Performing one of their first concerts together since Billy Joe Armstrong’s infamous breakdown at the I Heart Radio concert in Las Vegas, and subsequent rehab stint, there was a solid anticipation from Green Day fans for Friday night’s concert at Austin City Limit’s Moody Theatre.
As the room sung along to tracks like “Bohemian Rhapsody” in anticipation of the performance, the infamous three piece performed with three extra touring members in this relatively intimate space (the venue holds around 2,750 people), and set off on a show without the spectacle and pyrotechnics that we’ve come to know from the band’s massive stadium shows.
Of course, the band are back on the road to promote their trilogy of albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré!, the upcoming film ¡CUATRO! and were in SXSW specifically to attend the world premiere of the documentary about the American Idiot stage show entitled Broadway Idiot. With all this to promote, and the frustration of being away from the stage for an unexpected amount of time, there was a certain fury to Billy’s performance, as he worked double time to win over the crowd. Along the way he called the concert a “celebration”, and made plenty of Friday Night Light references. The whole band looked like they were having fun, and for the most part had no troubles keeping the crowd on their side.
Though they didn’t have the massive production and pyrotechnics, they did resort to some of the moments we’ve come to know from the band. Two kids in the crowd were given the opportunity to come and sing on stage and then do a stage dive – one even got a kiss from Billy. Even the venue’s sign language girl got her chance to shine. Billy also ran out with things like water pistols, T-Shirt cannons and toilet paper guns (a la Girl Talk) to keep things interesting.
Moments like “King For A Day” leading into a medley of covers, such as “Shout!”, have been a part of their set forever now, and remain one of the highlights of the show – though it might be fair to argue that a bit of change in moments like that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. But even in these moments, the new energy the band has in returning to the stage made it feel fresh enough.
The only real reference Billy made to his time away from the stage was when a microphone stuffed up and he remarked, “I wasn’t even on drugs!”. There were a few moments during the set when he seemed to change things up a bit, which led to laughter from both him and the band. In spite of the set’s returning moments, it all felt very loose, and in the context it’s exactly what it should have felt like.
The set featured plenty of new material, as you’ll see from the setlist below, and though I am much more inclined to enjoy their older jams – and there were plenty of them too, such as the always fantastic “Basket Case”, “Holiday”, “Burnout” and “Brain Stew” – there were more than enough fans in the crowd who knew every word to every song of even the newest material. Though with the older songs relying on a certain level of tradition, there was little experimentation for the newer tracks and honestly I could hardly tell most of them apart. But then again, these are VERY new additions to an otherwise finely tuned live show.
The night closed out with a trilogy of songs for the encore: the ever popular “American Idiot”, “Jesus of Suburbia” and “Brutal Love”. They walked off stage to huge applause, and one thing was clear: the band were ready to rock again, and even those who haven’t been a fan of the band’s most recent recordings (such as myself), will find it difficult not to enjoy the show.
SETLIST:
99 Revolutions
Know Your Enemy
Stay the Night
Stop When the Red Lights Flash
Letterbomb
Stray Heart
Oh Love
Holiday
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Burnout
Welcome to Paradise
Christie Road
Coming Clean
Disappearing Boy
Sweet Child o’ Mine / Highway to Hell
Brain Stew
St. Jimmy
Longview
Basket Case
She
King for a Day
Shout / Stand by Me / Hey Jude
X-Kid
Minority
Encore:
American Idiot
Jesus of Suburbia
Brutal Love
