Green Day fans began to notice on Oct. 9 that something was up on the band’s Instagram. Longtime lovers of Easter eggs and secret tracks, the veteran rockers posted a photo of a concert bill depicting a zombie with two dates for Las Vegas’ When We Were Young Festival (Oct. 20 and 21) preceded by a third, crossed-out line.
A black-and-white video of a banner unfurling atop downtown Las Vegas’ Fremont Country Club dropped the following day. It read “Send out an S.O.S., it’s getting serious,” while the marquee of the venue teased “next show announcement Wednesday.”
While everyone continued to lose their minds in the comments, the details of a Green Day gig began to spread like a game of telephone through the city’s industry insiders. On Wednesday, a post revealed that there would be a surprise set to warm up for the festival with Ultra Q — frontman Billie Joe Armstong’s son’s band — opening for the punk rock legends.
A ticket link popped up in the GD Instagram stories with a call to action encouraging zombie attire. That day, the banner on the club switched to read “Eat at Chef Wong’s One Night Only” — a reference to the Bad Year blimp’s messaging on the Dookie album cover — and the marquee switched to “Green Day October 19.”
Tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday for the same-day show, and within minutes, there were more than 10,000 people in the queue for the 850-capacity club. As attendees arrived at Fremont Country Club, a “Welcome to Paradise, Enjoy the Show” sign got its turn.
Those lucky enough to score entry began filing in around 7 p.m. to take in the opener, many in full zombie makeup and attire, while ushers and other staff also completed the look. Green Day took the stage right before 9:30 p.m. and carved through a 29-song set that quaked the rafters.
Billboard was inside Fremont Country Club for the throwback to the band’s sweaty-thrasher roots. With Armstrong in top form, along with Mike Dirt, Tré Cool and three touring musicians — and the crowd living for it — all the buildup culminated in these major moments.
Ahead of showtime, Green Day’s infamous tour bus “Bookmobile” from 1993–94 made an appearance at the venue for a photo opp. Also, through Instagram stories, fans were tipped off to secret ticket drops around downtown Las Vegas. As fans left, they received fliers handed out by a cast of zombies.
While Armstong pointed out that it was “not quite” the album’s 30th anniversary yet — it didn’t come out until February 1994 — Green Day performed Dookie in its entirety from “Burnout” to “F.O.D.” (and, of course, including the hidden track “All By Myself”). The songs seem even more ageless now, three decades since they invaded the mainstream pop world with punk revival.
Armstrong told the crowd he had an announcement and to “get their cameras ready.”
“We are doing a big tour next year. It is going to be Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins and Linda Lindas,” he said of the stadium effort. This will be the band’s first major tour since the 120-date 2016–17 “Revolution Radio” tour and the 29-date, 2021–22 “Hella Mega Tour” alongside Weezer and Fall Out Boy.
After dropping the tour bomb, Armstrong transitioned into another debut — “this is the first song off our new album” and kicked off “The American Dream Is Killing Me.” While they could’ve stopped there and the crowd would’ve been satiated, what came next was truly surprising, even for die-hard Green Day fans. For 45 minutes, they went deep into a lineup of less-than-mainstream tracks. 2020’s “Graffitia,” played live for the first time, “Letter Bomb” from 2004’s American Idiot captivated the crowd with its wafting chants, and 2001’s “Warning” came out of its crate for a rare live performance. Other standouts included “Nuclear Family,” “Last Night on Earth” and “Oh Love.”
As the show shut down just shy of 11 p.m. with “Homecoming,” Armstrong thanked the crowd for the warmup. “This was unbelievable. We are never going to forget this one,” he said. If this was just the appetizer, When We Were Young festivalgoers should have more major moments to enjoy this weekend as the band co-headlines with Blink-182.