Show Notes: sacramento.com: "The Pop Disaster Tour, which features blink-182 and Green Day, is a meeting of pop-punk's wunderkinds. But next time around, the show's organizers might as well add Motley Crue to the bill. As it turned out, the Pop Disaster concert, which reached the AutoWest Amphitheatre on Sunday night, was packed with pyrotechnics, flashpots and a rotating drum cage, to boot. Punk rock was originally a music stripped of pretense and pageantry, but judging by Pop Disaster, has punk become the new arena rock? Then again, blink-182 and Green Day long ago ditched their punk credibility for major-label status, multiplatinum sales and massive teen followings. And with Pop Disaster sponsored by the kiddie-oriented beverage YooHoo, you could bet that most die-hard punkers didn't dare bring their egg white-starched Mohawk hairdos anywhere near the place. So there's no going back to 924 Gilman Street, the punker-than-thou Berkeley club that gave Green Day its start. But it should be remembered that Green Day wasn't always the toast of Gilman Street. Even in its formative years, the Bay Area trio was knocked by punk purists for its sophomoric subject matter and endless tunes about puppy-love crushes (e.g., At the Library, Why Do You Want Him). Still, the band's unbridled energy and tenacity on the small-club circuit transformed Green Day into a formidable live act. Throughout Green Day's 75-minute set, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong often played master of ceremonies, mugging endlessly, leading the audience through numerous singalongs and inspiring collective arm-swaying. These are all proven arena-rock techniques, but the set's momentum was sometimes sullied through such diversions. One 10-minute sequence that featured three audience members selected to play on stage as a makeshift band was cute, but perhaps the time could've been better used to feature some early Green Day favorites (how about 80, Disappearing Boy or The One I Want?). Green Day simply didn't need all the audience pandering and pyrotechnic punches. The band was musically powerful enough on its own when romping through such signature songs as When I Come Around, 2000 Light Years Away and She. Sure, there were some goofy touches, including horn players dressed as chickens, bees and mariachis, and a cover of Shout. But the band nailed its dynamic push-and-pulls (Longview, Minority) and played with a ferocity that stirred mosh pits and waves of crowd surfers. Perhaps Green Day packed an extra pow because of Jason White, a touring guitarist who doubled up on some of the band's riffs and allowed guitarist-singer Armstrong to concentrate more on his vocal duties."

Opening Band(s): Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World