Green Day thrill during nostalgic punk rock show at Target Field

Green Day performed at Target Field on Saturday, August 17 featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and the Linda Lindas.Laura Buhman for MPR

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August 19, 2024

The San Francisco East Bay area of the late 1980s and early ’90s birthed some of the most influential bands and seminal punk albums of all time. The most popular of them is arguably Green Day, who sold out Target Field Saturday night. Fans were stacked up to the nosebleeds for a nostalgia bomb bigger than the one on the cover of Dookie.

Although the band’s Saviors Tour references Green Day’s 14th studio album, it also celebrated the 30th anniversary of Dookie, and the 20th anniversary of American Idiot. The night was stacked with almost five hours of music showcasing the ghosts of punk's past, present, and future. Along for the ride were the Linda Lindas from Los Angeles, fellow East Bay ska-punks Rancid, and Midwestern rock gods Smashing Pumpkins, who played Xcel in 2022.

The progressive, feminist-leaning punk act Linda Lindas kicked things off. With previous Twin Cities stops in support of Japanese Breakfast and Paramore, the band’s stage and crowd have grown. It was a treat seeing a band of femmes of color, ranging in age from 14 to 19, energize the crowd. Seats were slowly filling in during their brief-but-sizzling 20-minute set. Their punk-forward, harmony-laced Ramones-, Go Go’s-, and Bikini Kill-influenced sound bounced off the seats and absorbed into the ether. Regardless, the countless pieces of merch floating through the crowd signaled a dedicated fan base showing up for the 4 p.m. door time.

Linda Lindas performing on stage — Linda Lindas. Green Day performed at Target Field on Saturday, August 17 featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and the Linda Lindas.
Laura Buhman for MPR

Standouts from their performance included a song about guitarist Bela Salazar’s cat, “Nino,” which featured her dad dancing along on stage in a giant papier mache cat head, and “Excuse Me,” a new song slated for No Obligation, out in October. It had a Red Hot Chili Peppers-esque funk-rock tilt with punky vocals, and slower rhythmic breaks between verses. And, of course, they closed out with ”Racist, Sexist, Boy,” the viral hit that launched them into the public eye. They implored the crowd to vote so “no racist, sexist boy” makes it into office again.

Following the teens were Rancid and the Smashing Pumpkins. Both acts understood the assignment and ripped through sets featuring the best of their decades-long careers. Maybe mellowed with age – or just adhering to a strict sound ordinance cutoff time – there was no “punk time” to speak of, with Rancid appearing promptly at 6:05 and wrapping up an 11-song set 30 minutes later. A razor-sharp rendition of “Maxwell Murder” transitioned so smoothly into the bouncy “Roots Radical” that it felt like a medley.

Rancid performing on stage — Rancid. Green Day performed at Target Field on Saturday, August 17 featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and the Linda Lindas.
Laura Buhman for MPR

Even when lead singer Tim Armstrong’s vocals sounded a bit rough early on, the crowd still sang along to every word. Mid-set, by the time they hit “Radio,” Armstrong’s grizzled pipes were really warmed up. The rhythm section showed off with Matt Freeman’s plucky bass and explosive, hard-hitting drums from Branden Steineckert. Guitarist Lars Frederiksen dedicated a raucous and tight rendition of “Fall Back Down” to an audience member wearing an Oakland A’s jersey, and the seats at the Twins Stadium, now full, vibrated with the refrain of “Ruby Soho,” but not before Armstrong thanked the crowd for the last 33 years of his career.

After a short break, Smashing Pumpkins took the stage. Legendary guitarist James Iha greeted the crowd while Billy Corgan glowered in a shin-length short-collared tunic with red buttons. With an hour to burn, they stacked their set with 14 delicious, perfectly executed tracks from their 35-year career. Along with Iha and Corgan, the touring band featured Jimmy Chamberlin on drums, Kiki Wong on guitar, Katie Cole on backup vocals, and Jack Bates on keyboard. Although they just released a new album, Aghori Mhori Mei, none of those songs made the setlist.

