Green Day: The Saviors Tour 25/06/2024

Rating: ★★★★★

Bellahouston Park Rating: ★★★★★

Where I stayed: Sandyford Lodge Hotel (I should have booked somewhere more central but it was nice)

SETLIST:

The American Dream Is Killing Me
Burnout
Having A Blast
Chump
Longview
Welcome To Paradise
Pulling Teeth
Basket Case
She
Sassafras Roots
When I Come Around
Coming Clean
Emenius Sleepus
In The End
F.O.D.
All By Myself
Know Your Enemy (with a fan)
Look Ma, No Brains!
One Eyed Bastard
Dilemma (with a fan playing guitar)
Minority
Brain Stew
American Idiot
Jesus Of Suburbia
Holiday
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Are We The Waiting
St. Jimmy
Give Me Novacaine
She’s A Rebel
Extraordinary Girl
Letterbomb
Wake Me Up When September Ends (with ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me’ by Travis snippet)
Homecoming
Whatsername
Bobby Sox
Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) (Encore)

I was worried the concert would be rained off, like it was seven years ago when Green Day was scheduled to perform at Bellahouston Park. I was also concerned I wouldn’t be able to see the band up close, as 35,000 people can be crammed into the venue. But there was no need to worry, as it stayed dry and I got right up to the stage. I took advantage of the wristbands being handed out on a first come first served basis, to allow more people into the area initially reserved for VIP fans. I have been a big GD fan since I heard their life-changing album ‘American Idiot’, way back in 2004, so I knew I had to buy a ticket for this. It completely took over the world at the time and, being young and naive, I wrongly assumed it was their debut album because of all the sudden hype surrounding the band. ‘Dookie’, was released ten years prior and this tour celebrates its thirtieth birthday, as well as the twentieth anniversary of ‘American Idiot’ – their two most successful albums to date. The band promised to perform both of the albums in full, as well as hits from their brand new album ‘Saviors’, which came out in the beginning of this year, and other fan favourites. ‘Saviors’ has already achieved global success and they did an incredible job fitting so many songs into a high energy two and a half hour set, without it feeling rushed. I daydreamed about the concert on the bus from Inverness to Glasgow in the morning. Although I was terrified of traffic jams or anything which could delay my journey, it turned out to be smooth sailing. I checked into my hotel at 1pm and headed towards the park at 2:30pm, a couple of hours before the doors were due to open at 5pm. I decided to get a train from Glasgow Central Station to Dumbreck, as the journey only lasted five minutes and it would have taken me over an hour to walk. I chose to go to Gate A, as it was the closest to the station and I couldn’t find a specific gate number on my ticket. I sat on the grass with the rest of the early bird fans until stricter queues were formed closer to the opening time. The last hour dragged by so slowly and nobody could contain their excitement when they finally let us through the gate. We all raced towards the stage and fought for the best spots, despite staff members warning us the ground was uneven. Nobody cared about putting their safety first.

Once the fans were settled, a couple of people in the crowd started entertaining everyone by playing the crude game “Smash Or Pass”, which I had never seen done at any concert before. One person held up their phone with the title of the game on the screen, so everyone familiar with it understood what was happening, and another conjured up images of various celebrities and cartoon characters, for us to shout either “SMASH!” or “PASS!” depending on how we felt about them. It took a while for the security staff to realise why everyone was screaming at random intervals but they looked mildly amused by the antics. The first opening act, Maid Of Ace, a punk/rock band from Hastings made up of four sisters, came onstage at 6:15pm sharp. I enjoyed hearing their songs for the first time and watching them jump around on stage, though they were a little on the heavy side for my taste. They were funny at times, with lead singer Alison Cara Elliot jokingly demanding an umbrella to protect her carefully styled hair from the inevitable drizzle. Some people around me already knew who they were, so they must be relatively well-known in their music scene. They boosted the energy of the crowd and the evening was off to a great start. Nothing But Thieves, a significantly more famous band, came on at 7:15pm to lots of applause. One woman near me was absolutely hysterical during their entire set and even hurled her bra at lead singer Conor Mason, missing the stage by quite a large margin. I saw a member of security rolling his eyes, which made me laugh. Their melodious biggest hit, ‘Amsterdam’, and their latest single, the lively ‘Welcome To The DCC’, appealed to me the most out of all the songs they had to offer. Their cover of ‘Where Is My Mind?’ by The Pixies went down well with the crowd but I couldn’t help feeling they would be better suited opening for The Killers, who were performing in Glasgow at the same time, as their songs shared a lot of similarities to those of the Las Vegas rockers. Maybe they could have swapped opening bands and Travis could have come on before GD, especially since Billie Joe Armstrong (lead singer) sang a snippet of ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me?’ by the Scottish band, before the beloved ballad ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’. NBT thoroughly impressed me, regardless, and made everything look effortless. I am excited to explore more of their material on Spotify and listen to more of CM’s pristine vocals. It would be great to see them live again in the future, once I know their songs a lot better.

