Green Day Pack Club-Size Intimacy Into Seattle Arena at Tour Launch

“You missed me?” Green Day lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong bellowed in the face of a fan who beckoned him from the mosh pit during the opening night performance of the band’s U.S. tour, before replying with equal vigor: “Not as much as I fucking missed you, goddammit!” And as if releasing a wave of energy that had building up during their four-year hiatus from touring, Green Day poured all their heart and soul into a powerhouse two-hour set that mixed songs from their latest album, 21st Century Breakdown, with a clutch of other favorites from the band’s extensive catalog.
The stage at Seattle’s Key Arena appeared to be comparatively bare in contrast to the banner-draped stages of the American Idiot tours. But when the lights went out, and “Song of the Century” crackled over the speakers as if being beamed in from outer space, the black backdrop suddenly lit up to become a city landscape under a starry sky, and the subsequent “21st Century Breakdown” unleashed the first of the arena-sized explosions, flame pots, fireworks and strobe lighting that dazzled the audience throughout the entire show.
But the band’s obvious need to connect emotionally with their audience means they have an uncanny ability to make even a packed arena have the intimacy of a club gig. With the core trio of Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool fleshed out by two additional guitarists, Jason White and Jeff Matika, and keyboardist Jason Freese, Armstrong was free to run around the stage and down a catwalk that extended into the audience with abandon, beseeching the crowd to wave, chant and sing. And by the time the band launched into “American Idiot,” Armstrong was confident enough to not even bother cuing the crowd, leaving them to sing the entire first […]

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