Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Green Day - Toronto - April 11, 2013

I caught Green Day at the Air Canada Centre last week (April 11, 2013).  Overall, the concert was lots of fun.  But it was a shadow of the great peformance that Green Day staged last time they were in Toronto at the Molson Ampitheatre.

The band came on at about 9 p.m. with a blistering rendition of 99 Revolutions.  They played for a total of about 2 hours and 10 minutes.  Not bad compared to most other bands, but much less than than the 3 hours plus that they played at their last Toronto performance.

Armstrong, fresh out of rehab, seemed to be back to his crazy self.  He was full of energy, non-stop, throughout the show and run through the band's usual repertoire of edgy antics.  He called up a few kids to sing along and the invited them to body surf their way back into the crowd.  "There's only one way out of here," he chirped - and the young kids happy complied.

He pulled out a hose and soaked a few rows of fans.  He pulled out a toilet paper gun and fired toilet paper all over the crowd.  He also shot 5 or 6 t-shirts into the audience.  Along the way, he exhorted the crowd, in Queen-esque style - to sing responsively to his lead.

The band performed a number of pieces from their latest trilogy - uno, dos, tres.  They also strung together a number of crowd favourites.  "Holiday" got the crowd going and then "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was terrific.  "When I Come Around" was excellent and "Basket Case" was great.  The band's rendition of "Shout," blended with "King for a Day" was quite entertaining as was the short nod to AC DC's "Highway to Hell."  But this was a much abbreviated version of the multi-song medley that Green Day has sometimes performed.  The medley at their last Toronto show was one of the concert highlights.

The ACC was sold out and the general admission section at the front was filled with frenzied fans, many of whom were trying their luck at body surfing.  It was quite a spectacle.  Unquestionably, the fans loved the show.  Armstrong gives it his all every time, working the crowd, running back and forth across the stage and trying all kinds of stunts.  For those who haven't seen Green Day in concert, Billie Joe Armstrong is really quite a unique peformer, not really similar to anyone else out there these days.

Musically, much of the concert was somewhat predictable, not particularly varied and less exciting than some previous Green Day performances.  But the encore was as good as any I've seen. "American Idiot" was lots of fun.  But the real highlight of the show was the multi-layered "Jesus of Suburbia."  This extended theme piece is the best component of Green Day's repertoire.  To get an idea of how great this song can be, you can check  out this Link to the "official" version of the song.  This was definitely the performance of the evening.  The band closed with "Brutal Love" which was not nearly as powerful as the usual Green Day finish of "Time of Your Life" which the band skipped this time around.

If this performance is any indication, Green Day still has a great future ahead.  But it is time to revise some of the components of the show and try some new ideas.  I'm quite sure that Billy Joe Armstrong is up to the challenge.