Show Review: Green Day Perform 'Saviors', 'American Idiot' In Full At Perfect Surprise Fillmore Show
Green Day
w/ Ultra Q
The Fillmore
April 2nd, 2024
Review by Jared Stossel
Photos by Greg Schneider (courtesy of Green Day)
If you were standing outside on Geary Boulevard last night, you would see a lot of people walking around holding up their index finger, indicating the number one. These people weren’t rooting for the Giants or declaring America to be the greatest nation; no, they were letting people know that they were looking for “one ticket” for undoubtedly the most exclusive rock show of the year: a surprise Green Day performance at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco, CA. The exclusive show was hosted by UN Human Rights and the Recording Academy, with the show raising money and awareness for UN Human Rights climate justice efforts, as well as the Right Here, Right Now Climate Fund at MusiCares. Even with less than a week’s notice, the iconic Bay Area trio sold out the 1,315-capacity venue in minutes.
The show featured only one opener, the up-and-coming Ultra Q. They’re an incredibly solid four-piece fronted by Jakob Danger, and their music meets somewhere at the intersections of alternative, punk, indie, and avant-garde. It’s hard to classify them as one subgenre, and that’s what made watching them so fun. Throughout their half-hour opening set, the band would veer off into different territories while staying firmly rooted in alt-punk stylings, and they sounded pitch-perfect. Just a few weeks ago, the band released their third album, Empty Eddy, so be sure to give it a listen.
Right as the clock struck 9 PM, Green Day took the stage and treated the Fillmore audience to a unique, one-of-a-kind show: a playthrough of both their newest album Saviors (released in January of this year), followed immediately by a performance of their gargantuan hit album American Idiot. This was without a doubt one of the quickest Green Day shows I’ve ever seen - I couldn’t believe how quickly the band breezed through both of these albums. I could have easily watched them go another hour or two through their catalog, although I may slightly biased given that they’re one of my favorite bands. Usually, vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong will be vamping between songs, speaking to the crowd. This time around, the band powered through the hefty set list, with Armstrong offering a quip or two in the brief space between songs. Even with limited talking, Armstrong, drummer Tre Cool, and bassist Mike Dirnt seemed ebullient, like they truly wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.
It has been a dream of mine to see the band play American Idiot from start to finish, so to find out that they were playing it in its entirety just a few hours before the show was a wonderful surprise. The fact that they threw in Saviors was a bonus, as it’s truly an outstanding album in their discography. Cap that off with a two-song encore featuring Warning’s “Minority” and Dookie’s “Basket Case”, and you have the recipe for a perfect show.
I’ve seen Green Day countless times over the last fifteen years in nearly every venue imaginable. I’ve seen them everywhere from the tiniest rooms (a surprise 924 Gilman Street show in 2015) to the largest stadiums (O.co Coliseum, Oracle Park). As much as I love the glitz and the excitement of the bigger performances, there’s something innately special about these smaller performances. The energy is more akin to a house party, like you’re being let in on the biggest secret that one of the world’s greatest bands just showed up and decided to set up shop, busting out some of the biggest songs of their career for the hell of it. Being from the Bay Area has many perks, and being treated to surprise Green Day shows is definitely one of them. They are a band that I will never tire of, and it’s shows like this one that prove why.
Green Day will be hitting the road this summer with Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and The Linda Lindas, where they will be performing Dookie and American Idiot in their entireties at stadiums across the country. A Bay Area date is planned for San Francisco’s Oracle Park on September 20th, 2024. For more information on ticketing, you can click here. Their new album, Saviors, is available now.
Green Day Set List
Saviors
Saviors
The American Dream Is Killing Me
Look Ma, No Brains!
Bobby Sox
One Eyed Bastard
Dilemma
1981
Goodnight Adeline
Coma City
Corvette Summer
Suzie Chapstick
Strange Days Are Here To Stay
Living in the ‘20s
Father To A Son
Fancy Sauce
American Idiot
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
Homecoming
Whatsername
Encore:
Minority
Basket Case
