Green Day (w/ Catfish and the Bottlemen) @ Budweiser Stage (Toronto, ON) on August 18, 2017 [Photos & Show Review]

On Friday, August 18th, Toronto, Canada and the Budweiser Stage played host to Green Day along with Catfish and the Bottlemen. This stop of Californian punk legends’ “Revolution Radio” tour was a totally sold out event and, as it was also opening day at the Canadian National Exhibition (better known as the CNE), you can only imagine how hopping the place was!

Welsh rockers Catfish and the Bottlemen set the pace for the night and, with their short set of five tunes, did a great job pumping up the enthusiastic crowd. When the lights finally went down and Queens‘ “Bohemian Rhapsody” began blaring over the sound system the 16,000 fans (give or take) began singing along. Then, suddenly, a giant pink bunny came running across the stage followed by Green Day who started the night off with “Know Your Enemy”. As the song ended a few giant explosions erupted catching me completely off guard and scaring the shit outta me… But that’s the fun of live events, you just never know what’s going to happen!

During the song “Bang Bang” it seemed as though the guys were beckoning people on stage… One fan did make it through the line of refrigerator-sized security (which in itself is quite a feat). She got a big hug from singer Billie Joe Armstrong who then gave her a running start from all the way back at the drum kit…. and she dove back to where she came from, maybe a bit bruised, but definitely with great memories of her night.

Green Day didn’t disappoint with their performance. It was the ’90s all over again, just with more crowd surfing and stage diving… and more expensive beer.

Green Day Setlist

01. Know Your Enemy
02. Bang Bang
03. Revolution Radio
04. Holiday
05. Letterbomb
06. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
07. Longview
08. Youngblood
09. 2000 Light Years Away
10. Hitchin’ A Ride
11. When I Come Around
12. Welcome To Paradise
13. Minority
14. Are We The Waiting
15. St. Jimmy
16. Knowledge
17. Basket Case
18. She
19. King For A Day
20. Medley with Shout, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, Satisfaction, Hey Jude
21. Still Breathing
22. Forever Now
23. American Idiot
24. Jesus Of Suburbia
25. 21 Guns (acoustic)
26. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)