Words by Waster Staff | Photos by Joe Papeo
SAYREVILLE – Green Day is truly a band that transcends generations.
That was evident Wednesday night at the band’s show at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, N.J., the second show of Green Day’s Revolution Radio World Tour. While the set began with the newest single off the upcoming Revolution Radio album, “Bang Bang,” the 27-song set list brought back memories for the old heads in the crowd.
And it was a sight to see thousands of Millennials and Gen Xers alike sing in unison to every word of songs that topped the charts in the mid-90s. It started with “Longview,” the seventh song of the night, and culminated with a sequence near the end of the set that featured: “When I Come Around,” “Basket Case,” “She” and “King for a Day” — the last of which had Billy Joe Armstrong strutting around stage in a police officer’s cap and kazoo.
Everyone knows Green Day has come a long way since the days of rocking out in sweaty clubs and basements in Berkeley, California. But Green Day opted to return to the smaller, more intimate settings for the latest tour — and it’s a breath of fresh air, for both the fans and the bandmates.
Though the chord progressions have changed, albeit slightly, not much else has for Green Day; they’ve always been pop punk. Heck, they are the band that defined pop punk. But, like true punk rockers, they still have great energy and a disdain for the political system.
“What do you think of New York’s finest, Donald Trump?” Armstrong asked the crowd, to which they responded with loud boos.
As much as the crowd enjoyed itself Wednesday night, it appeared the band was having even more fun. Armstrong brought up a younger fan to sing with him on stage for “Know Your Enemy,” one of the hit singles off of 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown. He then brought up a teenager, who looked like a younger version of Armstrong, to sing the end of “Longview.” The kid knocked it out of the park, jumping on the stage monitors and diving into the crowd at the end.
“We promise to come back,” Armstrong proclaimed near the end of the set. “We won’t miss New Jersey. That can have a bad and a good meaning. I mean the good one, of course.”
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