The famous drunken pink bunny mascot warmed up the crowd with parts of famous songs (‘The Imperial March’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘I Love Rock N’ Roll’ and ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’) blasting over the speakers at 8:20pm, before GD took to the stage. They opened with the instantly recognisable ‘The American Dream Is Killing Me’, the exciting first single from ‘Saviors’, before launching into the songs from ‘Dookie’, in album order. Different 3D backdrops were used for each of the albums they performed in full, which looked absolutely spectacular. The spotlights followed the band members as they moved around and resembled natural sunlight, which was visually appealing and meant you didn’t have to strain to see properly or take photographs. I wondered if the stage had its own air con system, as I felt a constant cool breeze wash over me, which was much appreciated. I was filled with energy from start to finish because of the fantastic atmosphere, which most other concerts would struggle to match. The inflatable plane they often send out over the crowd at the conclusion of ‘Dookie’ failed to make an appearance, though some fans allegedly spotted it backstage. Maybe the crew didn’t want it to go AWOL, since the park is a large open space and the weather could have easily taken a turn for the worse. I avoided all spoilers, so didn’t leave disappointed. One of the highlights was when Tré Cool (drums) pranced around the stage in his leopard print robe, for the orchestral version of their comedic song, ‘All By Myself’. The crowd lapped it up. I also appreciated bass guitarist Mike Dirnt’s orange throwback outfit to their early shows, which added even more nostalgia to the already emotional night. BJA announced ‘Basket Case’, the most famous song from ‘Dookie’, was written in Glasgow, which is a fun fact I didn’t already know. He draped a Saltire around him before ‘Know Your Enemy’ and wore it like a cape, which has apparently become a tradition at shows they play here. An enthusiastic crowd member was hand-picked to come on stage to sing that number with him but she was more preoccupied with running around the stage and taking selfies. She was entertaining, nonetheless. Another fan joined the band for their new song ‘Dilemma’, promising he could play it on guitar. His talent was undeniable and I think a lot of people were taken by surprise. BJA bowed to him at the end of the electrifying performance and practically invited him to join the band because he was so impressed. The fan was directed backstage because there was no other way down and BJA said he loves Glasgow, even though the sun never sets. I understood his frustration, since it looked like the sun was catching him at an uncomfortable angle throughout the performance. It’s too hard to pick one stand-out song from the night, although I was most looking forward to ‘Whatsername’ since I revisit it often and it has a long guitar solo in the middle. It was incredible hearing all of these songs which have become respected classics over the years and they were note-perfect.

BJA returned to the stage for an energetic performance of ‘Good Riddance’ (the most fitting song for an encore), before yet another confetti explosion to end the night with a bang. The band members threw souvenirs out to the crowd before leaving us – mainly drumsticks from a large bucket. I failed to catch anything but made sure to scoop up some of the confetti to take home with me before dashing to get a train back to the city centre. On my way to the exit, I heard several people commenting how this was the best concert they had ever been to. It’s becoming harder for me to rank them since I have been to so many now but this was one of the greatest. I didn’t want the night to end, even though most concerts are considerably shorter than this and I thought I would be exhausted by the time I made it back to the hotel. I think the trains were well organised and I’m thankful they were running extra ones but I wished they had been better advertised. I didn’t know how late I would be able to catch one and started panicking I might end up having to walk back to the hotel after all, or figure out how to get an Uber (which I have never done in this country, as we don’t have Uber drivers in the Highlands). The staff at the train station appeared to have our best interests at heart and I don’t think they would have left anybody stranded and vulnerable, especially since there was a huge queue which wrapped all the way around the corner of the street. I had an even better time than I thought, which is saying a lot because my expectations were already sky high. I would absolutely see GD again and I hope I won’t have to wait too long, though I don’t see them releasing another album for a while. I think this was a fantastic show for my first time seeing them, though I regret not doing so earlier, as they were in top form and I got to hear most of my favourite tracks in one go. I adore all three of the albums celebrated on this occasion and ‘Dookie’ and ‘American Idiot’ have both aged incredibly well, sounding like they could have been released at the same time as ‘Saviors’ in January of this year. If you only get the chance to see a handful of bands live in your lifetime, please make sure GD is one of them!

GALLERY