Billie Joe Armstrong: Why Green Day Invites Fans On Stage [Flashback]
Billie Joe Armstrong, our favorite basket case, celebrates his birthday today (2/17) and he’s got even more reasons to party than it being his born-on date.
His band Green Day released their fourteenth studio album Saviors a month ago, and the trio’s seminal album Dookie is being given the grand reissue treatment for its 30th anniversary. To mark that milestone plus the 20th anniversary of American Idiot, Green Day’s upcoming tour will feature live performances of both albums in their entirety. For their Philadelphia gig, they’ll return to Citizens Bank Park on Friday August 9th. Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and the Linda Lindas will join them.
Undoubtedly, a fan will be invited up onto stage to play in tandem with Billie Joe on guitar at some point during Green Day’s set. It’s become a nightly ritual for the band. One of the first times we saw it here in Philly was in 2009 at the Spectrum, and WMMR listener Derek was chosen to play along on the epic track “Jesus of Suburbia.” Despite the fact that it’s essentially five different songs rolled into one, Derek absolutely nailed it!
Pierre Robert, who was broadcasting from the show that night, found Derek in the crowd after he got off stage and asked him about the experience. Understandably, Derek was overcome with emotion, and his MMR family was thrilled for him.
Fast forward to 2020 when Pierre found himself speaking with Billie Joe Armstrong on the phone to promote the Hella Mega Tour. Pierre played the audio from that night for Billie Joe to hear, and it left him speechless. (You can hear that moment at the 7:23 mark in the player below.) Billie Joe commented with a delighted chuckle: “You just gave me the chills! That was so cool. It’s like… what more do you want out of life than that? I don’t even know what to say. I’m almost like teary eyed, just hearing that kid’s pure joy.”
He added: “That’s why I got into this s***. Music gets you high. You can just tell that that kid is (figuratively) stoned out of his gourd because of rock n’ roll music.”
In this interview, Billie Joe and Pierre bond over their mutual love of coffee, and appreciation for power pop and vinyl records. Listen to the conversation below, and then scroll through the list of Green Day gigs in Philly through the years. How many have you been to? Let us know on Instagram.
Note: This interview originally aired in February 2020.
RELATED: Green Day Talk Philly Shows, Inviting Fans On Stage
Every Green Day Gig in the Philly Area, From '93 to Now
Welcome to paradise! Green Day are returning to Philadelphia this summer. 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 recently released Nimrod box set.
WMMR 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.
Thanks @pierrerobert933 from WMMR 93.3 fm for bringing us this list of past gigs in and around Philly! pic.twitter.com/oKismmarta
— Tre Cool (@trecool) August 31, 2017
Green Day is our featured MMaRtist this weekend (1/20-1/21). This means we’ll have chances for you to fill in blocks of their music with your song requests, plus we’re giving out copies of the new LP on CD, and we’ll get you qualified for pit tickets to their show on Friday August 9th at Pierre’s Good Citizens Park.
Here’s a tally of every time they’ve 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 X/Twitter and Instagram. And if you’ve got any photos from the early days, DM us – we’d love to feature them!
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. [SETLIST]
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. [SETLIST]
Billie Joe Armstrong at the Spectrum in 2009
Billie Joe Armstrong at the Spectrum in 2009
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. [SETLIST]
Billie Joe Armstrong in Camden in 2010
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. [SETLIST]
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. [SETLIST]
August 20, 2021: Citizens Bank Park
August 9, 2024: Citizens Bank Park
Green Day return to Pierre’s Good Citizens Park this summer with the Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and the Linda Lindas. Listen to WMMR this weekend (1/20-1/21) for your shot at pit tickets!
