Green Day played their biggest ever London show to a sold-out crowd at Wembley Stadium, but had to stop the show twice to allow an injured fan to get help. The spectacular appearance at the home of English football on Saturday night (June 29) saw a huge inflatable plane drop inflatable bombs on the crowd and pyrotechnics as the American punk legends rattled through two career-defining albums on the final UK and Ireland date. Tour of the Saviors.
The gig at Wembley Stadium marked the release of Green Day’s 14th studio album Saviors while celebrating 30 years of Dookie and 20 years of American Idiot. During the set, Billie Joe Armstrong paused the set as people waved for help to a fan, while the Green Day frontman directed the staff to help. Armstrong said: “Thank you for saying something, look out for each other.”
Shannon wrote on X: “OMG Green Day at Wembley Stadium, was f****** amazing. Billie Joe was a gem of a person and stopped the concert twice to help someone injured in the audience. May have cried on WMUWSE .” “
At the start of the gig, Armstrong thanked the fans as he noted that they first played in the English capital in 1991, adding: “I think this is the biggest show we’ve ever played in London.”
A person dressed in a pink bunny suit ran across the stage to Blitzkrieg Bop by the Ramones to whip up the energy levels in the crowd ahead of the band’s performance. To loud cheers, Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool appeared.
Armstrong shouted “Wembley” before the band launched into The American Dream Is Killing Me, a single from their latest album that marked a return to political songwriting. Pausing for applause before playing Burnout, Armstrong said, “Welcome to the 30th anniversary of Dookie.”
What followed was the 1994 album in its entirety with Welcome To Paradise, Basket Case and When I Come Around among the fan favourites. Armstrong blew kisses to the crowd, draped himself in an English flag and encouraged waving and jumping from fans as Dirnt rushed the stage.
There was then a broadcast of the album’s hidden track All By Myself, sung by Cool, albeit with an orchestral flourish and the drummer slipping on a dressing gown and skipping around the stage for the occasion.
Green Day went on to play songs from their second album with Know Your Enemy marking the part of the set where Armstrong brought a fan on stage. She helped Armstrong sing the rest of the song before taking a selfie with him and then dove down from the stage and surfed the crowd.
Look mom, no brains! and Dilemma were among the tracks from Saviors to follow before the band turned to Minority from the album Warning, and Brain Stew, from Insomniac. The band barely paused for breath before running through American Idiot, the 2004 album that helped catapult them further into the upper echelons of the music world.
Sing-a-longs and pyrotechnics were featured throughout, with fans holding up and waving their lighted phones during Jesus Of Suburbia and Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. Armstrong again paused the set during the latter song amid fears that a fan had passed out and thanked them for their help.
Joking about starting his comedy career during the delay, he told a ‘knock knock’ joke minus a punchline beyond ‘London’, before thanking fans for their patience. Green Day turned to the Saviors one last time to play Bobby Sox and the set ended with Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).
Armstrong was joined by the crowd as he sang: “It’s kind of unpredictable, but in the end it’s right, I hope you had the time of your life.” At the end of the song, Armstrong took the stage and took in the crowd’s cheers as fireworks were released from the stadium roof.
Green Day’s Saviors tour arrived in London on Saturday after previously stopping in Dublin, Glasgow, Isle of Wight and Manchester. Armstrong has often spoken of his love of London, including hanging out in Islington and watching football matches at Millwall, Arsenal and Leyton Orient.
Two giant inflatable footballs were sent into the crowd as the set from first support band Maid Of Ace drew to a close. The Hopburgers kept some of the crowd entertained before indie rockers Nothing But Thieves in the main support slot.
“I think 14-year-old me needs to do this once,” singer Conor Mason said before shouting: “Wembley.” Mason could be seen saying ‘wow’ as he looked out at the audience during the performance.
Ahead of the gig, Green Day’s Cool stopped by The Marquis pub in Covent Garden, where the band played a surprise 13-song acoustic set last November.
Video posted by the pub on Instagram showed Cool walking down the stairs into the main room before shouting encouragement to Laurie Wright who was performing on Friday night. He also took selfies with fans and was given a perfect 10 by the pub for his Guinness skills.
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