CONCERT REVIEW: Green Day never gets old

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

PITTSBURGH

Saturday’s Green Day concert at Petersen Center came in with a “concert of the year” aura.

It not only lived up to its hype, but was also one of the most joyous shows you’ll see.

A nonstop rave of the band’s infectious and unmistakable songs, it had the entire crowd in the sold-out arena on its feet from the start.

Green Day is too buoyant to get weighed down by politics, even when it came time to play “American Idiot,” the title track from the band’s brilliant 2004 album.

The song might have some renewed relevance these days. But with the exception of a single four-word message for the president screamed out by frontman Billy Joe Armstrong at its end, the message of the song, and the whole night, was “let’s have fun.”

Armstrong exhorted the crowd to let loose — even admonishing one fan to put her camera away so she could be in the moment. The singer heated the crowd up and, at one point, cooled it down with some blasts from a water hose.

Several times, Armstrong brought crowd members on stage to sing, play guitar and — for some — stage dive from the end of the runway and crowd surf.

The ageless Armstrong seemed to really like Pittsburgh. “This is my favorite crowd,” he said. “We’re from Oakland, and that’s the Pittsburgh of California. You are my people.”

The core of Green Day remains — after all these years — Armstrong, Tre Cool on drums, Mike Dirnt on bass, plus three backing musicians. The band augmented its blitzkrieg of simple chords, played fast and loud, with lots of pyro; dancing flames shot into the air and explosions punctuated songs at key moments.

The two and a half hour set included a little more than 25 songs from Green Day’s extensive catalog, and its energy never flagged. I’d been waiting a lifetime to hear the raging guitar segues in “Waiting” — and also “Basket Case” — played live by the band. Same goes for Dirnt’s thumping bass on “Holiday.”

The final song of the regular portion of the concert was the new single “Still Breathing.” Armstrong sings “I’m still alive” in the song, and it was a rousing reminder of the band’s long and storied career, and the promise of its future.

In addition to “American Idiot,” the encore also included an epic “Jesus of Suburbia.”

At the end of the night, Armstrong was the last man standing on stage, wielding an acoustic guitar, and he brought up the lights with “The Time of Your Life (Good Riddance).”

Is there a better song to close the concert of the year?