Photos and Review by Jeff Palmucci
Show photos HERE
Give me cherry bombs and gasoline
debutantes in surgery.
And the headline ‘Legalize the Truth’
— Green Day, Revolution Radio
That lyric is off of Green Day’s latest album, Revolution Radio. I’ve tried to analyze myself over this song. Why do I love it so much? Is it an unhealthy obsession with cherry bombs and gasoline? Or debutantes in surgery? What the heck does that even mean?
You know what, I don’t care. This whole album is freaking amazing. I haven’t loved a Green Day album this much since American Idiot. Revolution Radio, Bang Bang, Still Breathing, Say Goodbye, Youngblood; all amazing tracks, epitomizing the frantic high energy punk that Green Day is known for.[1] I really want you to keep reading this review, but if I were you, I’d check out some of the links above. Do me a favor and come back when you are done.
They are currently touring on their Revolution Radio tour in support of the album, and I was lucky enough to get into the Hartford show at Xfinity Theatre. It was a Tuesday night and the place was packed.
Billy Joe doesn’t just sing songs during their sets. He spends a ton of time working the crowd, egging us on and getting random people from the audience to participate on stage. For the very first song, he invited this girl on stage during Know Your Enemy. She was just having a blast jumping around with the band. She wasn’t the only one. They invited a guitarist “Aaron” on stage to play during their cover of Operation Ivy’s “Knowledge.” I found this video online where they did it for the whole band in Vienna. Yeah, it was as cool as it looked. And, like you see online, everyone had to stage dive on their way out.
Of course they also had their props to liven up the show. A water cannon to spritz the crowd and a t-shirt gun to bomb them with shirts. He got some good distance with that t-shirt gun! I wouldn’t want to take one of those point blank in the face.
One new thing that I never saw at a Green Day concert before was the pyrotechnics. They had flamethrowers synchronized to the music, curtains of sparks, and some really loud fireworks going off a various times during the show.
Green Day puts on an incredible show to go along with some even more incredible music. Revolution radio is a great album and the Revolution Radio Tour continues to November 19th. Don’t miss it.
[1] I want to point out that I made that list before going out to find the videos. When I did, almost all of them were right there on the Green Day website. Who does this? Gives away their best music for free? I’ve seen new bands do this for publicity, but Green Day has been around for almost 30 years!
Set List
- Know You Enemy
- Bang Bang
- Revolution Radio
- Holiday
- Letter Bomb
- Boulevard of Broken Dreams
- Longview
- Young Blood
- 2000 Light Years Away
- Hitchin a Ride
- When I Come Around
- Welcome to Paradise
- Minority
- Are We The Waiting
- Saint Jimmy
- Knowledge
- Basket Case
- She
- King For a Day
- Still Breathing
- Forever Now
- American Idiot
- Jesus of Suburbia
- Ordinary World
- Time of Your Life