With the announcement of Green Day’s next album Saviors, we thought we’d flash you back to an epic interview with all three members of the band, hosted by Pierre Robert.
Before they played a fiery show in Camden on August 31st, 2017, Pierre sat down backstage with Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool for a chat that covered their earliest shows in Philly (including a raucous first show at Dobbs that got shut down). Plus, they talk about inviting fans to perform with them in front of massive crowds, and discuss their origins via a documentary called Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk. Stream the conversation below.
Drummer Tre Cool was pretty impressed with the list that Pierre brought to the interview!
Green Day’s new album Saviors will be out on January 19th. Hear the first single from it, “The American Dream is Killing Me” on WMMR, and watch the video below. The band will embark on a stadium tour in 2024 with the Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and the Linda Lindas, though the exact dates have yet to be announced.
Every Green Day Gig in the Philly Area, From '93 to '23
Welcome to paradise! Green Day ringmaster Billie Joe Armstrong celebrates his birthday today (2/17). The Oakland trio have always had a second home in Philly – they’ve been playing gigs here since their pre-Dookie days, and even immortalized their ’97 show at the Electric Factory in their new Nimrod box set.
MMR has spoken with the gang many times, and you can always spot Pierre Robert bringing you complete concert coverage from the pit. In fact, when Pierre spoke with all three members of Green Day a few years ago, he brought along a list of past gigs, and Tre Cool was quite impressed with the history.
Birthday boy Billie Joe is a natural showman, so we thought we’d honor him with a tally of every time he’s brought the house down in the City of Brotherly Love. Scroll through the list and tell us how many of these shows you were at on Twitter and Instagram.
January 16, 1993: JC Dobbs
Could you imagine seeing this arena-level band at a 125-person bar on South Street? Whenever he plays Philly, Billie Joe asks the crowd “Who was with us at JC Dobbs?!”, and far more than 125 cheer in response. If you were actually there, you witnessed rock history in the making.
February 13, 1993: The Pennant East
Just two months after their Philadelphia debut, Green Day graduated to the 300-cap Pennant East in Bellmawr, NJ. That club closed in 2011.
February 18, 1993: Trocadero Theater
A few days later, the gang went across the river to the historic Trocadero in Chinatown.
February 23 + 26, 1993: Grape Street Pub
Grape Street hosted the trio for 2 nights in the same week. (They’ve still got the volume up over in Manayunk.)
February 27, 1993: Khyber Pass Pub
Billie Joe, Mike and Tre really made the rounds in Philly in the first half of 1993! Their next stop was Old City for a show at the Khyber.
On the heels of the release of their breakthrough record Dookie, the trio returned to the Troc with a batch of new songs that would go on to become classics, including “Longview”. See if you can spot hidden references in the album art.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Trocadero Theatre, Philadelphia, PA, USA on August 2, 1994 from the Dookie Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
December 1, 1994: Philadelphia Convention Hall
This ripper of a set at the Convention Hall included a mix of Dookie tracks (which were brand new at the time), plus covers of the Who and Operation Ivy, and early songs like “Going to Pasalacqua”.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA on December 1, 1994 from the Dookie Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
November 14, 1995: Civic Center
About a month after dropping Insomniac, we witnessed Green Day live at the Civic Center.
November 14, 1997: Electric Factory
This entire epic show is now available as part of the Nimrod anniversary set, as Pierre explains in his unboxing of the reissue.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA, USA on November 14, 1997 from the Nimrod Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
July 14, 2000: Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Centre
In 2000, Billie Joe, Mike and Tre returned to the E-Centre for punk rock summer camp, aka Warped Tour.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Centre, Camden, NJ, USA on July 14, 2000 from the Vans Warped Tour 2000 Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
May 29, 1998: Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Centre
By 1998, Green Day had reached dizzying heights with chart-toppers like “Good Riddance”, which they played for the Y-100 FEZtival at the E-Centre in Camden.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Centre, Camden, NJ, USA on May 29, 1998 from the Nimrod Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
June 23, 2001: Kahunaville
Thanks to listener Andrew in West Chester for reminding us that Green Day once played in a volcano… well, if Kahunaville in Wilmington, DE counts. (It totally does.)
