Looking at it now, the timeline seems to stretch back all the way to 2021, when we first heard rumblings of a new Green Day album or as some would think, an EP. From the time that Father Of All Motherfuckers was released, there would be a few one off singles, “Here Comes The Shock”, “Pollyanna”, and “Holy Toledo!”, along with cryptic videos signifying that we could see a new album sooner than later. The buildup was intense, and every fan just wanted to know when. It wouldn’t be until October of 2023 that Green Day would finally announce their 14th studio album, Saviors, and it would be released on January 19th of 2024. The album would be a perfect mix of their punk adrenaline melodies and rock and roll anthems with a dash of ballad-esque breakdowns. It clearly signified that Green Day was back and better than ever.

With a new album announcement came a new tour that would start around the Summer of 2024. The tour was deemed The Saviors Tour, however, it wouldn’t just promote their upcoming album, it would also celebrate Green Day’s two most significant, influential, successful, monumental, you get the point, albums. This tour would showcase Green Day performing Dookie, celebrating 30 years, and American Idiot, celebrating 20 years, being played in their entirety. Two albums that not only define Green Day, but depending on who you ask, defined certain age groups of their fans. What also made the tour even better was who they brought on as openers. Keeping to the nineties theme, for the North American dates, Smashing Pumpkins would be on select dates, friends of Green Day since day one, Rancid, would be on the entire tour, along with new and young band the Linda Lindas. This tour pulled out all the stops from openers to setlists and in my opinion the best Green Day tour.

Even though they are still in their teens, the Linda Lindas not only know how to get the crowd going, but they also write great songs. Already signed to Epitaph Records, performed on Late Night television, and now touring with the most influential punk bands, I must say the Linda Lindas are having probably the best teenage years. With only 20 minutes in their setlist, the Linda Lindas bounced back and forth between songs from their album Growing Up and their upcoming album No Obligation which will be released on October 11th of this year. The Linda Lindas crafted their songs to be a perfect mix of punk and mid-90’s rock, the big difference between them and their predecessors is that you can hear the youthfulness and excitement in their songs. This translates into their live show, because every member in the band is clearly having fun on stage for their stage presence was the highlight of the night. Maybe their producer/dad of Lucia de la Garza and Mila de la Garza gave them tips because he knows what it is like being in an entertaining live band since he spent some years drumming for Reel Big Fish. Usually opening bands must prove themselves at shows to gain fans, but the Linda Lindas don’t have to do that, for the minute they stepped on stage, their excitement captivated the audience and made them fans instantly.

A few years after Green Day formed, not far from their location another band was forming from the remnants of the band Operation Ivy. The band would become known as Rancid and during this time it was common to see Rancid and Green Day on the same show bills. During the 90’s Rancid also received success with their album …And Out Come The Wolves, and even though seeing both bands on the same show bill wasn’t as common later in their careers, for someone that grew up in the 90’s and knew the history of both bands, I always thought, ‘why haven’t both bands done a huge tour together?’ That ask was answered on this tour. Hearing Rancid tour with Green Day was a that’s amazing moment because even though both bands have a different style of punk, they both would compliment each other in a live show setting.

Just like Green Day, Rancid has an extensive discography and to pack in as many songs into 30 minutes must be a challenge. However, Rancid did a good job highlighting at least one song from each album into their set. The majority of the set featured songs from …And Out Come The Wolves because of the popularity of the album, but it was also great to hear lesser played songs like “Side Kick” and “Something In The World Today”, which the latter comes from their album Life Won’t Wait, an album that I feel should not be overlooked. As always, Rancid put on a great performance and having them open for Green Day is just a perfect combination to see, one could only imagine what this setting would’ve been like at Gilman. It should be known that come 2025, …And Out Come The Wolves will be 30 years old, and maybe we will see a deluxe packaging of this album and a tour to celebrate.

My journey with Green Day started around the same time as probably a million other people discovered them. Growing up I listened to music that my parents would play or whatever I would hear through the walls of my sister’s room. My first real intrigue into music had to be The Beatles album A Hard Day’s Night, from the movie to the album I just fell in love with the lyrics and melodies. However, having an older Sister that listened to “harder” music, she was obsessed with music videos on MTV. This is where I witnessed the music video for “Longview” and shortly after “Basket Case.” As someone born in 1987, in 1994 I was 7 years old and at this age my senses and awareness were heightened, and seeing and hearing those songs on television was like a full circle moment. The music was catchy like The Beatles, but it wasn’t the Beatles, and it was fast, faster than anything I was listening to. To sum it up, I was hooked. My recollection from then on was everyone listened to Green Day, my sister, Cousins, Green Day’s songs were everywhere, from the television to the radio, you couldn’t escape Green Day.

