When Green Day made its major label debut in 1994 with “Dookie,” the East Bay band captured ears and airwaves almost overnight with such melodic pop-punk hits as “Longview,” “Basket Case,” and “When I Come Around.”
A decade later, “American Idiot” saw Green Day growing up. Their 2004 punk rock opera shifted the band’s focus to more serious political and societal concerns in a post-millennium United States, and on songs such as the title track, “Jesus of Suburbia,” and “Holiday,” the band’s music displayed more complexity, too.
Both albums are modern classics today, and at SoFi Stadium on Saturday, Green Day delivered an epic marathon celebration of their 30th and 20th anniversaries, playing them in full with a half-dozen songs from the 2024 release “Saviors” and a smattering of other hits interspersed.
For the Gen Xers that came of age with Green Day’s singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool, all of whom were born in 1972, the anticipation was similar to that that of the Boomers who packed the Inglewood stadium when the Rolling Stones played there in July.
This is their band, these are albums that shaped them, and for 37 songs over two-and-a-half hours, Green Day captivated fans in the packed venue.
“The American Dream Is Killing Me” kicked off the show, the lead-off track of “Saviors,” an album that in many ways mixes the themes and sounds of “Dookie” and “American Idiot” together. At its finish, blasts of fire shot from a wall of amps behind the band, Armstrong welcomed the crowd to the 30th anniversary of “Dookie,” the crowd roared, and we were off.
Many of these songs, of course, are staples of every Green Day tour. The tribal rhythms and loping bassline of “Longview” are instantly recognizable, as are the chugging riffs and vocal melodies of “Basket Case.” The gentler feeling of “She” and the crunchy guitars of “When I Come Around” were just as a familiar.
Those are ones on which Armstrong sometimes stopped singing and just grinned happily at the crowd as a vast chorus of their voices echoed through the stadium.
Perhaps even more fun, though, were those moments where fans screamed in delight at finally, FINALLY, hearing a “Dookie” deep cut live, came with tracks that have rarely shown up in Green Day sets since the album was new three decades ago.
“Sassafras Roots,” “Pulling Teeth,” “Having A Blast,” and “In The End,” which had one of the wildest mosh pits of the nights, all fell into that category of songs most at SoFi had never seen the band play before.
During the 40-some minutes it took to play “Dookie,” a huge inflatable replica of part of the hand-drawn album art – a bomb blast and accompanying mushroom cloud – loomed over Cool and the others. Video cameras cut quickly between bandmembers and their three touring musicians, mixed with colorful animation.
Six songs, three old, three from “Saviors,” separated the two albums. The rousing “Know Your Enemy” saw Armstrong recruit a young woman from the pit to sing a verse and chorus of it onstage with him. (Shout out to Lexi, who nailed it.) the new songs “Look Ma, No Brains!” “One Eyed Bastard,” and “Dilemma,” felt strong alongside the hits that preceded and followed them. “Minority,” off the 2000 album “Warning,” was a clear crowd-pleaser.
“American Idiot” opens with its title track, a fast-paced rocker propelled by Cool’s fast-paced drums and Armstrong’s grinding guitar riffs. It was followed by “Jesus Of Suburbia,” one of several songs-as-suites, shifting through different five different movements and moods as the story of the album’s anti-hero protagonist develops.
It’s the point where Green Day adopted a more mature, complex style – there’s a reason by “American Idiot” was adapted into a Tony Award-winning musical and “Dookie” was not. But like “Dookie,” about half of it has been played steadily on tours over the past decade – the first six tracks plus the hit “Wake Me Up When September Ends” – and half hasn’t been heard nearly as often.
The rarities on Saturday included the melodically sweet pairing of “Extraordinary Girl” and “She’s A Rebel,” as well as “Homecoming,” the album’s second five-part suite, which with all three members singing lead vocals at different points, was a highlight of the night.
A pair of strong new numbers, “Bobby Sox” and “Suzie Chapstick,” opened the encore before the ever-youthful Armstrong closed the show with “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life),” the first acoustic song the band ever did, and one of the band’s signature tunes.
It’s a lovely, wistful song, with a message that’s shifted over the years from its origin as a breakup song to a nostalgic ode to survival in days gone by. The crowd, of course, sang every word with him, and as Cool and Dirnt came back on stage to bookend Armstrong, the night ended with new memories of great times had by all.
Opening the show were the Linda Lindas, the all-female L.A. punk band whose members are still teenagers, and who made their second SoFi appearance of the year after opening for one of two Rolling Stones shows there in July. Rancid, like Green Day, a band that rose out of the East Bay punk scene of the early ’90s followed them.
Smashing Pumpkins, with singer Billy Corgan joined by original members James Iha on guitar and Jimmy Chamberlain on drums, played just before Green Day, their set including such ’90s alternative rock hits as “Bullet With Butterfly Wing,” “Today,” and “1979.”
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