Wembley Stadium
“Is this intimate or what?” Billie Joe Armstrong asks the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium crowd, about half-an-hour into Green Day’s first ever concert at the venue. He’s joking, of course, but it’s a fair observation of how insanely popular the band have become since they first broke into the mainstream sixteen years ago with their third album ‘Dookie’. While they’ve played some pretty big shows in the past, this latest gig is a good indication of how far they’ve come as musicians. Back in 1994, Green Day were still considered a punk band and ‘Dookie’ itself was a fine example of punk-rock perfection. Filled with two-minute anthems, three-chord riffs and lyrics about adolescence, it was brilliant in its youthful simplicity and it helped to make Green Day what they have become today. Since then, the trio have continued to broaden their creative output, releasing folk-rock album ‘Warning’ in 2000 before shattering their previous chart success with the concept album ‘American Idiot’ in 2004.
Tonight’s concert proves once and for all that Green Day’s punk-rock origins are far behind them. Wembley Stadium shows are usually reserved for hugely overrated rock “superstars” such as U2 and Bon Jovi. However, that isn’t the case tonight.
Anyone who has witnessed a Green Day concert in recent years will be familiar with the Drunk Bunny - a man in a pink rabbit costume who staggers around the stage before the show and downs several beers, much to the audience’s approval. Minutes before the band are due to start, the Drunk Bunny makes his appearance once again and proceeds to warm-up the crowd by dancing to ‘YMCA’ by the Village People. The front rows are more than happy to join him in the well-known dance routine for the song’s chorus. As always, the Bunny’s true identity is left to speculation and he sways off as ‘Song of the Century’, the intro from last year’s album ‘21st Century Breakdown’, begins playing in the background.
To an unsurprisingly almighty roar from the Wembley crowd, the three members of Green Day appear onstage and walk to their instruments. Billie Joe puts on his guitar and steps up onto a monitor in front of the adoring fans, before the group kick-off the show with the title track from ‘21st Century Breakdown’. The first hour is made up entirely of songs from the last two albums, including the singles ‘Know Your Enemy’, ‘Holiday’ and ‘East Jesus Nowhere’. As always, Billie Joe is in hyper-energetic form, running around all over the stage, pulling people from the crowd and adorning himself with a variety of items that are thrown from the audience, including silly sunglasses and a wig that is coloured by the English flag.
The biggest sing-along of the night by far is for the chorus of ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’, during which Billie Joe kneels down and starts bowing to the crowd with outstretched arms. Following this, the frontman pauses for a quick guitar change, at which point, he walks up to the front of the stage holding aloft a turquoise, sticker-emblazoned and scruffy-looking Stratocaster with the letters BJ stuck on it. The instrument is instantly recognisable to any of Green Day’s pre-‘American Idiot’ fans as the singer’s original guitar. “Are there any old school Green Day fans here tonight?” he asks, to a deafening response from the members of the crowd that are over twenty-five. The band then burst into ‘Nice Guys Finish Last’ and ‘Burnout’, from the albums ‘Nimrod’ and ‘Dookie’ respectively, which provoke some serious pogoing in the moshpit.
These songs are the start of a section of the gig that is dedicated to the albums that Green Day released in the ‘90s. Old favourites included are ‘Welcome to Paradise’, ‘Geek Stink Breath’, ‘Hitchin a Ride’ and their original hit single ‘Basket Case’. At one point, in a moment rarely seen from other bands at this level of celebrity, Billie Joe asks the audience if anyone has any requests. The singer shares a laugh with bassist Mike Dirnt as one fan calls out for ‘Dominated Love Slave’, an amusing country and western track from their second album ‘Kerplunk’. “Tre Cool, get your ass down here,” Billie Joe shouts to Green Day’s drummer. The two then swap places as Tre takes over on vocals to play the requested song. Later on, Billie Joe takes another break from vocal duties when he gets a young audience member to sing the whole of ‘Longview’.
Tonight’s performance is as action-packed as people have come to expect from a Green Day concert. Aside from the pyrotechnics that are used during the show, the usual antics are delivered from the three members of the band, particularly Billie Joe. As well as his trademark chants that he exchanges with the crowd, he spends much of the gig striving to get everyone involved. He even turns to weapons for assistance. Among his arsenal of fun are a water hose, a toilet paper gun - it has to be seen to be believed - and a T-shirt cannon, all of which are used against the audience throughout the show. The group also play a series of short cover versions, to the delight of the fans, including Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’, The Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’, The Undertones’ ‘Teenage Kicks’ and Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Sweet Child of Mine’, during which Billie Joe performs his best Axl Rose impression. A cover of Lulu’s ‘Shout’ features Tre Cool repeatedly singing one verse, dressed in a red bra, ladies’ hat and huge sunglasses.
Following a short interval, the band return to the stage for an encore of ‘American Idiot’ and the nine-minute track ‘Jesus of Suburbia’. Then, nearly three hours since the start of the gig, the rest of the band leave Billie Joe alone on the stage to complete the set with his acoustic guitar for ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’ and closer ‘Good Riddance’.
Although Green Day may have finally reached the dizzying rockstar heights of Wembley Stadium since becoming a proper rock band, no one can accuse them of losing any of their punk-rock energy. There are a few occasions where their performance could be described as corny, but even the most humourless critic would struggle to suppress a smile during tonight’s show. Something else that Green Day can’t be accused of is failing to deliver value for money. At three hours, the set includes all of the band’s highlights that have managed to appeal to the entire range of ages that span the last sixteen years. Who knows what Green Day will do next to follow their two recent concept albums? Billie Joe admits that he’s not sure when they will next be back in this country. However, as he goes on to explain, after seeing many of his own favourite bands break up, “the only way I’m leaving this band is if they roll me away in a coffin.”