By Cameron Lee
27 August 2024
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since Californian punk rockers Green Day released their major label debut. Dookie. Emerging from the Bay Area punk scene of the early ’90s, the band is widely credited with popularizing the genre in the mainstream and spawned many of the pop punk bands of the early 2000s. Before they became Green Day, childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and their two other bandmates (bassist Sean Hughes and drummer Raj Punjabi) were known as Blood Rage and then Sweet Children, changing their name shortly before the release of their first EP.
Armstrong and Dirnt – who met in the small town of Rodeo, California – and drummer Tre Cool (who joined the band in 1990) cut their teeth at the famous punk rock club 924 Gillman in Berkeley. And although they were rebuked by the punk community and banned from playing at the club after signing with a major label in 1993 (the ban has since been lifted), their influence three decades later is astonishing.
No matter how many records were sold, how many awards or streams, nothing can measure musical influence better than the different generations of concertgoers in attendance at a show. From young punk rockers who may have been introduced to the genre by the night’s opener, The Linda Lindas, to baby boomers who may have seen the Ramones in their heyday at CBGB, the range was huge.
On a picture-perfect Monday evening at the PNC Music Pavilion, the Linda Lindas began their show promptly at 6:45 p.m., and many had already gathered on the lawn to get into position for the three-act program. Like seasoned professionals, the punk rock quartet from Los Angeles delivered a rousing performance and hopped around the stage full of verve. With the 16-year-old lead singer and bassist Eloise Wong’s deep growls and 14-year-old drummer Mila de la Garza drummed and sang in the background. The band ended their set with “Racist, Sexist Boy.” The song helped the teen band achieve viral success after a video of their performance was shared by the Los Angeles Public Library in 2021. It’s been a tumultuous few years for the band, which has opened for the Rolling Stones, Paramore, Japanese Breakfast and now Green Day, and will also perform at Coachella in 2023. No longer considered a novelty, The Linda Lindas have proven that they are a rock band that can be taken seriously, or as seriously as they want to be; college is still ahead of them.
Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman of ska-punk band Rancid came to the Bay Area and performed at the same venue (924 Gilman Street) where Green Day began their career. The veteran rockers released their eponymous debut in 1993 on Epitaph Records (a label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz) and are often cited, along with The Offspring and Green Day, as the band that popularized punk in the ’90s, although their sound always leaned more toward ska. With nods to Nature Boy Ric Flair from wrestling enthusiast and guitarist Lars Frederiksen, who shouted a few “Wooos!” and even mimicked Flair’s signature walk, the band treated the crowd to their biggest hits “Time Bomb” and “Ruby Soho.”
Like many ’90s rock stars who grew up listening to Queen, Green Day paid tribute to the beloved band throughout the evening. Before the main event, “Bohemian Rhapsody” blared from the speakers while multiple cameras beamed at the audience singing along. It was a moment that truly highlighted the generations of fans who attended the sold-out rock show. After the intro, Green Day’s signature pink bunny appeared and warmed up the crowd with “Blitzkrieg Bop,” and then a video montage of the band accompanied by “The Imperial March” (Darth Vader’s theme song from star Wars) and “We Will Rock You” by Queen.
After warming up the crowd for a good eight minutes, the band members took the stage at around 8:29 p.m. to thunderous applause. Armstrong screamed “Charlotte, North Carolinaaa!” before launching into “The American Dream Is Killing Me,” the first song from their latest album. saviorone of five songs along with “Look Ma, No Brains!”, “One Eyed Bastard”, “Dilemma” and “Bobby Sox” from the release that made it into the 37-song setlist.
But this evening was dedicated to their groundbreaking albums Dookie And American IdiotAs Armstrong exclaimed: “Welcome to the 30th anniversary of Dookie”, after the opening song. They played the album from start to finish, starting with “Burnout”, evoking the smell of mediocre weed and incense, images of lava lamps and black light posters, a nostalgic feeling that might have arisen in the minds of those who were teenagers when Dookie was published in 1994.
Although the crowd didn’t break into a frenzy until the fourth track, “Longview,” Armstrong did a great job of keeping the often sluggish crowd engaged throughout the evening. Armstrong’s energy was notable, as he used Freddie Mercury’s “Ah-Yo” callback vocals (another Queen reference), shouted “Charlotte” and “North Carolina” several times throughout the evening, and encouraged the crowd to jump, wave, and sing along.
Multiple cameras cut quickly between Armstrong, Dirnt and Cool and the big screens to celebrate all the band members for this monumental tour stop – their first in Charlotte since 2005. A quick walk into the crowd allowed Armstrong and Dirnt to get closer to the fans, while spectacular pyrotechnics rang out from the back of the stage before “Welcome to Paradise” and at regular intervals throughout the evening.
Hands waved back and forth during the jangle-pop number “Pulling Teeth”, the biggest sing-along moments of the evening were “Basket Case”, “When I Come Around” and the sentimental finale of the evening, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, the only song from 1997. Nimrod. The Dookie Other highlights of the show included Armstrong’s acoustic cover of John Mellencamp’s “Jack & Diane” and a hilarious orchestral rendition of “All By Myself” by Cool, who was clad in a leopard-print cape and played the famous secret track that follows the song “FOD” on the album.
To transition into the second half, Green Day played fan favorites “Minority,” “Brain Stew,” and “Know Your Enemy,” the latter of which was accompanied by an animated Green Day superfan named DJ, selected from the crowd.
The band opened the American Idiot part of the show with the album’s title track. The album itself was described by the band as a “punk rock opera” with protest songs like “Holiday” and “American Idiot,” although there was no political banter that night. Instead, Armstrong took some time to comfort people who may be struggling with mental health issues: “You are not alone, because tonight is about peace, love, unity and joy.”
Cell phones lit up the pavilion for the Grammy-winning song “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and a somber “wake me Up When September Ends”, but the energy increased during “Bobby Sox”. Armstrong stood in the middle of the stage with just his guitar and microphone and the evening came to a fitting close with the melancholic “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, while Dirnt and Cool came out again for a confetti-filled final bow and thanks.
Armstrong mentioned during the show that this tour was “not a party, it was a celebration,” and it certainly felt that way. It wasn’t just a celebration to commemorate their achievements, but one that honored the punk genre and its evolution.
Setlist:
“The American dream is killing me”
“Burn out”
“Have a great time”
“Idiot”
“Long-term perspective”
“Welcome to Paradise”
“Pulling teeth”
“Hopeless case”
“She”
“Sassafras roots”
“When I come by”
“Clear the air”
“Emenius Sleepus”
“At the end”
“FOD” (with “Jack and Diane” cover)
“All by Myself” (orchestral version with Tre Cool)
“Know your enemy”
“Look, mom, no sense!”
“One-eyed bastard”
“Dilemma”
“Minority”
“Brain stew”
“American Idiot”
“Jesus of the Suburbs”
“Vacation”
“Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
“Are we the ones waiting?”
“Holy Jimmy”
“Give me Novacaine”
“She is a rebel”
“Extraordinary girl”
“Letter bomb”
“Wake me Up When September Ends”
“Homecoming”
“What’s your name again?”
“Bobby Sox”
“Goodbye never again (time of your life)”
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