Photos and Review by Porter Byers

I feel old, sometimes, when I ponder the passage of time since I first heard Dookie. Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool totally retroverted that emotion the instant they took the stage at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. on Monday night. They kicked off their set with quintessential high-energy anthem, “The American Dream is Killing Me” from their latest album, Saviors. From there, it was Dookie all the way through, followed by a six-song, career-spanning interlude before they dropped into American Idiot in its entirety. 

Although it is now 20-years young, American Idiot still feels fresh in the minds and hearts of many fans: it is more recent, received massive airplay, and its significance was furthered by the still-running broadway musical, where each of the rock opera’s songs are performed. So it was Dookie, played cover-to-cover, just as we all felt it in our bedrooms and in our cars, that elicited a youthful joy from the all-ages crowd of over 40,000.

This tour offers a very special treat for fans. “Burnout,” “Longview,” “Welcome to Paradise,” “Basket Case,” “She,” and “When I Come Around” have been in regular rotation at Green Day shows for three decades. But it was the other nine songs, including Tré’s orchestral rendition of secret song “All By Myself,” that had everyone drenched in sweat, jumping, moshing, and jubilating on a hot summer night. The visuals for this segment featured pyro and reimagined album artwork, including an inflatable bomber plane flying around the stadium during “Coming Clean.” 

Billie Joe and his bandmates proved themselves every bit as capable as they have always been at sustaining a two-and-a-half hour, non-stop adrenaline show. The original trio is supported on stage by two additional guitars and keys, and none of them miss a beat. No flubs, no miscues, and no signs of slowing down. 

Los Angeles-based female quartet the Linda Linda‘s charmed the crowd before Rancid‘s set was cut short after only two quick songs when weather forced a clearing of the baseball field. This was the only disappointment of the night as love for Rancid is a prerequisite for Green Day fanhood.

The Smashing Pumpkins rocketed through a slightly truncated set, treating fans to hits and new songs alike with some excellent guitar work by James Iha and touring guitarist Kiki Wong. The band was truly enjoying themselves on stage, replete with Billy Corgan smiles, which infected the crowd. 

Let’s hope next year we get an Insomniac 30-year anniversary tour next year…maybe paired with Warning’s 25th.