Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins roar through impressive sets after rain hits tour opener
WASHINGTON – An hourlong rain delay isn’t the ideal occurrence for a tour kickoff. But many cultures believe a downpour is a good omen, so let’s go with that.
There certainly wasn’t anything other than positive vibes – except many cranked-to-11 guitars – running through the first night of the Green Day-fronted The Saviors Tour, a wallop of a stadium outing also featuring fellow ‘90s rawkers the Smashing Pumpkins and Rancid, as well as a streak of youthful vigor from teen punks The Linda Lindas.
More than half of the 41,000-plus crowd had already filtered into Nationals Park in the district by the time Rancid blasted on stage, a pioneering portrait of tattoos, beards and guttural rock. But the quartet of Tim Armstrong, Matt Freeman, Lars Frederiksen and Branden Steineckert had barely ripped through their 1995 album opener, “Maxwell Murder,” and the recent “Tomorrow Never Comes,” when an unexpected storm rumbled through and nixed the remainder of their expected 30-minute set.
Hopefully, Rancid will endure through the tour’s Sept. 28 end in San Diego without any other disruptions.
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Green Day proves themselves 'Saviors' of rock
As befits a headliner, the 5 ½-hour show belonged to Green Day, who are just as indefatigable and impishly charming as they were 30 years ago when “Dookie” turned them from bratty punks to bratty marketable punks.
Taking the stage to the menacing mash-up of “The Imperial March” from “Star Wars” and Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” Green Day accelerated to 100 mph and didn’t ease off the pedal for more than two hours.
Though they opened with “The American Dream is Killing Me,” a pungent rocker from their current album, “Saviors,” the trio of singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, drummer Tré Cool and bassist Mike Dirnt immediately rolled into “Burnout,” the opening track on “Dookie,” which the band played in full, as promised.
Towers of lights lined the back of the stage with plumes of pyro spouting between them, while stylized video of the band blared from two screens flanking the stage and a curved screen overhead.
Though this still-scrappy trio – who are all in their early 50s – make plenty of noise, the addition of guitarists Jason White and Kevin Preston, as well as keyboardist Jason Freese augment their punchy, punky pop-rock to ideally fill a stadium.
But really, the vivacity emanating from the stage is enough to captivate. It’s a sensory assault in the best possible manner.
Armstrong, his raccoon tail of a coif bouncing with his nonstop guitar strikes, implored the crowd to “put your hands up” several times in between landing his staccato delivery on “Dookie” favorites “Longview,” “When I Come Around” and “Basketcase.”
But Green Day treated the album cuts with equal showmanship, with an inflatable plane cruising around the stadium during “Coming Clean” and Cool flouncing around the stage in a leopard-print smoking jacket to sing “All By Myself.” The show witnessed a marathon performance from Cool, who worked his floor toms and snare drum like a NASCAR driver navigating endless tight curves, barely taking a breath all night.
After bookending a trio of new songs, including the No. 1 Billboard rock hit “Dilemma", with the singsong-y choruses and choppy riffs of classics “Know Your Enemy” and “Brain Stew,” Green Day maintained the momentum with another segue, smack into the entirety of their 2004 award-winning, Broadway-show-inspiring, politically-pointed “American Idiot.”
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Though a hefty segment of the crowd looked as if they weren’t born when either “Dookie” or “American Idiot” bowed, they knew every song as if it were the soundtrack to the latest TikTok craze, especially the multipart “Jesus of Suburbia,” which winds from ‘60s-inspired pop to grinding rock guitar to a piano-fronted verse. During the song, a crowd member tossed Armstrong a mask of Donald Trump with the word “idiot” written across its forehead. Armstrong held it up and the crowd roared.
The ever-laid-back Dirnt received plenty of spotlight time as well, carrying the low end of “Holiday” and, with his longtime bandmates, relaxing – comparably – through the cinematic “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.”
This Saviors tour is, obviously, named for Green Day’s current album. But the refreshing gust of flashy, fun, accessible punk rock it brings with the bill might be the real savior.
Smashing Pumpkins captivate with dramatic flair
Billy Corgan and his musical mates lost about 15 minutes of their set time due to the weather delay, but once on stage in a flurry of James Iha guitar effects and Jimmy Chamberlin drum patterns, they reveled in their drama rock.
Aside from a barely recognizable cover of U2’s “Zoo Station,” Smashing Pumpkins ticked through much of their 30-plus-year history, with songs from 1993’s smash “Siamese Dream” and the 1995 opus “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” solidly represented in the 11-song set.
Corgan, clad in a black priest gown, layered his distinctive nasal tone over “Tonight, Tonight,” the song’s stillness building to a chorus of crashing cymbals as he held his hand up to the clearing sky with theatrical flair.
The enigmatic frontman sounded particularly moving on “Today,” the pillowy “Siamese Dream” pop-rocker steeped in lyrical irony as Corgan sings, “today is the greatest day I’ve ever known” while really pondering suicide.
The musical swings from that lightness to the gritty “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” – a prime vessel for the crowd to unleash their rage – to the metallic march of “Solara” showcasing the depths of the band’s repertoire.
Joining the core trio of Corgan, Iha and Chamberlin were bassist Jack Bates and guitarist Kiki Wong, who famously won the post from the departed Jeff Schroeder after a public casting call of more than 10,000.
Besides her ability to shred as well as scope out the nuance as in “1979,” Wong looked the part in her black spandex and halter top, adding another dose of dark vibes with a halo of hope.
The Linda Lindas are purr-fectly worthy of the opening slot
But pre-rain, The Linda Lindas were able to steamroll through a charmingly ramshackle 15-minute performance that highlighted their love of cats – bassist Eloise Wong inks whiskers on her face and singer/guitarist Bela Salazar dedicated “Nino” to her feline of the same name – and their infectious spunkiness.
The group, which also features sisters Mila and Lucia de la Garza on drums and guitar/vocals, respectively, ranges in age from 13-19. Earlier this month they opened for The Rolling Stones at SoFi Stadium and will now spend the summer bouncing around massive stages in Converse to spirited songs such as “All in My Head” – from their upcoming “No Obligation” album – and “Oh!” while sending up a flare that rock is not dead.
