Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: David Harris
It was a glorious balmy evening in Melbourne and what better way to spend it than to see Green Day on their The Saviors Tour at Marvel Stadium. The stadium roof was open and 60,000 fans were ready to rock. The vibe was electric and felt like one giant New Years Eve Party that had a bit of everything from pyros, flames, fireworks and crowd singalongs.
It’s incredible to think that it’s almost 30 years ago since Green Day’s first-ever show in Melbourne which was back in 1996 at Festival Hall. Here we are in 2025 and Green Day remain one of the biggest bands in the world. They put on an almighty two and a half hour, high energy show from start to finish, that certainly gave you your money’s worth and left you wondering where they draw their energy from. Clearly the answer is their fans. Looking around the packed stadium, fans of all ages absolutely adore them and you could feel that energy in the stadium.
I saw them 8 years ago when they were last here back in 2017 on their The Revolution Radio Tour and they were incredible. This time around, The Saviors Tour was even better as they played Dookie and American Idiot in their entirety as well as some fan favourites.
Green Day members:
Billie Joe (BJ) Armstrong – Lead Vocals, lead guitar, harmonica
Tre’ Cool – Drums
Mike Dirnt – Bass Guitar
The opening act were Melbourne-based punk rock band Private Function who are renowned for their wild and entertaining live shows. I’ve seen them half a dozen times now and their stage antics and shows are incredibly lively and fun. They have you laughing and rocking along and were the perfect choice to warm up the audience.
American hardcore band AFI (A Fire Inside) from Ukiah, California were on next. AFI formed back in 1991 and their music is a blend of metal, post-hardcore, emo, goth and punk rock. It’s the second time I’ve seen AFI and I love their energy on stage. The band play hard and lead vocalist Davey Havok has an incredible vocal range. They got the crowd pumped up ready for Green Day.
The lights dimmed in the stadium and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody came on. Hearing 60,000 fans sing this song with gusto was a goosebumps moment. Then a person in a bunny suit appears on stage jumping around to The Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop. The bunny was hilarious and had the crowd laughing along, creating a jovial mood. As the energy in the stadium built, the Intro Theme was a medley of The Imperial March, Blitzkrieg Bop, We Will Rock You and I Love Rock N Roll and Green Day come out blazing and launched straight into THE AMERICAN DREAM IS KILLING ME from their most recent album, Saviors (2024).
The stage then turned into a 3D version of the Dookie album cover with the fiery explosion coming out of the stage floor behind the keyboards with giant white puffy balloon-shaped smoke clouds. The explosion of energy from the crowd matched the Dookie backdrop as the crowd leapt to their feet and started jumping around, singing and clapping along.
Green Day played the Dookie album from start to end. Dookie was released back in 1994 and has 15-songs on the album. The standout songs from this album that the crowd seemed to enjoy the most were LONGVIEW with its large guitar riffs, strong bass lines and driving drums. WELCOME TO PARADISE had the crowd in a frenzy, shaking their heads like Beatles-Mania and rocking along. BASKETCASE was a crowd fave and BJ’s voice is so distinctive. The crowd went crazy for WHEN I COME AROUND.
The stage set up had three large screens. One situated on each side of the stage and one directly above the stage. The visual show was spectacular and projected the energy of the band playing and had some cartoon-like characters appearing at times. Throughout the visuals, it picture-framed Green Day band members on the big screen creating a very cool effect.
A giant inflatable plane appeared during one song and floated across the crowd and dropped some inflatable bombs over the audience below.
At the end of Dookie, Green Day played 6 songs before performing the American Idiot album. BJ invited a fan (Honey) up on stage to sing KNOW YOUR ENEMY from 21st Century Breakdown (2009) and they also sang 21 GUNS from this album. They performed a few songs from the Saviors (2024) album like the catchy anthem-like ONE EYED BASTARD, DILEMMA with Tom Petty’s ‘Free Fallin’ intro and BOBBY SOX. The crowd went totally off-tap to MINORITY from the Warning (2000) album which BJ played harmonica on. BRAIN STEW from Insomniac (1995) had AC/DC ‘Highway to Hell’ intro and had the crowd headbanging.
It was a nonstop wild adrenaline ride throughout the show. Green Day’s signature fast driving songs driven by the talented Tre’ Cool on drums who tirelessly kept the skins pumping for the entire show. Energiser Bunny eat your heart out!
The 3D stage backdrop was cleverly changed using the same stage props, but now the explosion and smoke cloud turned into the American Idiot album cover with a giant hand holding a red grenade. Green Day then played American Idiot from start to end. American Idiot was released back in 2004 and has 13-songs on the album. They launched into AMERICAN IDIOT and the crowd went into a complete frenzy. One of our favourite songs of the evening was JESUS OF SURBURBIA. This song is rock’n’roll at its best! HOLIDAY and crowd sing-along BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS followed with everyone waving their lights on their phones. BJ made a political statement expressing his concerns and frustrations during the set about Donald Trump and Elon Musk saying politicians all need to “Shut the fuck up.” The crowd roared in agreement.
The hits just kept rolling out and looking around the stadium at the army of fans, you could see the crowd were pinching themselves thinking how epic this show had been so far. Every song was so seamless, with all the instruments blending so well into their iconic sound that there was a gestalt feeling about it (the sum of all the parts became a new greater entity).
The drum intro and BJ’s vocals on the anthem ARE WE THE WAITING was chilling and euphoric. This led into the fast punk rockin ST JIMMY. WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS was a special moment showcasing how amazing and beautiful BJ’s vocals remain.
I must say that BJ’s vocals were flawless throughout the entire show. His distinctive vocal tone was outstanding and he still manages to sound just as good now as he did 30-plus years ago and to top it off, BJ is ageless and still looks so young. BJ came out in the encore and played an acoustic version of GOOD RIDDANCE (TIME OF YOUR LIFE) that had the crowd singing along with such devotion and enjoyment. This was a fitting end to an epic show.
GREEN DAY SAVIORS TOUR – AUSTRALIA 2025
3 March Engie Stadium, Sydney
5 March CBUS Super Stadium, Gold Coast, QLD
SET LIST:
The American Dream is Killing Me
Dookie (1994): (start to end)
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 (orchestral version)
Know Your Enemy (with a fan named Honey onstage)
One Eyed Bastard
Dilemma (with Tom Petty’s Free Fallin intro)
21 Guns (ended after solo)
Minority (with band introductions)
Brain Stew (with AC/DC’s Highway to Hell’ intro)
American Idiot (2004): (start to end)
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
Bobby Sox
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
