On June 10th, Green Day made their way back to Germany with ‘The Saviors Tour’, celebrating 30 years of Dookie and 20 years of American Idiot. Alongside other Green Day classics and songs from their newest album Saviors, both birthday albums are played in full length, resulting in an over two-hour long sold-out show at Waldbühne, an open-air amphitheatre-like venue located in Olympiapark, Berlin, Germany.
After the opening set by punk-rock band Donots, the crowd is very lively and energetic, ready to sing along even to Green Day’s intro playlist which features classics like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ and ‘We Will Rock You‘.
When Green Day, consisting of Billie Joe Armstrong (lead vocal, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass, backing vocals), Tré Cool (drums, backing vocals), and additional live band members Jason White (lead guitar, backing vocals), Kevin Preston (backing guitar and vocals) and Coley O’Toole (keyboard, backing vocals) finally take to stage, it starts raining, but the fans seem unbothered by this. As the band starts off with ‘The American Dream Is Killing Me’, people in the pit start moshing and crowd-surfing.
From the very beginning of the show, nobody stays seated even in the upper sections, and the whole crowd sings, dances, waves and claps along to the music. After this enthusiastic welcome, the band transitions into the first song from Dookie, a bit later telling the crowd how much they love coming back to Germany even after 30 years of performing there. During ‘Coming Clean’ all eyes go up as the crew lets the aeroplane from the Dookie album cover fly around the venue. Between countless classic Green Day guitar riffs, a very dynamic and interactive stage presence and constant mosh pits, Green Day performs the whole of Dookie, the last song ‘All By Myself‘ being especially outstanding as the band leaves the stage to let Tré Cool perform the song all by himself.
In the middle of the set, Green Day squeezes in a few songs from Saviors, starting with ‘Know Your Enemy’. Halfway into the song, Billie announces they “need someone on stage who knows the lyrics”. The chosen fan could not look any happier when falling into a row of hugs with Billie and giving their interpretation of the song’s breakdown with all their energy. For the next chorus, Billie lets all the fans in the pit jump, allowing the fan on stage to dive head-first into the crowd, a moment so thrilling and unique it leaves the crowd in awe. In contrast, two songs later the crowd experiences a really calm and wholesome time when Billie plays the intro of ‘Dilemma‘ with just a guitar and impressive vocals, letting the crowd sing “I was sober, now I’m drunk again; I’m in trouble and in love again“.
Continuing, Green Day only performs one more Saviors song, ‘Brain Stew‘, before transitioning into their album American Idiot, starting off with the same-titled track which makes the whole arena jump and scream – if this venue had had a roof it might have flown off after the crowd’s reaction to the band’s biggest hit. While it’s getting darker outside and the rain is intensifying, the crowd is blessed with some slowed-down, more emotional moments between all the high-energy hits: Jesus of Suburbia‘ is performed beautifully with just the piano and singer Billie’s voice, the crowd creates an ocean of lights for ‘Boulevard Of Broken Dreams’ and ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’, and whenever the fans are made to sing a chorus alone it creates one of those moments where everyone gets reminded of how beautiful a music lover’s passion for their favourite artists can be.
After finishing the last song from American Idiot, Green Day leaves the stage for a moment before rounding up the night with a three-song encore featuring an especially dynamic and energetic performance of ‘Bobby Sox’ and the most precious finale, a version of ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ played by just Billie with his acoustic guitar, singing to the fans “It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right; I hope you had the time of your life“. Telling by how many people kept applauding for minutes after Green Day left the stage, despite the rain, this wish seems to have been fulfilled – with a show like this it’s hard not to have the time of your life.
Written by: Carla Libuda
Photographed by: Carla Libuda
Edited by: Marieke Weeda