Why Dookie became such a big part of my life wasn’t just because it was the first “punk” music I gravitated towards, it was also the first piece of music I actually owned. After I received my First Communion, my father’s Dad, Pop-Pop, took us to Circuit City and said I can get anything as my present. What I picked up was a Walk-Man and three cassettes. The three cassettes were Weird Al “Amish Paradise” single, Green Day Insomniac, and Dookie. To actually own the music was such a big deal to me, I can now listen to it anytime and actually listen to all the songs beginning to end. I played Dookie so much that I wore down the tape and at the transition from “Chump” to “Longview” it would go silent for a good 10 seconds. As I got older and went through my nu-metal, metal, and that little Eminem phase, one band stayed with me the whole time and that was Green Day. As I look back it wasn’t just a familiar thing to keep in my collection, it was because they got better and better with each release and constantly shaped my taste in music.

Then came American Idiot, and to be honest, a rock opera makes sense as to what the next move for Green Day would be. Having done punk record after punk record, then the sort of acoustic album, it was time to push themselves further. However, I don’t think anyone was prepared for how big the album would become, at least I didn’t think it would send Green Day into bigger stardom like it did. American Idiot would be what Dookie was for my age group. Kids would be discovering music for the first time and Green Day would become their drug of choice. A lot of bands influence a generation, but to influence another generation the way Green Day did is something that only happens once in a lifetime. It was crazy watching it unfold and I loved seeing it happen.

To witness this tour was something I wouldn’t have thought imaginable, but after Green Day came on stage, played through “The American Dream Is Killing Me”, then busted into “Burnout”, the feelings of when I first held that cassette tape came rushing back. The shear joy that was seen on stage and in the crowd clearly showed why attending concerts are a magical event. As the band went through Dookie, Billie Joe was always moving around every inch of the stage, Mike Dirnt was constantly making faces to the crowd and just hitting every note perfectly, and Tre Cool, though far away, his smile could be seen from all the way back of the crowd. Bands are like marriages and a lot of times bands go through member changes or break up, however, the chemistry Green Day shows on stage is like no other.

As the band continued to go through the rest of the album, the crowd did not skip a beat in singing the words back. Also the stage show for Dookie has to be one of the best backdrops for a show, yet I did find out due to stage restrictions not all displays were shown at this show. Regardless what Green Day presented was incredible to see and they still brought out to the audience the “Bad Year” blimp that dropped out blow up bombs to the crowd during “Emenius Sleepus”. The artwork to Dookie is iconic and to see it come to life like that was a surprise. One thing that was big in the 90’s was secret songs at the end of the album, not a big practice on today’s albums, but once “F.O.D.” ended, Tre came out in a robe and sang “All By Myself” to a orchestra backing tracking. When Green Day said they were playing this album in full, they really played it in full from beginning to the very secret song end.

Before they went into American Idiot, Green Day took this time to highlight their other songs which featured songs from Saviors, Insomniac, Warning, and 21st Century Breakdown. I don’t know if they retired playing “Knowledge” on stage, or maybe because Rancid is on this tour, but instead of having someone come on stage to play guitar they have some one come on stage to sing “Know Your Enemy”. The audience member that came on did a great job and was getting the crowd hyped, but then did something completely unexpected. Once she finished singing and Billie Joe asked everyone to jump along, she jumped and then literally jumped into the crowd. Billie wasn’t expected it because after the song ended he remarked, “I wasn’t expecting that, and didn’t even get your name so you will be known as hell yeah!”. I’m sure the pure excitement took over her and caused her to jump, which made it more memorable.

Without even saying it, Green Day would then go straight into American Idiot and the backdrop to the stage would change with the album. Just like Dookie the crowd was singing every word and Green Day was going 100%. To think that Green Day would play for over two hours a night and have the same energy show after show is something beyond impressive. Even with songs like “Jesus Of Suburbia” and “Homecoming” which has a lot more involved, Green Day executed them live better than the recordings. Watching the audience, you can tell by what album meant more to each generation from the emotion they had singing the songs from yelling to crying to moving with the music it was a sight to see how these albums moved each audience member.

Once American Idiot was done, Green Day performed one last new song, “Bobby Sox” and then another big hit “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)”. Except this time, Billie Joe called out an audience member who had been holding a sign all night that said they can play “Good Riddance” on guitar. Billie agreed to bring her on stage and Ruby Leigh did not disappoint. It’s moments like these that make Green Day shows the best because no matter how big they’ve gotten they still keep to their punk roots and break down that band to audience wall, if they could I bet they would meet every single person.

I have been seeing Green Day live since the “Pop Disaster Tour” with Blink 182 and every time I got to see them I always walked away rejuvenated and proud. I’ve listened to Green Day’s album many times, but hearing them live just always hits different. This show hit 100 times different for me because it brought back my first real music memories, something that people may think how can remember your first album you got. If it wasn’t for my Pop Pop buying me those albums and then having it light something inside of me I don’t know where I would be today. Since starting concert photography I have been trying to photograph Green Day for years and to finally accomplish that on a tour like this, is a dream. It truly is a tour not to be missed and once it is done I can’t wait to see what they do next. Long live Green Day and thank you Pop Pop for buying me those albums that day.