Green Day brought their massive summer hit “Saviors” tour to American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a Saturday evening celebrating 2 of punk rocks greatest albums.
Kicking off the evening was The Linda Lindas giving the crowd a warm up with their blend of power pop / punk rock. The band consisting of sisters, family members, and friends sees no one in the band over the age of 20 currently. Years into their act and having toured with major acts, fests, and tv appearances, the band knew how to dominate a stage like this and have the crowd cheering hard for the group.
Going from a newer band to a veteran band in the scene, punk legends Rancid hit the stage next. Seeing a now packed stadium of people singing the ska punk hits was a sight to see as Tim, Matt, Lars, and Brenden blasted through a set playing hit after hit as fans of all ages skanked down the aisles of an MLB field singing every word. The band now almost 35 years in seemingly shows no age of slowing down and its clear to see why their fan base has stuck around for so long.
The odd band of the bill though was Chicago alt rock legends The Smashing Pumpkins. With an hour set that was mostly with the hits, a few deeper cuts or newer songs, and a U2 cover the band mostly played through the motions it seemed. Known for their rougher history and singer / guitarist Billy Corgans open thoughts on playing a hits filled set the band appeared almost lifeless and with no joy. That is however except for new touring guitarist Kiki Wong who was a constant beam of happiness and energy constantly smiling and playing with the crowd at all times. While the crowd did pop for the hits, and the band sounded decent with some heavy moments, on an almost entirely punk filled lineup and with some bad attitudes it seemed the Pumpkins just didn’t hit the right stride with this Milwaukee crowd.
All that mattered though was the lights going out as Green Days ever so creepy punk rock bunny hit the stage to warm the crowd up. The mascot of Green Days new coffee brand ran around for a few minutes before the lights dimmed again and Green Day walked on stage blasting right into “The American Dream Is Killing Me”.
From there with an explosion on stage the album art to “Dookie” appeared and the band broke into “Burnout” before blasting through the album in full in order including the hidden track “All By Myself”. Going through the album in full with little time between tracks for talking fans were left singing along with every word as the stadium rang loud showing just how much of a classic the album was. On the screens above and to the site of the stage fans could see various cameras on Bille, Tre, and Mike along with various lyrics and visuals to match certain songs.
After our 30th anniversary celebration of Dookie was over Green Day broke into “Know Your Enemy” bringing a young fan named Quinn on stage who couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 to sing the end of the song to a roarous applause from both Billie and the stadium. Fans were also given several tracks from the bands latest album “Saviors” which dropped this year as well as the classics like “Miniority” and “Brain Stew”.
From there though with a little lead in the band broke right into “American Idiot” with once again a full blown life size recreation of the cover behind the band on stage. Going from anthems, to sing alongs, to fast songs, and everything in between fans got to see live just how iconic the “American Idiot” album is with its mix of song types blending genres. Celebrating its 20th anniversary Billie commented various feelings on it all throughout the night.
The band was just in top form though. Sounding great, giving nonstop energy with this 37 song and 2.5 hour long set, and looking happier than ever. Its great to see that sobriety is doing great with Billie and the band seems happier than ever after all these years up there together as they blow through sold out stadiums this tour.
I won’t lie, this was my set of 2024 and very possibly the best set I’ve ever seen a band play. Two of my favorite albums ever by one of my favorite bands isn’t something you get to see often. The fans in attendance felt the same way as they made this open air stadium sound like the biggest sing along Milwaukee has seen in god knows how long. If you have the chance to see this tour, its a must.
Photo Gallery : Green Day – American Family Field (08.24.2024)
Photo Gallery : The Smashing Pumpkins – American Family Field (08.24.2024)
Photo Gallery : The Linda Lindas – American Family Field (08.24.2024)
