Green Day Reawaken Arena Rock Glory Days In Duluth, GA (SHOW REVIEW)

Almost three decades have passed since Green Day first began channeling their teen angst through rock n roll. The band’s latest album Revolution Radio reflects their infectious joy for life while addressing social awareness.  On Friday night (3/10), just outside the capital city of Atlanta, Green Day brought their politically charged party to the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, GA.

Promptly at 8:30pm, the PA system was cranked up and the arena was filled with the familiar lyrics, “Is this the real life?  Is this just fantasy?”  Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a fitting choice to start the party, every single element of the song familiar to every single member of the audience, regardless of age.  The age range of the 11,000+ crowd was somewhere between 10 and 65.  The tone was being set for a family gathering, a joining of kindred spirits, the celebration of life and the wonderful beauty in diversity.  No sooner had the final notes expired on “Bohemian Rhapsody”, when the power chords of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” rifled through the sold out arena.  “Hey HO, Let’s GO!” the crowd chanted, as an individual in a pink bunny suit paraded around the stage hyping the masses for the big party.

Launching immediately into “Know Your Enemy” from 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day wasted no time in generating audience participation.  Billie Joe Armstrong invited a young female from the audience to join the band onstage to sing a few lines of the song, then encouraging her to stage dive into the waiting arms of the crowd.  Carefully chosen, the song “Know Your Enemy” set the tone for the evening, with lyrics like “Silence is an enemy” urging freedom of speech.  Without hesitation, the band exploded (literally with pyrotechnics) into “Bang Bang,” the first hit single from Revolution Radio.

Following the album’s self-titled track, Green Day took a trip back to American Idiot to ignite some of the evening’s most politically charged segments.  The anti-war song “Holiday” lead the charge with its criticism of conservatism and rally cry against apathy.  The song’s powerful bridge gave a platform to Armstrong, who took the opportunity to express his disdain for POTUS and overall dissatisfaction with the current administration.  The fury continued with “Letterbomb,” as Armstrong rallied against intolerance and defiantly criticized agendas filled with racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia.  Billie Joe made his declaration known, “It doesn’t matter where you’re from…we are ALL Americans!”  

In high gear, Green Day continued to steamroll through their tight set with one hit after another.  “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams,” perhaps the biggest hit from American Idiot, led the way and induced the night’s first audience arm waving and sing-a-long.  Songs were represented from the band’s entire catalog, even diving back deep to 1990 for “2,000 Light Years From Home” drawn from 39/Smooth.  

As the set moved forward, so did the encouragement of audience participation.  Billie Joe invited a young male to join him onstage and handle vocal duties for the last verse and final chorus of “Longview,” one of the band’s biggest hits from 1994’s Dookie.  In grand fashion, the young lad completed his part by taking a long running catapult off the stage for an exclamatory crowd surf.  The hit “Minority,” from the 2000 album Warning, found its place in the center of the band’s setlist.  Due to its placement, this seemed an ideal time for band introductions.  

Aside from the core three, Jason White has been a touring addition and sometimes studio guitarist/backing vocalist since 1999.  Jason Freese, multi-instrumentalist, has been a touring addition since 2004.  Freese played keyboards, accordion and basically killed it on saxophone during a song medley which featured a blistering rendition of Wham’s “Careless Whisper.”  Finally, a sixth member named Jeff Matika contributed backing vocals and occasional acoustic guitar.  Armstrong claimed Matika has been hiding in his guitar case since 1990.

Deeper into the set, during their rendition of the Operation Ivy song “Knowledge,” Billie Joe issued an invitation for yet a third audience member to join the band onstage, this time to play his guitar.  A young lady eagerly accepted, giving Armstrong a big hug and then taking hold of his guitar.  Helping her adjust the guitar strap and teaching the “three chords” needed to play, Billie Joe confidently set the gal loose and she proceeded to play and sing her way through the song’s completion.  As if that weren’t enough, Billie Joe introduced the girl to the audience (her name was Kate) and then told her she could keep the guitar!  This was indeed an epic gesture by a band that loves what they do and gives back to the fans whose love is ever so unconditional.

Green Day did what has become somewhat of an arena rock standard these days, which was to finalize the evening with a pair of double encores.  It was done purposefully and methodically.  The first encore slot featured two powerful statements from American Idiot, with the title track and “Jesus of Suburbia.”  Again, the rebellious outcry was heard as Billie Joe Armstrong expressed his dissatisfaction with popular opinion and the current American government.   “Jesus of Suburbia”, the epic journey of American Idiot’s central character, gave closure to the night’s political slant with its sprawling landscape of multi-segmented wonder.  

The second set of encores was more subdued and laid the crowd gently to rest with a pair of acoustic numbers.  The first was “Ordinary World,” the fitting ballad from Revolution Radio.  Second, and the final song of the evening, was “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” from the album Nimrod.  Green Day achieved their goal of encouraging the masses to stand up for what they believe, love one another and practice compassion.  Green Day made their case in Duluth, GA on a Friday night.