BY TER STAFF
“And for the first time ever, Green Day is in Green Bay“, Billie Joe Armstrong announced to the Wisconsin crowd, which was instantly met by cheers throughout the arena, as the band opened their performance with their hit track, ‘Know Your Enemy’. Just a block away from the historic Lambeau Field at the Resch Center, the punk rock legends made history of their own as they made their first every stop in Green Bay, WI.
Although Green Bay is only the third largest market in Wisconsin, a state that often gets overlooked on many bands’ arena tours, tonight’s matchup was one that was long since written in the stars, a combination that truly needed to happen. Not Milwaukee, Not Madison… but Green Day made a stop in Green Bay tonight on their big Revolution Radio Tour, and the American Idiots wouldn’t have had it any other way.
The night instantly went off to a great start the Laura Jane Grace led punk rock band, Against Me!, got the crowd warmed up as the night’s special guest performance. The band played a number of songs from their catalog, including ‘Black Me Out’, ‘I Was A Teenage Anarchist’ and tracks from their 2016 LP, Shape Shift with Me.
Then, as crew begin to set the stage for the night’s headlining performance, the anticipation built up as the house played classic songs, including Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and the Ramones’ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, with thousands of Packer fans singing along word-for-word. But then, after a rocking Easter Bunny began to toss treats from his basket into the GA pit, it was time for Green Day to bless the stage.
The California natives got the night started on a high note, as Armstrong made friends with the audience, running from stage left to stage right to up and down the catwalk. As the band played behind him, Armstrong searched for a fan to come on stage and sing along. As the young lady joined him on the catwalk, her sing-a-long ended in the best way possible as she jumped into the audience to crowd surf while Billie Joe picked up where she left off.
And while the night started with high amounts of energy, things never came down, as Green Day’s entire setlist was full of hits and a number of cuts from the band’s newest album, Revolution Radio. With memorable performances of tracks like ‘Holiday’, ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ and ‘Basket Case’, the night’s performance was one that Green Bay will not soon forget.
Green Day made sure to squeeze is as much music as possible, not knowing the next time that they’ll find themselves in Northeastern Wisconsin. The band performed two great encores for the crowd, which included songs like ‘Ordinary World’, ‘Jesus of Suburbia’ and of course everyone’s favorite, ‘American Idiot’. “Green Day” is just one letter removed from the city that gave host to its tour tonight, but no one in attendance was removed from having one hell of a night.
Check out our photos from tonight’s performance below, and be sure to get tickets for one of the remaining dates on the Revolution Radio Tour here.
Photos by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
The Early Registration 