This year’s Father’s Day gift from Casey and the boys was two tickets to see Green Day (one of my all-time favorite punk rock bands) live in Fargo. The concert was last Friday (July 10th), and they put on a great show.
I became a fan of Green Day as a teenager with the release of Dookie, the band’s major label debut, but really fell in love with the band after they released American Idiot
in 2004. That album, along with their latest effort, 21st Century Breakdown
, rank among my all-time favorites.
Needless to say, Green Day puts on an amazing live show. They played loud and long – over two hours of music ranging from their newest record back to the pre-Dookie classics. Billy Joe did a pretty good job of energizing the crowd and keeping them engaged. A few lucky fans even got to sing vocals on Longview, while one Grand Forks teen got a chance to play lead guitar on Jesus of Suburbia.
Green Day is one of those band you’d expect would simply fade away after a few years of hits. Instead, in the second decade since their mainstream debut, their music is even better than their original material. It’s a testiment to great song writing and a willingness to evolve and take risks, such as creating rock operas and a musical.