“Why are there no clouds in the sky?”
“’Cause God wants to see his favourite band play again!”
It’s a shame these words of Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool, weren’t closer to reality, with the rain threatening to pour just before the gates open. From a pop punk three-piece who spent years sleeping on floors in order to facilitate a wild touring schedule, to stadium giants who have been heard of in every corner of the world; Green Day returned to Glasgow to play two of their most popular albums in full.
It’s hard not to miss the long trudge up to the gates of Bellahouston. A reminder of what is to come for those attending TRNSMT at Glasgow Green next month – the smell of freshly cut grass, diesel fuel, and deep fat friers. There’s something that an open space of green does for the musical soul that a stadium can’t.
The opener for tonight is Maid of Ace and they’re definitely here for the punks. An all-girl group from Hastings, they’re full of razor-sharp, snarling melodic tracks with the spirit of The Distillers and Rancid. Even in an open-air show, you get the venom and anger from their songs so I imagine in a smaller venue they’d be absolutely astounding. It’s a welcome dose of the old school for the fans that are mostly here for "Dookie".
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The main support, Nothing but Thieves, are a different story. Polished, indie rock which leaves me bewildered as to why they’re supporting Green Day. There’s the occasional whiff of The Cure or even Muse in some of their tracks, but it’s mostly The Killers and Stereophonics. That's fine if you like that kind of thing, but we came here for something else – this band should perhaps be opening for someone else. It’s very sterile, radio friendly, corporate rock, which when mixed with the rain that’s slowly building … doesn’t do anything to keep the crowd warm, even when there are some obvious fans singing along. Covering The Pixies "Where Is My Mind" was a decent silver lining.
What does get the fans warm is the now traditional Bohemian Rhapsody singalong followed by the pink Green Day bunny dancing across the stage to The Ramones. Green Day come out onto the stage to little fanfare, but a huge roar – it’s at this stage where the rain seems to back off. Starting off with "The American Dream Is Killing Me" before working through "Dookie" in its entirety, even if it was raining ... we probably wouldn’t notice.
Hearing one of my favourite albums played through was what I was looking forward to most, but it was a bit of an anticlimax. Predictable and with barely any chat other than “put your hands up” every couple of minutes, it almost seemed rushed. The production value was incredible with cartoons inspired by the album art flashing up around an inflatable mushroom cloud and real flames shooting from the stacked guitar amps around the stage.
Eagle-eyed fans would have seen the inflatable airplane being prepped backstage and occasionally bobbing up over the fence, but never making its appearance during the set. Tré Cool’s "All by Myself" is definitely the highlight as he prances around the stage in his housecoat.
Green Day really become the party band I remember between album sets. An unpredictable mix of songs from elsewhere in their career, getting a fan up to sing "Know Your Enemy" and another to play guitar on "Dilemma" who also kills it on vocals, Billy Joe Armstrong with a Saltire wrapped around his shoulders, and Black Sabbath before ‘Brain Stew’ ... this is the peak of the night.
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The second half of the show is the "American Idiot" half and the crowd are a lot more responsive to this. Perhaps a more popular album amongst the younger crowd, perhaps still on a high from the mid-concert party. As with the first half, the songs are predictable – as you’d expect from a playthrough. But as we saw with the first half, that takes the wind out of the sails slightly. Including a little Travis in "Wake Me Up When September Ends" was a great touch though.
The encore brings us "Bobby Sox" – one of the more popular new songs, and the classic "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" which really is a perfect ending to the night. Even with my misgivings with the first half, there’s no getting around that Green Day pour everything they have into their shows and with the outstanding production value, this is one of the best shows on the planet. For most of the crowd tonight – especially the two lucky fans plucked from the audience – tonight has been the time of our lives.
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