Show Notes: Chris Page: "A funny thing happened to punk rock on its way to the concert arena. It cleaned up its act. It started violating the 40-minute rule - which says no punk band should play for longer than 40 minutes, for fear of getting boring. And it incorporated flashy lights and 'Beavis and Butt-head'-worthy pyrotechnics. At least that was the case with the first show of the 'Pop Disaster Tour,' with headlining acts Green Day and blink-182. If there is one fatal flaw to the 'Pop Disaster Tour,' it's that there's too much good stuff. By the time Green Day left the stage and blink-182 started into its first song, the crowd was noticeably drained. Credit Green Day for delivering a show which, although wasn't all that much different from its last Warning tour (including filler moments wherein budding musicians from the audience were called up and played Green Day's instruments), still managed to be the peak of the evening."

Launch: "Pop-punk juggernauts Blink 182 and Green Day kicked off their Pop Disaster co-headlining tour Wednesday (April 17) at the Centennial Garden in Bakersfield, California. Each of the group's 90-minute sets featured a steady string of signature songs and ample use of ear-blowing pyrotechnics. Green Day, who performed after opening act Jimmy Eat World, offered the first of such enhancements at the close of its first song, Maria, which was punctuated by a burst of flames and a cannon shot so loud it jarred many in the arena. The Northern California trio appeared in mid-tour form, playing an aggressive, spirited set that covered much ground, from early hits like Longview and Basket Case to 2000's Minority and the aforementioned Maria, a new song from the group's International Superhits! collection last year. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong worked the crowd at every turn with singalongs, the use of a supersoaker water gun, and a profanity-laced call-and-response pitting sections of the crowd against each other. The group also pulled three fans from the pit to take over its instruments for several minutes. Armstrong tells LAUNCH that his goal on this tour is just to have fun. 'Just go out and have a good time, really. This is the first time that I can honestly say I'm gonna go out and just have fun,' he says. 'That's it, pretty much. And, I don't know, destroy everything.' Green Day was occasionally augmented by a second guitarist and a trumpet and horn players."

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

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Verification Status:
Tour Statistics: Pop Disaster tour
Concert Reviews: 0