Being an American Idiot in Montreal
Sep 06 '05 (Updated Apr 26 '08)
The Bottom Line Merci, Green Day.
Right now Green Day are the biggest rock band in the world, and they know it. But they don't let that knowledge get in the way of putting on a tremendous show. Instead, they deliver the most theatrical punk rock show imaginable without taking things to cornball levels. Their over-the-top antics combined with a top-notch musical performance made this one of the most amazing concerts I've ever been to.
I saw Green Day September 4th, 2005, at Montreal's Parc Jean Drapeau. Anti Flag opened the show with an energetic set filled with angry punk tunes and politically charged rants. Next up was Jimmy Eat World whose set seemed to fly by. They opened with a hard rocking Pain, and from there they rolled through every one of their hits. No filler, barely any chit chat. Just an incredibly tight set that gave us a perfect set-up to the main attraction. But before Green Day, we were treated to someone in a pink bunny costume who drank, danced onstage, and got everyone to do the YMCA. Now we were really warmed up.
Green Day took the stage to the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey (or the Ric Flair theme, for wrestling fans). An arrogant move? Hell yeah. But they immediately backed it up with a blistering version of American Idiot. That was followed by Jesus of Suburbia, anti-Bush anthem Holiday, We Are the Waiting, and St. Jimmy. You know an album is great when a band can play five new songs right off the bat and still keep the crowd in a frenzy.
But they left plenty of room for old hits too, as they then rolled into Longview. We were also treated to favorites like Basketcase, Hitchin' a Ride, Brain Stew/Jaded, She, Minority, and a heartfelt Wake Me Up When September Ends. The height of the fun came during cross-dressing anthem King For a Day, during which the entire band - including the horn section - donned goofy headgear (Tre Cool's big, pink hat was my favorite), and Billie Joe launched into pieces of Shout and Stand By Me.
Billie Joe's dynamic personality resulted in a massive amount of crowd participation, mainly through "Hey-oh!" call-and-responses. They also gave three lucky fans an unforgettable experience by inviting a young drummer, bassist, and guitarist to hop onstage and play Knowledge. The girl who played guitar got to keep it, and the drummer got to stage dive. So despite all the theatrics, it's evident that Green Day still have a close relationship with their fans. It's also clear that they haven't lost their snotty punk attitude - during the show they Super Soaked the crowd and Billie Joe yelled at a nearby fireworks show and reached down his pants to play a little pocket pool. Nice to see fame hasn't completely gone to their heads.
For the encore, they started with the energetic Maria and followed with the award-winning Boulevard of Broken Dreams. They ended with a colossal We Are the Champions, letting us all bask in the knowledge that this tour is their victory lap for their biggest album to date. Billie Joe closed with a solo, electric performance of Time of Your Life before they launched a fireworks show of their own, complete with special American Idiot confetti.
Green Day are on a gigantic roll. They deserve it, and they know it, but they back it up with an amazing show. The theatrics are incredible, but the fun, energetic, and emotional music takes center stage. Green Day pour everything they have into their performances, treating every song like the show's closer, and leave you in awe. It's something unpredictable, but I guarantee a Green Day show will be the time of your life.
Also from Green Day:
1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
Dookie
Insomniac
Nimrod
Warning
Shenanigans
American Idiot
Bullet In a Bible
Warped Tour
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