Returning to Australia for the first time in 7 years, Green Day had the whole of Marvel Stadium jumping on Saturday night as they treated Melburnians to a 2 and a half hour spectacular set including the entirety of Dookie and American Idiot.
It’s hard to imagine this band are in their 50s as they smash through their punk rock hits with hardly space for a breather. The raw emotion that Billie Joe still displays playing songs that are in some cases, 30 years old at this point, is powerful and often overwhelming.
The audience was a beautiful mix of people, those like me who have grown up with Green Day down to teenagers there for their very first show. The breadth of people these guys have connected with over their long history is mindblowing.
From guitar riffs to drum hits to pyrotechnics it was an explosive, high energy night. Cult hits like American Idiot and Basket Case inevitable saw the crowd go wild, but the band did a wonderful job maintaining their audience connection throughout the entire evening. It’s a brave choice to play a 30 year old album in its entirety but it made for a truly special evening for anyone old enough to remember it, and it’s so packed full of hits, from Longview to Basket Case to When I Come Around, that even those who aren’t familiar with the album are still treated to a spectacular display of some of Green Day’s finest earlier work.
Interspersed between the two albums were some of the bands newer tracks and their greatest hits. I’d fully prepared myself not to hear tracks such as Minority and 21 Guns so them popping up in the middle of the evening was a lovely surprise and a perfect bridge between the two albums.
It’s during American Idiot that the crowd well and truly took off. This could have been partly down to the increased alcohol consumption by this point, but I think it’s more likely the incredible cultural relevance of this album still has 15 years after its making. Depressing as that may be, there’s something cathartic about singing your lungs out about the messed up state of the world with thousands of other people.
For me personally, it’s the final songs of the evening that have my heart. While the entire show was a phenomenal display of one of the greatest punk bands to ever exist, Billie Joe singing, “Will you be my girlfriend? Will you be my boyfriend?” To a stadium full of people is everything. It’s hard to convey how much it meant for this man to be openly bisexual in a time when so many weren’t, and 30 years on he’s still there saying “I see you. I am you”. This is queer joy at its absolute finest. Then to finish with Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life), a song that means so much to me personally, was the perfect end to an incredible night. It was a beautiful display of the band’s friendship and camaraderie in those final moments of the show, and that’s the still frame in my mind from the evening. I had the time of my life, and if you were there, I hope you did too!