“Welcome to our little superspreader event,” the frontman joked, commenting on the wall-to-wall bodies that may have been the most packed Metro has ever been (even more so than Metallica’s rare appearance last fall). It should be said Metro abided by its vaccination requirement and encouraged masking for attendees.
Yet, the greatest-hits set did a great job of bringing people back to the good old days anyway — like grade school and high school old days. In the 90-minute performance, the band got through 25 of its best, with “Welcome to Paradise” and “Basket Case” eliciting full-on singalongs from more than a nostalgic few. Armstrong at one point even threw his mic in the crowd for a sweaty fan to take over. In the mix, there were also some “deep cuts,” including “Church on Sunday,” the happy reaction a testament to the fact that the room was filled with the diehards who were supposed to be there. [Chicago Sun Times]
Green Day are headlining Lollapalooza on Sunday (7/31), but before that, they played a last minute, much more intimate aftershow at Chicago club Metro on Friday night (7/29). The show was announced on Tuesday (7/26) and sold out immediately, with a sweaty crowd absolutely packing the venue well past midnight, and Billie Joe Armstrong saying, "we're gonna remember this one forever."