After over 100 bands, four full days and five busy stages, punk rock icons Green Day closed out the 2023 Louder Than Life Music Festival in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday, September 24, 2023.
Before playing the final song of the weekend, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong gave kudos to the audience.
“The last four nights has been a fucking incredible amount of fucking hard rocking fucking bands,” Armstrong said.
“Kentucky, Louisville, you discredited everyone who ever said that rock is dead. Because if it is, it’s alive and well in Louisville, Kentucky I’ll tell you that,” he added, before performing their 1997 classic ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)’.
Before the band hit the Space Zebra Stage, the anticipation was built up in the singing crowd, as Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was played over the speakers, followed up with a mash-up of the Ramones ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, The Arrows’ ‘I Love Rock and Roll’ and Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’, all while Green Day’s drunken bunny mascot swayed, shuffled and danced on stage.
After the eight-plus minute intro, Armstrong, bass guitarist Mike Dirnt, drummer Tré Cool, and touring musicians Jason White and Jason Freese graced the stage, and tore into 2004’s ‘American Idiot’.
“Are you ready tonight?” Armstrong told the crowd during their opening song.
“We’re fucking louder than Jesus, motherfuckers. Tonight, we are going to dance together. We’re going to sing together… and we’re going to make some noise,” the frontman screamed.
The Berkley-formed, five-time Grammy Award-winning rockers packed in 23-song set during their Louder Than Life performance, focusing on the greatest hits from their deep catalog.
Armstrong, Dirnt and Cool delivered the three-chord punch from some of their 90’s tunes, including five songs from 1994’s Dookie: ‘Basket Case’, ‘Burnout’, ‘Longview’, ‘When I Come Around’ and ‘Welcome to Paradise’, one from 1995’s Insomniac: ‘Brain Stew’ and four more from 1997’s nimrod.: ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)’, ‘Hitchin’ a Ride’, ‘King for a Day’ and ‘Nice Guys Finish Last’.
Green Day also treated the Kentucky crowd with some cover tunes, including ‘Knowledge’ by Operation Ivy, when a young fan was brought on stage to play guitar, ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ by KISS and Shout by The Isley Brothers, which has become a staple for the band, after they perform ‘King For A Day’.
The band also put a local touch on the set, performing snippets of ‘1,000 Hours’ and ‘Kentucky’ by the Everly Brothers, before performing their 2000 hit ‘Waiting’.
Armstrong was a bouncing bundle of energy throughout the show, a true showman and an engaging and animated leader of the band.
Cool was a machine, as always, keeping the beat and energy levels high throughout the evening, while Dirnt’s bass lines sent ripples through the Louisville night sky.
The band’s musicianship was on full display for their next-to-last song, 2004’s ‘Jesus of Suburbia’, the nine-minute long masterpiece, which feels like an album all to itself.
Green Day capped off the live rendition in Kentucky with a bang, as fireworks shot from the stage and cracks were sent echoing into the night.
The band bid farewell to the Louder Than Life crowd in grand fashion, as a cloud of confetti was released from the stage, right before Armstrong strummed the final chords to ‘Time of Your Life’.
Here is Green Day’s full setlist from Louder Than Life:
1. American Idiot
2. Holiday
3. Know Your Enemy
4. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
5. Nice Guys Finish Last
6. Longview
7. Welcome to Paradise
8. Hitchin’ a Ride
9. Rock and Roll All Nite (KISS cover)
10. Brain Stew
11. St. Jimmy
12. When I Come Around
13. Burnout
14. Waiting
15. 21 Guns
16. Minority
17. Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover)
18. Basket Case
19. King for a Day
20. Shout (The Isley Brothers cover)
21. Wake Me Up When September Ends
22. Jesus of Suburbia
23. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
Here are some photos of their performance by Steve Thrasher:
Here are some more photos by Nathan Zucker:
Green Day is one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time, with more than 70-million records sold worldwide and 10-billion cumulative audio/visual streams.
Their breakout album Dookie, which sold over 10 million and achieved diamond status, is widely credited with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock, catapulting a career-long run of #1 hit singles.
Green Day’s release of rock opera American Idiot captured the nation’s attention, selling more than 7-million copies in the U.S. alone, taking home the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album and led to a critically acclaimed stage adaptation on Broadway.
The band recently announced they’ll be making an appearance in Ontario in November.
Green Day will headline the Twisted Tea Grey Cup Halftime Show for the 110th Grey Cup at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton on Sunday, November 19, 2023.
Watch for details on SWOMP.ca.
Also, follow Green Day on their official website https://greenday.com/.