Two musical celebrations took place in downtown San Diego Saturday night, just one mile apart. They were memorable for both similar and very different reasons.
Green Day began its sold-out performance at Petco Park shortly after the San Diego Symphony concluded its sold-out performance at Jacobs Music Center, where the 114-year-old orchestra triumphantly returned after the 95-year-old concert hall’s four-year renovation.
The first half of Green Day’s Petco Park performance was devoted largely to performing all the songs from the Bay Area trio’s major label breakthrough album, “Dookie,” which was released in 1994 and sold 20 million copies. By pop-punk standards, 30 years almost qualifies as a century!
The second half of the concert featured Green Day performing all the songs from its politically charged rock-opera, “American Idiot,” which sold 15 million copies and was transformed into a hit Broadway musical following its release in 2024. Six songs were sprinkled in from the band’s latest album, “Saviors” — including “Dilemma,” “1981,” “One Eyed Bastard” and “Bobby Sox” — effectively serving as a through-line between the band’s past and present.
The absence of more new songs was not because of a creative lull (“Saviors,” came out in January). But the focus on “American Idiot” and “Dookie” made sound sense as a double-victory lap, by a group whose longevity and resonance has far exceeded its members’ wildest expectations.
Unexpected longevity
“We love playing music, and you guys have given us the chance (to do this) for the last 35 years,” Green Day guitarist and lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong told the multigenerational audience. (Make that 37 years; the band will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2027.)
The themes explored on “American Idiot” include existential angst, rage and the quest for love by disaffected youths confronted with limited options in an increasingly polarized nation. This still timely 2004 album also draws some of its fire by spotlighting the dumbing down of media on cable TV and the post-9/11 invasion of Iraq by a coalition of Western nations, which were headed by the administration of then-U.S. President George W. Bush.
Green Day’s “Dookie,” released a decade earlier than “American Idiot,” was inspired by the numbing realities of life in a teenage wasteland, with nods to post-adolescent boredom, sexual identity, masturbation and despair.
Yet, however bleak some of the lyrics are, the best songs on both albums are rousing affirmations of the human spirit’s ability to prevail. They are also a testament to the power of brisk electric guitar chords, driving drumbeats and spirited vocals to fuel simple, no-nonsense songs that uplift, entertain and inform.
Green Day accomplished all three Saturday at its marathon, 38-song, 2-1/2-hour concert, which also served as a potent reminder of how much its songs has been inspired by, and at least in part transcended, the music of the Ramones, the Clash, the Replacements and other band’s who created a stylistic template that Green Day built on. There were also nods to other artists, as evidenced by the concert including snippets of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” John Mellencamp’s “Jack & Diane,” and Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.”
The Petco Park performance — which followed opening sets by Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and The Linda Lindas — opened with “Savior’s” high-octane “The American Dream is Killing Me.” It concluded with Armstrong performing a tender solo acoustic version of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” a wistful 1997 Green Day love song that briefly showed him to be quite adept at cross picking guitar work.
A mass sing-along for the capacity audience of more than 40,000, “Good Riddance” provided a poignant grace note to a concert that, with few exceptions, made nostalgia feel fresh and vibrant.
‘Very special’
“This is very special, to celebrate two (expletive) albums,” Armstrong told the cheering crowd after completing “Letterbomb,” the concert’s 33rd selection.
“Tonight is not a political party,” he continued. “We are not choosing sides. We are all united. This is unity. It’s not about saying: ‘(Screw you), America.’ What we want is a new America, something that is inclusive for all of us, with love, compassion and joy.”
Then, alluding to the recent arrest of hip-hop mogul P. Diddy on sex-trafficking and related charges, Armstrong added: “This is definitely a party, not a freak-off. Tonight is a celebration.”
Earlier in the night, he encouraged the audience to vote — and “to kick MAGA in the teeth.” Armstrong also gave a shoutout to Che Cafe, the site of Green Day’s 1992 area debut. That intimate, all-ages venue at UC San Diego is still operating and still run by students. It will host a Tuesday punk-rock show featuring four bands that are even more obscure than Green Day was 32 years ago during its “Kerplunk!” tour.
Another possible local connection, however unlikely, is Joey Harris, who has been a key member over the years of such beloved San Diego bands as Fingers, the Speedsters, the Beat Farmers, Comanche Moon, the Pleasure Barons, the Tighten-Ups, and more. Armstrong’s vocal phrasing, delivery and slightly nasally tone at times sounded as if he had studied singing with Harris — or, at the very least, was an admirer. (If so, good choice!)
Green Day’s Petco Park concert was the final date on its 2024 “Saviors” tour. Armstrong, bassist/vocalist Mike Dirnt (real name: Michael Pritchard) and drummer Tré Cool (real name: Frank Wright) are now all in their early 50s. But they had no problem achieving and sustaining the fervor and intensity of the band’s two, decades-old albums that they were spotlighting.
Two guitarists and a keyboardist filled out the sound nicely. By stadium-rock standards, the audio quality was clear and well-balanced. The production — pyrotechnic explosions and bursts of flame, giant LED screens, more pyrotechnics, confetti, even more pyrotechnics — mostly enhanced, rather than detracted, from Green Day’s durable, well-constructed music.
Standout songs included “Longview,” “Basket Case,” “Jesus of Suburbia,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Bobby Sox” and “Know Your Enemy,” which featured a brief vocal cameo by a randomly selected audience member name Parker. What she lacked in range and vocal control was easily made up for by her infectious enthusiasm.
Each song was delivered with admirable verve and precision by Green Day which could have dialed in its performance but happily did not. Apart from Armstrong’s voice cracking once or twice near the show’s conclusion, there was no indication anyone in the band was fatigued at the end of its four-month world tour.
Armstrong was a tireless cheerleader, encouraging the audience to sing along, jump in the air, light up the stadium with their cell phone flashlights and, most important, celebrate. But he was quick to act when he spotted two attendees near the front of the stage exchanging blows, just two songs into the concert.
“Settle down, settle down!” Armstrong said. “There’s no reason to fight. Everybody’s here to have a good time…”
On Saturday, that is precisely what Green Day delivered.
