Green Day Revolution Radio Tour
Wrigley Field // Chicago, IL // August 24, 2017
Green Day put one of the most exciting shows of the year, and it’s all thanks to the unwavering love of their fans.
Thousands of people filled Wrigley Field to see the punk veterans perform a non-stop powerhouse of a show. U.K. alt-rockers Catfish and the Bottlemen opened the evening and had a pretty big fanbase of their own in attendance. While the group have been around since 2007, they gained critical acclaim after the release of their album, The Ride, in 2016. Having seen them on small stages before, it was exciting and well worth it to see them take command of a huge crowd at Wrigley Field. Lead singer and guitarist Ryan ‘Van’ McCann navigated the massive stage well and had fans from both sides of the stadium singing along and reaching out to grab his hand.
Before Green Day came on, they warmed up the crowd by blasting Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and playing with the stage lights to match parts of the song. To hear all of Wrigley Field sing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in unison was both beautiful and powerful; the crowd ranged from 9 and 10-year-old kids to their 45-year-old rocker parents, and everyone knew the words to the iconic song. It’s probably the reason Green Day chose to start their epic show with it.
Green Day came running onstage to throngs of cheering fans and opened with “Know Your Enemy,” one of the biggest hits from their 2009 album, 21st Century Breakdown. Within five minutes, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong had led the crowd in chants, jumped off a huge speaker, and pulled a fan up from the pit to sing front and center. After this incredibly lucky fan hugged Armstrong and sang the chorus, he was instructed to run full speed off the stage into the crowd, which happily caught him and surfed him back to his spot. The band played all of their hits as well as songs from their newest album, Revolution Radio. It’s no surprise that in their 30-year career, Green Day have sold over 85 million records and are now members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What is surprising (especially for a punk band) is that their lineup has never really changed. Drummer Tre Cool joined the band in 1992, forming the iconic trio that has been making chart-topping hits ever since. The three band members have incredible chemistry and timing when playing live, and it seems like they genuinely love to play together.
The band pulled out every stop to keep the crowd entertained, including a t-shirt cannon, a massive water gun, pyrotechnics, fireworks (which are synonymous with Wrigley Field shows), and, of course, sing-a-longs. Armstrong played with the crowd, frequently batting his eyeliner-clad eyes and yawning if he thought the crowd wasn’t singing loudly enough.
One of the highlights of the show came when Armstrong pulled up a kid, who couldn’t have been older than 9 or 10, on stage to sing “Longview,” a tongue-in-cheek song about masturbation with a ton of expletives. Hearing this kid shout “When masturbation’s lost its fun/You’re fucking lonely” then jump headfirst off the stage only confirms that Green Day are one of the most iconic punk groups and speak to every age level.
