It’s unclear what’s more unlikely, that Green Day broke into superstardom with an album named after excrement and a lead single about masturbation or that, 10 years later, they mounted a massive comeback with a punk rock opera that was turned into a Broadway musical. Whatever the case, the Bay Area pop punk trio is spending the summer playing “Dookie” and “American Idiot” in full to celebrate their 30th and 20th anniversaries. Saturday night, they headlined Target Field in Minneapolis on a bill featuring the Linda Lindas, Rancid and Smashing Pumpkins and accompanied by absolutely gorgeous late summer weather.
Three years ago, Green Day made their debut playing the Twins ball field with the well-matched Fall Out Boy and Weezer. Pairing the guys with the Smashing Pumpkins, however, makes less sense, given that the two bands share little in common beyond loud guitars. Maybe Billy Corgan needs the money.
He reunited three-fourths of the classic Pumpkins lineup in 2018 and then hit the road for a tour that focused the attention almost completely on himself. Saturday, he was a bit more magnanimous and shared the spotlight with guitarist James Iha. The hourlong set bounced between the old hits (“1979,” “Today,” “Cherub Rock”) and more recent, underwhelming selections (“That Which Animates the Spirit,” “Beguiled”).
Curiously enough, Corgan didn’t play anything from “Aghori Mhori Mei,” his new record that he’s been touting as a return to sound of the band’s “Siamese Dream” era. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong set the pace for his performance from the first song of the set, “The American Dream Is Killing Me,” with his booming vocals and bursting energy. After that cut from the band’s latest album “Saviors,” Armstrong and company jumped right into “Dookie,” faithfully following its original running order, including the idiotic bonus track “All By Myself” performed by drummer Tre Cool.
It turns out “Dookie” has held up quite well and sounds every bit as timeless as it did three decades ago. The singles “Longview,” “Basket Case” and “When I Come Around” obviously earned the warmest reception, but it was clear many of those in the crowd were every bit as a familiar with the deeper cuts. After “Dookie,” the band tore through a mini-set of some old hits and a few more “Saviors” numbers.
In one of the most unabashedly fun moments of the evening, Armstrong pulled a young woman named Miranda from the crowd and watched in glee as she enthusiastically shouted the lyrics of “Know Your Enemy.” They wrapped with one of their worst singles (“Minority”) followed by one of their finest (“Brain Stew,” although bassist Mike Dirnt’s added yelps weren’t necessary). Then, it was time for “American Idiot.
” While “Dookie” deals with some weighty topics, it’s still a fun, if dumb, collection of tunes. “American Idiot,” however, can get overly serious and even bitter at times. The concert slogged its way into the third hour during the latter half of the album, proving that more than two hours of Green Day is too much Green Day.
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