The 25th anniversary of the Darien Lake Amphitheater in Corfu, NY is winding to a close. The last full weekend had a sold-out Luke Bryan show on Friday, Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Greenday on Saturday and famed guitarist John Mayer on Sunday. Not sure about the other shows, but I bet they couldn’t match what Greenday did on Saturday night. This is my first time ever seeing the band live so I was excited to see what the band had to offer. One of the most energetic shows of the year, Greenday played 2 and half hours and gave everything to its fans and more.
The band took the stage with the house lights on and as they walked around to wave to everyone before they kicked into “Know Your Enemy.” Vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong moved about the front of the stage as he was looking to have someone come up and sing a verse of the song. After some searching, he found a young teenager to do the job. After she was brought up and given the microphone, she sang then was encouraged to do a stage dive, where she was welcomed right back. In fact, this was a common occurrence throughout. Joe brought up a 11-year-old boy who sang a version of “Longview’ and nailed it. He was very sure of himself and seemed like a natural. Before “Basket Case,” a 15-year-old Shannon came up to play some chords after a quick tutorial by Joe. After she played for a bit, she was given the guitar. These were just some of the connections the band made through its set.
Armstrong mentioned that the bands thoughts went out to the people in Houston, Texas before “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Armstrong’s voice was up the task considering the amount of moving he did throughout. The band did have and extra 3 musicians on stage to fill out the sound including a 2nd guitarist. It really enriched their acoustics. It also let bassist Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool lock in and provide that punky rhythm section the band is known for. Armstrong added his harmonica capabilities to “Minority.” Before “King for a Day,” each of the members (including the touring ones) came out with various costume pieces. Cool with a tutu, Dirnt with a mask and Armstrong a police hat on. Armstrong then sprayed water on the crowd and got a t-shirt gun and blasted shirts all the way back to the 300 level. Cool and Armstrong switched positions for a bit during “Shout.”
The band did two separate encores including where it was just the 3 original band members to do the last 2 songs “21 Guns” and “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life.)” At the end of the show, tons of confetti rained all over the front sections by the stage. The little pieces of confetti said “Greenday” on them.
Greenday gave everything but the kitchen sink for this show. The sound was terrific, band was very interactive with its fans and most of all, the musicianship was tight. This band is not resting on any laurels and continues to make new quality music and delivers it in an over the top show to its fans. I was so impressed I will make sure I won’t miss them again. It was all of that and then some!
Setlist:
Know Your Enemy
Bang Bang
Revolution Radio
Holiday
Letterbomb
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Longview
Youngblood
2000 Light Years Away
Hitchin’ a Ride
When I Come Around
Welcome to Paradise
Miniority
Are We Waiting
St. Jimmy
Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover)/Tre Cool drum solo
Basket Case
She
King for a Day/Careless Whisper -Wham cover snippet)
Shout (Isley Brothers cover-snippet)/Always Look on the Brightside of Life (Monty Python theme-snippet)/I Can’t Get No Satisfaction (The Rolling Stones cover – snippet) hey Jude (The Beatles cover-snippet)
Still Breathing
Forever Now
Encore 1:
American Idiot
Jesus of Surburbia
Encore 2:
21 Guns (acoustic)
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
We would like to thank Peter Quinn from BB Gun Press for the credentials to review the show.
