Call it the tour before the tour: Superstar punk trio Green Day reprized the role of regular people this week in an impromptu show.
After the band's surprise appearances in London pubs last year and a controversial, unwritten critique of former President Trump on ABC's live New Year's Eve show, the “American Idiot” performers appeared at a London subway station. New York this week. Late night host Jimmy Fallon joined them in the effort to draw attention to Green Day's upcoming album and supporting tour.
At Rockefeller Center's 47th to 50th Street station, the band and Fallon wore costumes (long-haired wigs, fake facial hair, sunglasses, and hats) as seen in the video shared on Reddit. As the crowd grew, Fallon, Billie Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool revealed themselves, launching into acoustic versions of Green Day's hits “Basket Case,” “American Idiot” and a single from their new album, “Look Ma , Not Brains.” ”
Several NYPD officers stood between the band and the crowd as spectators moved forward and sang, their phones extended to capture the moment, according to video posted in X by @hannahfeldman_. “I saw @GreenDay tonight for $2.90,” she tweeted, referring to the fare to ride the city's buses or trains.
Green Day has been turning heads with a series of viral moments ahead of the release of the trio's album “Saviors,” out Friday.
The band will begin their Saviors tour in May, beginning the European leg in Spain. The tour includes several stops in California in September, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Petco Park in San Diego and Oracle Park in San Francisco. The band announced Wednesday that their shows would include performances of their hit albums “Dookie” and “American Idiot” in their entirety, according to Rolling Stone. The albums turn 30 and 20 years old this year, respectively.
Green Day has performed regularly at festivals in recent years, including headlining When We Were Young Fest in Las Vegas in October. The band has also generated a lot of buzz online ahead of the new release.
In May, Green Day crashed local indie band Borderline Toxic's set at a dive bar in London. As Borderline Toxic played a version of “Basket Case” on a small stage at Slim Jim's Liquor Store, Armstrong jumped on stage and began singing into the microphone with the indie band's frontman, Kerry Glass, who stepped away for a moment from the visible shock, according to a video shared on Green Day's TikTok. Borderline Toxic also shared video of the moment.
Then in November, Green Day appeared at another London pub, packing out the Marquis for a surprise acoustic show, during which Armstrong declared the small venue “my favorite pub of all time.” The video from inside the pub posted by TikToker Will Gamble went viral.
“Pretty good cover band at the London venue tonight,” Gamble joked in the caption.
This time, Green Day took advantage of the moment to promote their Saviors tour, which had just been announced a week earlier, and posted a video from the pub showing fans chanting the band's name. “London, The Saviors Tour, come on,” the band wrote.
Times staff writer Carlos De Loera contributed to this report.
