On Wednesday, Aug. 28, the sounds of grungy guitars and thousands of voices echoed from Truist Park. By 8 p.m., the field and bleachers that usually housed baseball players and their loyal fans were instead filled with multiple generations of music lovers who all flocked to see Rock and Roll Hall-of-Fame inductees, Green Day.
When many people think of “punk rock,” they think of Green Day. Considered to be among a select group of bands that brought punk music back into the mainstream, Green Day first formed under the name “Blood Rage” in 1987, when the members were just fifteen years old. Since then, they have gone on to become one of the best-selling bands of all time.
Starting in the underground punk scene, Green Day rose to the attention of more “mainstream” audiences in 1993 when they signed with Reprise Records. While to many people, this would sound like a move toward success, the band faced backlash from many on the punk scene for being “sellouts.” Despite the criticism, the band — comprised of frontman Billy Joe Armstrong, Bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool — continued on their journey to become the successful artists they are now.
The love that fans have for Green Day is something that is passed down from generation to generation, something that could easily be seen in the wide array of ages attending the show.
In a gesture that rewarded fans who wanted to get the most out of their rather expensive tickets and enjoy the entirety of the show, the concert would be a nearly six-and-a-half-hour affair, with doors to the stadium opening at 4:30 p.m. The first band, an Atlanta-local pop-punk group called The Paradox, kicked the evening off at 5:00 p.m., playing a short but energetic and well-received set. They were the only local opener, meaning they were not traveling with the tour but playing for just Atlanta.
Following The Paradox was the all-female pop-punk outfit, The Linda Lindas. The first of the touring lineup, the band’s name comes from a Japanese film. The Linda Lindas could still easily be considered relatively new, having only been formed in 2018. Despite this, they quickly rose in prominence in the pop-punk scene. Since their beginning, the band has opened for bands like Paramore, performed at Coachella and been featured in movies, most recently “Inside Out 2.”
The last two openers would be considered “bigger” bands, having been around longer and having a larger fanbase. The first was punk band Rancid, who have been around since the early ‘90s and are cited alongside Green Day as one the bands who sparked increased interest in punk rock music. They had a longer set than the previous bands, playing for a little under an hour.
Playing right before the iconic headliners was the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. This Grammy-winning band formed in 1988 but broke up in 2000. Five years later, frontman Billy Corgan announced their reunion, and in 2007, the band played together again for the first time in seven years, though they had several changes in their lineup since their breakup.
Over the duration of their career, The Smashing Pumpkins have traversed into multiple genres, ranging from goth rock to shoegaze to psychedelia and are cited as an inspiration for numerous bands, including Deftones, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco and My Chemical Romance. Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance even said that he modeled much of MCR’s career on The Smashing Pumpkins (this would be further proven by the band breaking up in 2013 and returning five years later to announce their reunion in 2019).
At a little after 8:00 p.m., it was finally time for the night’s main event: Green Day. However, rather than the band coming out immediately as would be expected, the speakers began to play Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” As the sun was finally starting to set, basking the stadium in gold light, thousands of voices sang along to the iconic song while a mounted camera on wheels broadcasted images of the crowd onto the large screens flanking the stage.
After this, the band still did not come out. Instead, someone in an aged bunny suit ran out to the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.” The mascot spent the song running around the stage, hyping up the crowd, at one point throwing a T-shirt into the pit and doing the worm on the runway extension of the stage at another. At the end of the song, a crew member quickly grabbed the bunny and “dragged” him offstage.
Two full-length songs in and no sign of the headlining band, fans were unsure what to expect next. Whatever they did expect, however, it probably was not a mash-up instrumental of “The Imperial March” from Star Wars, “We Will Rock You” and “I Love Rock and Roll,” but that is indeed what they received. To this theme music, the members of Green Day finally took to the stage to raucous applause and immediately launched into “The American Dream is Killing Me” from their newest album, “Saviors.”
Despite the tour itself being called “The Saviors Tour,” only five songs from their thirty-seven-song setlist were from the newest album. Instead of simply celebrating their newest release, Green Day celebrated their entire career, most notably the 30th anniversary of “Dookie,” their first major label album, and the 20th anniversary of “American Idiot,” their first album to debut at number one on the Billboard charts. Both albums won the band Grammy Awards and still currently sit on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” To commemorate these anniversaries, the band played both albums in their entirety. In total, the setlist that night spanned eight albums.
To say that Green Day put on the show of a lifetime might be an understatement. The band pulled out all the stops for this tour, complete with a giant mushroom cloud backdrop to mimic the cover of “Dookie,” an equally large 3D hand holding a heart-shaped grenade to mimic the cover of American Idiot, animations and videos on the screens behind the set pieces, lots of pyrotechnics, fireworks, streamers and lighting effects.
The band played through “Dookie” first, a set that featured a large inflatable “Bad Year” blimp, an image that can be found on the album cover. This real life version carried a bundle of smaller identical blimps, which were released over the crowd.
After “Dookie,” the band did not launch right into “American Idiot.” Instead, they played a few songs from “Saviors,” as well as a few from “21st Century Breakdown,” “Insomniac” and “Warning.”
An especially memorable part of this portion of the show was during the song “Know Your Enemy,” where Armstrong called out to the audience before the bridge of the song, asking if there was anyone who knew all of the words. Searching through the crowd in the pit, he asked, “You’re sure?” before telling security to bring a young fan onstage to sing the bridge and last chorus with the band.
Then, the familiar riff from the titular song of “American Idiot” played and the next portion of the show began. Since the album’s original release, its political themes have been one of its most recognizable — and criticized — elements. During “American Idiot,” Armstrong changed the lyrics of “I’m not a part of the redneck agenda” to “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda,” something he has done several times, most publicly while performing on ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2024.”
Later, as the opening riff of “Holiday” sounded, Armstrong shouted, “This song is anti-war! Ceasefire!” before counting into the song. During the song, before launching into the bridge, he called out, “I said Georgia! I said Alabama! I said Florida! Destroy Mar-a-Lago!” — referring to the luxury resort owned by Donald Trump.
During his many calls of encouragement to the crowd, Armstrong referenced all three states due to the fact that the tour was not going to Alabama or Florida and many fans had traveled to Georgia to see the band play.
Green Day closed their two-and-a-half hour set with “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” from their album “Nimrod.” The acoustic ballad has become one of their most well-known songs since the album’s release in 1997, very often seen at sentimental events such as weddings and graduations. Armstrong was alone onstage for most of the set, his acoustic guitar the only instrumentals. During the last chorus, Dirnt and Cool skipped back onstage to flank the singer and the three hugged during the final chords of the song. For the very last chord, Armstrong handed Dirnt the guitar pick and he officially closed out the show. The night ended with fireworks and thunderous applause.