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Kahunaville, Wilmington, DE, USA on June 23, 2001 from the Warning: Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
May 28, 2002: Tweeter Center
With 6 LPs now under their belt, Green Day found themselves back in Camden for the Pop Disaster tour in 2002.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ, USA on May 28, 2002 from the Pop Disaster Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
October 29, 2004: Liacouras Center
Green Day became the biggest band in the world not once, but twice: if Dookie was the catalyst that brought pop-punk into the mainstream, American Idiot was the second coming of the genre, dominating the airwaves and permeating pop culture worldwide.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA on October 29, 2004 from the American Idiot Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
September 7, 2005: Wachovia Center
By mid-2005, the rock opera American Idiot was one of the best-selling new albums in the world. The setlist on this tour pulled largely from that LP, with their 90s hits sprinkled throughout.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA on September 7, 2005 from the American Idiot Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
July 21, 2009: Spectrum
This was one of the last rock shows in our old air conditioned girl, the Spectrum, which closed later in 2009 with Pearl Jam’s legendary 4-night run.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA, USA on July 21, 2009 from the 21st Century Breakdown Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
August 3, 2010: Susquehanna Bank Center
When Green Day released yet another concept album, 21st Century Breakdown, we wondered if it could possibly be as fantastic as its predecessor American Idiot. Spoiler alert: it totally was.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ, USA on August 3, 2010 from the 21st Century Breakdown Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
August 3, 2013: Liacouras Center
At Green Day’s stop on Temple’s campus, we witnessed Derrick from Macungie rip through “Jesus of Suburbia” on Billie Joe’s guitar with unbelievable precision. Pierre caught up with an ecstatic Derrick after the show, and a few years later played that audio for Billie Joe, who choked up over the emotion on display.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA on April 3, 2013 from the 99 Revolutions Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
September 29, 2016: Tower Theater
By 2016, there weren’t many venues that the band had *not* hit in Philly, but on this night they checked another one off the list: the iconic Tower Theater in Upper Darby.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, PA, USA on September 29, 2016 from the Revolution Radio Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
August 31, 2017: BB&T Pavilion
Now on their 12th studio album Revolution Radio, the boys returned to Camden, and this time all three of them sat for an interview with Pierre. Check out the concert gallery here.
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at BB&T Pavilion, Camden, NJ, USA on August 31, 2017 from the Revolution Radio Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
August 20, 2021: Citizens Bank Park
After a long break – made even longer by the COVID pandemic – Green Day triumphantly returned to Philly with the Hella Mega Tour for a bombastic show at the ballpark. See more photos here!
Green Day / Hella Mega Tour / Citizens Bank Park / Philadelphia, Pa / August 20, 2021 / DerekBrad.com
Get the Green Day Setlist of the concert at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA, USA on August 20, 2021 from the Hella Mega Tour and other Green Day Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
Honorable Mention: The Longshot at the First Unitarian Church
Since it’s Billie Joe’s birthday, we’ll include one of his side projects on this list. The Longshot played the Church basement in the summer of 2018, and it was so hot that the walls were sweating.
Get the The Longshot Setlist of the concert at First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA, USA on June 2, 2018 from the Love is for Losers Tour and other The Longshot Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
From roughly 10:30am to somewhere around 3 (we call it Pierre Standard Time) weekdays Philadelphia rocks with (and loves) Pierre Robert on WMMR. Pierre Robert began his illustrious career at the pioneering progressive rock station KSAN, in his hometown San Francisco, but it’s through his uninterrupted 42-year tenure at Philadelphia‘s legendary WMMR that he’s made his mark. One of the city’s most recognizable celebrities will write about being at the center of its live music scene and greeting his legions of fans as if personal friends in the smallest clubs and largest stadiums.
Sign me up for the MMR VIP email newsletter!
Get the good stuff sent straight to your inbox, and be the first to know: concert presales, exclusive contests, and behind the scenes photos and video.
By clicking "Subscribe" I agree to the website's terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.