Details
Location:
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, The Joint in Las Vegas, NV
Date:
December 07, 2004
Notes:
- Las Vegas Sun: "Green Day at The Joint, Dec. 7: The punk-rock trio earned my respect by tossing out their usual set list and playing new album American Idiot start to finish instead. Green Day's rabid fans loved the surprise move, likely because the new, thematically linked concept disc houses the best material the band has ever recorded."
- Las Vegas Mercury: "In a magnificent gesture that dwarfed the risks of creating a punk opera concept album, Green Day attacked the stage in the Hard Rock's Joint venue Tuesday night with Billie Joe Armstrong's defiant declaration that his band would be playing the entire American Idiot album, start to finish. No greatest hits retread. No Good Riddance. No Basket Case. How punk rock is that? While the set list was surprising, the biggest shock of the night was how well the packed house responded to it. This was Green Day's crowd - young punks paying respect to a band that helped bridge them with the age of the Ramones and the Clash; teenage girls in trucker hats; and the most prevalent fan type, the former frat guy now grown up and conceding to his receding hairline and chubby wife (she was there, too). All came for a dose of pounding punk rhythm and anti-authority sentiment, and they received it, albeit in a much more artsy form. Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool bolstered their ranks with an additional guitarist, pianist and percussionist, all of whom lent some fine vocal backing. The production was a much more theatrical one that you'd expect from the seminal pop-punk group, complemented by occasional explosions and plumes of fire from the stage. The special effects blended nicely with the dramatic, almost Queen-like music. Impossibly, the marathon songs from American Idiot - Jesus of Suburbia and Homecoming - maintained the audience's energy through every bend and switch of tempo and tone. Plenty of fans even sang along to every cut from the album. Ten years after the breakthrough of Dookie, Armstrong's youthful exuberance is as powerful as ever, helping to explain the number of adolescents in the Joint. Although the extra musicians' presence was felt strongly, his angry singing and power-strumming still took center stage. To any fan who hasn't heard Idiot, or to those still dogging Green Day for the Bay Area band's decade of commercial success, a performance like this one could only emphasize the band's ability to mature without losing touch with its roots."
Setlist
1. American Idiot
2. Jesus Of Suburbia
3. Holiday
4. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
5. Are We The Waiting
6. St. Jimmy
7. Give Me Novacaine
8. She's A Rebel
9. Extraordinary Girl
10. Letterbomb
11. Wake Me Up When September Ends
12. Homecoming
13. Whatsername
Encore
14. Longview
15. Minority
16. We Are The Champions (Queen cover)
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