Concert Review: Green Day Gets Back To Business In Toronto

By: Luke Ottenhof –

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day at Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL – 03-28-13. (Photo: Nathan Holt)

“We’re all gonna get our fuckin’ kicks tonight,” screamed Billie Joe Armstrong, leaning over the stage monitors. He spoke the truth.

California punk rock staple Green Day has gone strong since the early 90’s, and Thursday night’s powerhouse performance to a sold out Air Canada Centre left no scrap of doubt that they still have the edginess that first slapped the spotlight on them.

The trio has churned out pop-punk anthems for the better part of two decades. 2012’s trilogy of mediocrity, UNO, DOS,and TRE, left a slew of half-assed singles and disappointed “Idiots,” as their fans are affectionately named.

But with a catalogue as extensive and storied as theirs, Green Day ensured that you will quickly forget about last year’s misfires. The buzz of Armstrong’s recent rehab stint and “descent into madness” has clouded the band for the past few months, and critics have analyzed their comeback into the ground.

Fellow Californians Best Coast warmed the stage, and if anything, it was a curveball. Hailing from Los Angeles, the root duo of Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno rolled through a 45-minute set of their signature fuzzy pop rock, grappling material from both their 2010 debut album Crazy For You and 2012’s The Only Place. To the thousands of Green Day diehards crammed into the arena, the two weren’t much more than background noise. Solid enough was the mix of rhythm in the set, but amid the arena backdrop, the act’s draw flickered and left much to be desired.

After lighting up with the recent recession-era anthem, “99 Revolutions,” from 2012’s ¡Tré!, Green Day wasted little time booting up 2009’s “Know Your Enemy,” followed by two newer tracks, “Stay The Night,” from 2012’s ¡Uno! and ”Stop When the Red Lights Flash” from ¡Dos!  respectively. The new tunes were more an obligation than an offering. Sweeping the ugly stuff out-of-the-way early, the real show started when Armstrong belted, “Do you want to start a fucking war?” to signal the war-protest song “Holiday,” from 2004’s American Idiot.

Love him or hate him, Armstrong knows how to work a crowd. With the energy and mania of a 12-year old schoolboy, he tore back and forth across the stage, leading call-and-response chants and firing water, t-shirts, and even toilet paper into a sweaty, jostling mess of people.

Armstrong bears a warm spirit as well, and it shows. Bringing two young fans onstage, one during “Know Your Enemy” and one during slacker-anthem “Longview,” Armstrong gave both of them hearty hugs before passing over the mic and letting them take the reins while he pumped up the crowd. It can’t be any mystery that he’s making their wildest dream come true, and giving them a moment to be kings for a day.

Following their minute of fame, with Armstrong flagging them on, the boys ran and jumped in to crowdsurf to top off their experience. All the while, Armstrong watched anxiously to make sure they landed safely. It’s a small token, but what a difference it makes to have one person in a culture of selfishness and pride show a little compassion.

Smash-hits from 1994’s Dookie littered the set, with classics like “When I Come Around”, “She”, and “Basket Case” nestled in the second half.

By the time the band swung into “King For A Day,” featuring the whole crew sporting wacky attire and drummer Tre Cool dressed in drag, Armstrong worked in a kazoo, blasting wildly on it in answer to the track’s saxophone solo.

After ending the first run with “Minority,” they performed a three-song encore including fan favourite “American Idiot,” along with “Jesus of Suburbia.” If you didn’t know every single word to these two, you were the minority.

You know that Green Day song that you played at seminal milestones in your life, like graduations and weddings called “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)?” Well, for this show Armstrong skirted the tradition of kissing the audience goodnight with a solo rendition of one of their most beloved songs, and instead they blundered through a new ballad called “Brutal Love.” Fans who have come to love and expect the sentimental, bittersweet end to the show perhaps were left with an image of a band that has cultivated a sense of self-awareness, at least on paper.

Green Day put on an incredibly powerful live show. With all eyes Armstrong’s every word and whim, the elder statesman of punk managed to dangle the sold-out audience on a string for nearly three hours.

If anyone in the ACC didn’t get their kicks, it’s doubtful they ever will, and while Green Day delivered more than enough excitement during their extensive set, it will only be a matter of time until their fans grow weary of their youthful rebellion routine.

Green Day Set-List

1. 99 Revolutions
2. Know Your Enemy
3. Stay the Night
4. Stop When the Red Lights Flash
5. Letterbomb
6. Oh Love
7. Holiday
8. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
9. Stray Heart
10. Burnout
11. Geek Stink Breath
12. Coming Clean
13. One of My Lies
14. Christie Road
15. Going to Pasalacqua
16. When I Come Around
17. Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover)
18. Brain Stew
19. St. Jimmy
20. Longview
21. Basket Case
22. She
23. King for a Day
24. Shout / Love Me Tender / (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction / Hey Jude
25. X-Kid
26. Minority
    Encore:
27. American Idiot
28. Jesus of Suburbia
29. Brutal Love