Whew, I go away for a week and I can’t keep up with Green Day… The reviews of the tour have been nothing short of breathless, and the few videos I’ve watched are pretty damn mind-blowing. I don’t think a Green Day concert has ever failed to blow me away, but from all accounts the degree of energy and mayhem is even more intense in this tour. Some of the articles mention Green Day having been re-energized by the Foxboro Hot Tubs tour. It certainly seems like they took those lessons to heart: every show can be transcendent. Every show can be a punk-rock revivalist experience. (And in this case together with a stadium-rock full-on extravaganza.) I just wonder how much energy it takes out of them to keep it up?

Vancouver’s Straight.com says:

With cyclone energy at its back for the second night of its world tour, the band somehow managed to bring all sides together. Green Day put on an enormous, fuck-off rock show absolutely befitting an outfit whose last two albums have drawn comparisons to the Who and Queen… The band’s basic, get-in-the-van goofball side was there, too.

There’s also a pretty great video embedded in that article. The Vancouver Sun interviewed Mike Dirnt, who says he was stunned when he read Billie Joe’s lyrics: “To be honest, I was floored. He put a lot of work into those lyrics. He writes and rewrites and writes again.” It’s so great to read once again about how strongly the guys in the band support and admire each other. They’re always so sweet and funny too. Mike: “If you see someone rolling down the street listening to Circle Jerks or Husker Du really loud in a minivan, it’s probably me.”

Vancouver’s 24 Hours also gushed about the show:

The energy put out by these guys was unbelievable, at any given moment the two-hour show was at its peak. After over twenty years in the business, Green Day has definitely perfected the art of performance. From the pit to the nosebleeds, the entire crowd was at their mercy all night, and loving every second of it.

Favorite line:

But all of the kisses, “thank-you’s”, and erotic admissions somehow make me think Armstrong is enjoying life just fine these days.

From The Province:

Based on the powerful delivery and unflagging energy of Saturday night’s gig, Green Day will be kicking butt for a long time… The packaging rules by following the one commandment of music: Good songs, well played, never go out of style… It makes me happy to see so many Jonas Brothers-aged kids digging it too.

From Vancouver Sun:

And heck, even if this reviewer’s throat felt like grated up mozzarella by the end of that final encore, it was worth every single holler. Every single yelp and whistle. Every ear-splitting minute of it. It was an awesome Independence Day show, f-bombs, fireworks, punk ‘tude, anthems and all.

I’m late on this, as always: Julian of Green Day Breakdown posted his own review, photos, and videos of the Seattle show. He says:

They were on the top of their game, Mike Dirnt slappin’ the bass like a badass as usual, Tre being whacky (and at some point pointing directly to me and winked!), and Billie Joe singing like this was his last show ever. Billie Joe’s ability to command a crowd is truly second to none.

Julian may feel old… (don’t even start about being an old Green Day fan with me!) but many of the reviews talk about the huge span of ages among Green Day fans. Fargo’s InForum has an article about kids and parents both enjoying Green Day. Is Green Day “inappropriate” for young kids? A wise 47 year old mom says: “I’m more concerned with the ideas behind the content than specific words. You use the language you need to get the message across.”

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