. As the years went on and they did several boxed sets, online only releases, record after record, and life got busy, it became too much to keep up with their full catalog. But I still love them and would consider them one of my top 3 favorite bands of all time.
They started with Everlasting Gaze, Doomsday Clock, and Zoo Station (U2 cover). Next was monster hit Today followed by That Which Animates the Spirit (only one I didn’t know) and then another monster hit Tonight, Tonight. What I liked about this version of Tonight, Tonight was that they didn’t have any pre-recorded strings/orchestra and no keyboard player so it was all done by the band that was there. This made it a bit different. When they got to Ava Adore, it was the first time I’ve ever personally seen Billy Corgan sing a song without a guitar in his hand. He was out there as a front man with just a microphone, moving about the stage, which was kinda cool. He was able to pull this off because instead of just him and James Iha on guitar, they’ve added Kiki Wong as a 3rd guitarist.
Their set finished up with Disarm, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Beguiled, 1979, Jellybelly, Cherub Rock, and Zero. Corgan, who’s a big wrestling fan, had a couple wrestlers on stage during Beguiled as well as his kids. It was goofy, but fun. Overall, I loved their set and if you happened to take a peek at me during the show I was probably smiling ear to ear.
Just before 8pm, Green Day took the stage. It became clear to me why they were the headliner. As much as I love the Pumpkins, Green Day puts on a rock show. They opened with The American Dream is Killing Me from their new album “Saviors.” And then because it’s the 30th anniversary of “Dookie” they played the whole album. The stage was awesome with several huge screens (which are needed at a stadium show), videos, graphics, pyros, lights, strategic camera views and cuts all night, back drops, and more. Who would’ve thought a little punk band from the late 80s would grow to put on elaborate stadium shows?
Most impressive was that not only did they sound great and haven’t appeared to age much, but they seemed to be having an awesome time. I admire these bands that have been around for 30+ years but still show up to play songs they’ve played 1000s of times, with intensity and purpose. Billie Joe Armstrong sang his ass off all night as did everyone else lending vocals. The same could be said for all the instruments as well, since they all showed up to really play. There was no “going through the motions” or aging rock star moments here. While the band is officially a trio, they had 2 other guitarists and a keyboard player with them to provide that thicker sound, and give Billie Joe a little more flexibility to run around like a maniac at times.
When the Dookie album was complete, they played:
- Know Your Enemy (album – 21st Century Breakdown)
- Look Ma, No Brains! (Saviors)
- One Eyed Bastard (Saviors)
- Dilemma (Saviors)
- Minority (Warning)
- Brain Stew (Insomniac)
Lots of hits already to this point, so what was next? Well, it’s also the 20th anniversary of the “American Idiot” album, so they played that straight through next and the hits just kept coming! Look up the album if you’re curious about the setlist.
By the time they finished Wake Me Up When September Ends, all my cold meds and cough drops were no longer doing the job and I was crashing. There were only 2 songs left on this album at this point, so me and the wife started to make our way out. According to the interwebs, after “American Idiot” was done, they did a 2-song encore consisting of Bobby Sox (Saviors), and what I suspected would be the finale, Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) the lone song from their “Nimrod” album.
I didn’t take a ton of videos or pictures for this one as I was busy enjoying the show! Green Day far exceeded my expectations. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, many of the 90s bands I’ve seen lately were massive disappointments (Collective Soul, Third Eye Blind, Incubus and a probably a few others). But this tour is great! Catch the show if can, even if you weren’t a massive fan of any of these bands.
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