Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins play on the Saviors tour in Nashville: The best moments

https://ui-avatars.com/api/[email protected]&background=64&color=fff&font-size=0.5&rounded=false&format=pngby John Andrew — September 1, 2024 in twitter

On Friday evening, punk rock 'n' roll greats Green Day celebrated two major musical anniversaries at Geodis Park in Nashville.

The band, consisting of singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool, started their “Saviors Tour” in May to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1994 album “Dookie” and the 20th anniversary of their 2004 record “American Idiot”.

The two albums delivered hits such as “Basket Case”, “When I Come Around”, “Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and many more.

The Saviors Tour also follows the release of Green Day's 14th studio album in January, the 15-track Saviors, which debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200.

Billie Joe Armstrong performs with Green Day at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, August 30, 2024. Green Day headlined the event along with The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas.

The Saviors Tour stopped at Geodis Park, a 30,000-seat venue that is normally home to Nashville's Major League Soccer club but was transformed into a concert hall on Friday night.

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Celebrating the anniversary of both albums, the release of “Saviors” and Green Day’s first concert in Nashville in 15 years, Music City welcomed the band with open arms for an electrifying evening.

Tre Cool performs with Green Day at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, August 30, 2024. Green Day headlined the event along with The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas.

Green Day returned the love. The band, which formed in Rodeo, California in 1987, showed the Nashville crowd that they are still at their best 37 years later.

Here are some of the best moments from the show.

The openers Smashing Pumpkins play a fiery alternative rock set

The Smashing Pumpkins were the last opener of the evening before Green Day, after The Linda Lindas and Rancid.

Billy Corgan performs with The Smashing Pumpkins at Geodis Park in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, August 30, 2024. Green Day headlined the event along with The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas.

Frontman Billy Corgan entered the stage in a long, black, velvet-like garment with band members James Iha, Katie Cole, Jimmy Chamberlain, Jack Bates and the newest band member, guitarist Kiki Wong.

Wong joined the band earlier this year after an extensive search across the country for a new touring guitarist, receiving more than 10,000 applications.

The band rocked out with their classics, including “Disarm,” “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” “1979,” “Cherub Rock” and “Zero.” Throughout the hour-long performance, Corgan filled the amphitheater with his popular nasal, whiny punk rock voice.

“We want to thank Green Day, the guys are great,” said Iha before ending the set.

Green Day starts with flames and a song from the new album “Saviors”

After a rendition of Queen's “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the stadium lights dimmed and a visit from the “Pink Bunny” (a man in a bunny costume known for warming up the crowd at Green Day concerts) was shown, a video of the band through the years.

And when the excitement made the crowd hungry, the band came out and began a song from their latest album, “The American Dream Is Killing Me.” Flashing pink lights flooded the stage as fireballs shot into the air.

Armstrong wore an all-black look (except for red socks), complemented by a sparkling black collar on his shirt.

Dirnt opted for a bright orange jumpsuit and Cool looked very chic with his bright blue hair and funky green collar shirt.

From the start of the show, Armstrong's voice was clear and distinct with its classic throaty punk rock tone, Cool's drum riffs were theatrical and precise, and Dirnt's basslines echoed throughout the stadium.

As graphics ran on the screen behind the band, Armstrong announced that they were now celebrating the 30th anniversary of “Dookie.”

Green Day plays the album “Dookie” in full and brings fans on stage

After Armstrong’s announcement, a set of the “Dookie” album cover, showing an explosion and a mushroom cloud, suddenly appeared on stage.

A giant cartoon sketch of the explosion and balloons mimicking the cloud were intended to serve as a backdrop for the band as they played through the album.

The theatricality of “Dookie” was on full display.

During “Welcome to Paradise,” fireworks rose into the sky behind the stage. As the band played “Coming Clean,” a giant inflatable airplane floated above the crowd. During an orchestral rendition of “All By Myself,” Cool took the microphone and sang the tune in a cheetah-print robe.

The most notable song from the “Dookie” portion of the concert was, of course, the cult classic “Basket Case.”

The audience screamed, “Do you have time to listen to me complain about nothing and everything at the same time?”

After finishing the album, Armstrong moved on to “Know Your Enemy” and called out to the audience, asking if there was a fan who knew all the lyrics.

Armstrong called a young fan on stage and shared the microphone as they screamed the chorus and jumped along to the guitar riffs. The two shared a tender moment and took a photo together on stage.

Green Day play the entire album “American Idiot” in order

The band played a few songs that didn't fit on any of the anniversary albums, such as “Dilemma,” “Minority,” and “Brain Stew,” and then moved on to celebrating the 20th anniversary of “American Idiot” by performing the entire album.

A giant inflatable hand holding a heart-shaped, bleeding grenade shot onto the stage, bringing the album cover of “American Idiot” to life.

The band began with the song “American Idiot,” with Armstrong notably changing the lyric from “I'm not a part of a redneck agenda” to “I'm not a part of the MAGA agenda.”

Other lyrical changes included various references to Nashville and Tennessee, such as “the representative from Tennessee has the floor” in the song “Holiday.”

Highlights of this portion of the show included a hearty performance of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” which had audience members flashing their cellphone lights, and a thoughtful rendition of “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” which had sparks raining down on the stage.

After closing the album with “Homecoming” and “Whatsername,” Armstrong announced, “We're not doing any encores. We're just playing until we fucking drop.”

And as an encore, the band played “Bobby Sox,” a song from their new album, and closed with “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).”

Armstrong began the song alone on stage, playing his acoustic guitar. The rest of his band members stood next to him, put their arms around him and showed each other their affection.

Armstrong and the band bid farewell to the crowd, singing, “It's something unpredictable / But in the end it's right / I hope you had the time of your life.”