After delaying a year because of the pandemic in 2020, the Hella Mega Tour was finally here at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. Recently masks and vaccine madates went into a effect in PA and because of this, we are allowed to see live music again. This show was well worth the year long wait.
With one helluva lineup of Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Weezer, and The Interrupters, the fans were drenched with night of good music with good friends. I think even if people who came to the show who weren’t huge fans of the bands, couldn’t help but belt out a few of the well known tunes these four bands have created.
On a hot summer night the first group to hit the stage in CBP in Philly were ska punk rockers from LA, The Interrupters. The band consists of three brothers, Jesse Bivona on drums, Justin Bivona on bass and Kevin Bivona on guitar and Aimee Allen on vocals. On tour they are joined by Billy Kottage playing organ and trombone. They were an excellent band to open this tour getting the fans who came out early amped up for what was to come.
Next up was Weezer. Rivers Cuomo looked like a rocker from the 70’s or 80’s baggy ripped jeans, some red Chuck Taylor Converse, a leather jacket, a porn stache and a mullet. The stage dressing was also inspired from the same era. They started with the song Hero which is the single from their latest LP Van Weezer which is more of a hard rock sound this time around. They followed with fan favorite Hash Pipe.
All of the fans in CBP were rockin out to the Beverly Hills, Pork and Beans, Undone – The Sweater Song, Say it Ain’t So and Buddy Holly. Hearing their cover of Toto’s Africa cover was amazing. Their entire set was a feel good party rock kinda vibe.
Fall Out Boy was next on the bill. About ten minutes before the band was scheduled to perform, the skies opened up and a torrential downpour soaked everyone in the ballpark. You could feel the nervousness in the crowd wondering if the show would go on. and well it did. Thank god because we had all waited over a year for this moment.
FOB started with the song The Phoenix. This song comes from their fifth studio album called Save Rock’n’Roll and marked their first album since a four-year hiatus they took back in 2009. Pete Wentz had a flame thrower on the neck of his bass and was using iit off and on during the 1st song. There was a lot of pyroduring their set. That was followed with Sugar, We’re Goin Down and Irresistible. The band’s vocalist and guitarist Patrick Stump walked on the cat walk to acknowledge the fans during the downpour as if to say “Thanks” for hanging in there during the rain. The played all their hits including Uma Thurman, Centuries and Dance, Dance.
The headliner if this helluva tour Green Day finally took the stage. Before theyhit the stage Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody played from the speakers and the whole stadium was belting it out. The Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop and a drunk rabbit bounced around thstage as the intro for Green Day’s arrival.
Green Day started with American Idiot which included Billie Joe Armstrong addressing crowd to put the phones down and enjoy the moment, “You guys have been on those for all year!”
As Boulevard of Broken Dreams was performed fans used their phones to illuminate the darkened ballpark.
Brain Stew, When I Come Around, 21 Guns, Basket Case, Know Your Enemy, Wake Me Up When September Ends and Good Riddance were just a half of all the amazing songs Green Day performed. Tre Cool on drums and Mike Dirnt on bass were just as electric as Billie Joe Armstrong, feeding off the energy of the crowd,who, for many was their first taste of live music in over a year. .
SETLISTS:
The Interrupters
A Friend Like Me
Title Holder
Take Back the Power
She Got Arrested
bad guy
(Billie Eilish cover)
Gave You Everything
On a Turntable
She’s Kerosene
Weezer
Hero
All the Good Ones
Beverly Hills
Hash Pipe
The End of the Game
My Name Is Jonas
Pork and Beans
Feels Like Summer
All My Favorite Songs
Undone – The Sweater Song
Surf Wax America
El Scorcho
Island in the Sun
Africa (Toto cover)
California Snow
Say It Ain’t So
Buddy Holly
Fall Out Boy
The Phoenix
Sugar, We’re Goin Down
Irresistible
Uma Thurman
Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy
Save Rock and Roll
The Last of the Real Ones
Dance, Dance
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More “Touch Me”
This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race
My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)
I Don’t Care
Thnks fr th Mmrs
Centuries
Saturday
Green Day
American Idiot
Holiday
Know Your Enemy
Pollyanna
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Longview
Welcome to Paradise
Hitchin’ a Ride
Rock and Roll All Nite (KISS cover)
Brain Stew
St. Jimmy
When I Come Around
21 Guns
Minority
Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover)
Basket Case
She
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Still Breathing
Jesus of Suburbia
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
Green Day
Fall Out Boy
Weezer
The Interrupters