The Smashing Pumpkins performing on stage — The Smashing Pumpkins. Green Day performed at Target Field on Saturday, August 17 featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and the Linda Lindas.
Laura Buhman for MPR

Because of the tight timeline, some of the Pumpkins’ songs felt a little rushed, but regardless, each was flawlessly executed. Wong shredded high notes on “That Which Animates the Spirit.” During “Tonight, Tonight,” Iha and Corgan mirrored each other, ripping at the strings on their guitars, and for the first time all night, a smile danced across Corgan’s lips. The packed, multi-generational crowd screamed along to a slightly rushed “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” as the drums and bass stood out. Couples cuddled to “Disarm,” and a louder, dissonant standout was “Jellybelly,” featuring a final feral scream at the end. “Zero” kicked off with a Lenny Kravitz “Are You Gonna Go My Way” tease, and a darkly dissonant cover of U2’s “Zoo Station” was the icing on the cake of their set.

Just as darkness fell over Target Field, the opening notes of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” rang out. The big screen overhead panned to shots of fans grinning ear to ear and singing every word. As the music bled into the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” someone in a filthy pink bunny outfit with a terrifying face ran onto the stage, threw out a T-shirt, and did the worm. The Imperial March began to play over a medley of popular rock songs as images of Green Day throughout their career flashed on the screen and frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, drummer Tre Cool, and touring members Jason White (guitar and vocals), and multi-instrumentalist Jason Freese took the stage.

They launched into “The American Dream is Killing Me” from Saviors as flames burst from the stage and large pillars of lights flashed. Looking and sounding phenomenal, Armstrong bounced energetically. The whiplash two-and-a-half-hour set continued with a rearranged version of Dookie in full. Armstrong took every liberty to get the crowd to raise their hands, shine their cell phone lights, and engage in a Freddy Mercury-inspired “hey-o” call and response. He pulled faces, flirted, and even brought one lucky fan named Miranda on stage to sing along to “Know Your Enemy.” She hammed it up like an old pro.

Green Day performing on stage — Green Day performed at Target Field on Saturday, August 17 featuring The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and the Linda Lindas.
Laura Buhman for MPR

Tre Cool hammed it up, too, and flounced around the stage in a leopard print robe to sing an orchestral version of “All by Myself,” which made the crowd whoop with glee. Throughout the night, his drumming prowess was on full display. Fans surrounding your humble reviewer commented on his skill and gazed slack-jawed at his many impressive solos.

Playing to the Minnesota crowd, Armstrong called out that he married a girl from Minnesota and even played a lick of Hüsker Dü’s “These Important Years” before launching into “F.O.D.” Other fun additions early on included a Tom Petty “Free Fallin’” intro to “Dilemma,” an especially rowdy take of “Brainstew” featuring Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” and a Metallica “Master of Puppets” riff, a nod to another massive band in town that weekend.

As Dirnt screeched at the end of “Brainstew,” a giant hand gripping a heart rose from the stage as flames lit the arena. It signaled the beginning of a full performance of American Idiot. Portions of the crowd took a few breaks and parked in their seats but rallied to scream along to their favorite parts of the album. As “Homecoming” rang out, some fans began to make their way homeward, but the diehards stayed until the elongated end.

Throughout, Armstrong showed the band’s political leanings by urging people to vote and taking liberties with lyrics, including changing the spoken portion of “American Idiot” to say they’re “not a part of the MAGA agenda.” Later, during “Holiday,” as Dirnt’s elastic bassline jumped, Armstrong’s spoken word portion began with “the representative from Minnesota has the floor.” Despite those changes, Armstrong notably left in several overt derogatory slurs in some older songs. It was an awkward juxtaposition for a band clearly trying to take a progressive stand.

The show otherwise went off without a hitch and left the crowd exhausted and fully satisfied. Green Day closed out the long night with “Good Riddance” as a shower of fireworks and a nearly full butter-colored moon floated above the packed stadium. For so many fans, there was no need to “hope they had the time of their lives.” There’s no question that we all did.

Green Day