The supreme irony of Monday night’s Green Day concert at the Pepsi Center is that the band, which has moved from its punk roots more into power rock, was playing songs from its overtly political CD “American Idiot” to an audience that was mostly too young to care.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter. Lead singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong worked the stage with manic energy, running out into the audience, getting the crowd to do the wave, jumping up and down on the stage monitors, having the audience wave arms in the air during the “City of the Damned” part of “Jesus of Suburbia” or singing the “Dearly Beloved” movement while kneeling and slapping people’s hands. The song’s message of suburban alienation carried through clearly.
Green Day has been accused by some of abandoning its punk roots, but Armstrong showed he is still a punk at heart, delivering his political message while having fun.
He dedicated “Holiday” to President Bush as a classic punk kiss-off. Right before the final verse, Mike Dirnt’s bass and Tré Cool’s drums meshed to create a thundering, ominous roll, which Armstrong used to great effect as he goose-stepped out singing “Sieg heil to the president gasman.”
Green Day concentrated mainly on material from “American Idiot,” including a frenetic “St. Jimmy” and a tender “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The band also mixed in some old favorites, including “Longview” and an extended “Hitchin’ a Ride,” during which Armstrong had both sides of the arena screaming to see which was loudest as he ran from side to side and played a note or two on his guitar. The song ended with a pyrotechnic flash, the heat from which could be felt 20 rows back.
At one point, Armstrong pulled three teenagers from the audience to play with the band on drums, bass and guitar, and he gave the guitar away afterward to the excited girl who played it.
The band also playfully covered “Shout,” briefly turning the Pepsi Center into a huge frat party. The encore included “Maria” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and Queen’s “We Are the Champions.”
Armstrong ended the show playing a solo rendition of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” to which the adoring crowd sang along.
