The Bay Area pop punk legends played Dookie and American Idiot in full at incredible show in downtown San Diego
On Saturday, Bay Area pop-punk titans Green Day celebrated the 30th anniversary of Dookie and the 20th anniversary of American Idiot with an unbelievable and incendiary performance for an enthralled crowd at Petco Park in downtown San Diego.
Saturday’s show was the last date on the band’s sprawling Saviors Tour – which has seen them performing those seminal albums in full at stadiums across America all summer long – along with a potent opening bill that includes alt rock icons The Smashing Pumpkins, fellow Berkeley punk legends Rancid, and rising youngsters The Linda Lindas. As such, Green Day poured every last ounce of passion into the performance, leaving nothing on the table, and giving fans their money’s worth and so much more.
As the lights dimmed on stage, Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” rang out over the PAs, leading fans into a mass sing along. The segue into The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” saw a man in a rabbit costume and a Padres jersey scurrying across the stage and whipping up the crowd into an energized frenzy. Before long, Green Day walked out to deafening cheers, and kicked off the set in explosive fashion with “The American Dream is Killing Me” off their most recent album Saviors.
From there, they played their breakthrough 1994 album Dookie front-to-back, setting off several rapid bursts of pyro during scorching opener “Burnout.” As a live act, Green Day has aged like fine wine. Billie Joe continues to be a consummate frontman, leading the crowd in the palm of his hand via rally cries and shouts of “heyyyyoooooo” in between tracks, while he, Mike, Tre, Jason, and company continue to have a telepathic sonic connection on stage.
It’s always fun to hear the big hits – “Welcome to Paradise,” “Longview,” “Basket Case,” “She,” “When I Come Around,” – but the true beauty of a full album anniversary show like this one was being able to hear some of those rare deep cuts live. The infectious love song “Sassafras Roots” made the audience swoon and was a particular highlight. For a generation of fans whose childhood and teenage years were defined by Dookie, this run of tracks felt incredibly special and nostalgic.
Similarly, their performance of American Idiot struck a nostalgic chord, and a considerably more political one. However, Billie Joe urged the crowd to unify with compassion, and to strive for a better future and a “new America.”
“The only good thing about a cell phone is the flashlight,” he joked as the entire stadium lit up with lights during the searing ballad “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” – from the front pit all the way to the top row of the nosebleeds. The combination of sights and sounds sent chills down the spine.
Throughout the show, Billie Joe’s love and respect for San Diego was palpable. He repeatedly referred to the city as “the most beautiful place in America,” and even had time to shout out The Che Cafe, the iconic local DIY venue where Green Day played their first San Diego show all the way back in 1992. It was a humble reminder that, as massive and important as Green Day have become, they are still hole-in-the-wall DIY kids at heart. They’ll always have that homespun authenticity and charm to them, and it’s a part of what’s made them so timeless.
Furthermore, the band’s road crew deserves major props for the technical aspects of the show – from the configuration of the giant LED screens, the light show, the relentless pyro displays, the visual nods to the album artwork of Dookie and American Idiot, and the spectacle as a whole.
The set came to its cathartic conclusion with the band’s moving performance of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” which always hits the sentimental sweet spot as you’re headed to the exits. Overall, it was a fitting end to a triumphant tour that stoked the nostalgic sweet spot, and a perfect way to for September to end, if you catch my drift.
All Photos by Jeff Cubbison
Green Day
Rancid
The Linda Lindas
