Green Day Lights Up Target Field with Stellar Saviors Tour

What a weekend for music fans in Minnesota. Big names are playing all over the Twin Cities (from Metallica to Hozier to Creed to Def Leppard), but tonight the focus for me was the legendary trio Green Day. The band headed back to Target Field this weekend for their first stop in Minnesota since the incredible Hella Mega Tour back in 2021, once again calling Target Field their home for the evening. I won’t lie, this was my first double header in a LONG time (I was at Metallica the previous night), and while I was feeling the hurt from staying up well past my bedtime once already, I was about to happily do it all over again to see a couple of iconic albums played live.

As I made my way over to Target Field to get ready for the show, I was merely one amongst thousands of people eagerly making their way to the gates to get in for the show. In what felt like no time at all, the night got started with the first band of the evening: The Linda Lindas. Luckily, I have been able to catch this group live before when they opened for Paramore last summer and knew I’d be in for a treat. Starting off with a bang, The Linda Lindas burst out on to the sunny stage, eager to jump into their set. What I can definitively say about this up and coming group is that they are just plain fun to watch; the joy emulating from the stage during each song was contagious and I felt myself glued to the stage watching their performance. The same sentiment rang true for me the last time I saw them, but perhaps the outdoor setting brought out extra playfulness. The cherry on top for their set was one of the band member’s dads coming out on stage in a costume of their cat, dancing along to the music. There’s big things in store for The Linda Lindas, and I will definitely be attending any show they play in the Twin Cities.

Next up for the night was punk legends Rancid. This is one legacy act that unfortunately for me has completely fallen off my musical radar throughout my life, even though their influence has spread far and wide in the scene over the course of their decades long career. Wasting no time at all after getting on stage, the four piece went straight into their set with a full punk rock fervor. Rancid powered through their set, taking full advantage of hyping up the crowd with their music.  While there was not a lot about their set that sonically clicked for me, it was fun to watch the band leave it all out there on the stage, never seeming to slow down their fast paced punk and high energy.  Their set flew by just as fast as The Linda Lindas, albeit with a little more pep in the music itself, and all too soon it was time for another changeover. 

The penultimate band of the night was another legendary act: The Smashing Pumpkins. I have vague memories from my childhood of hanging around my older sister, hearing this Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness on her stereo, and over 20 years later I was among the crowd in Target Field seeing them perform for the very first time. The stadium was almost full when The Smashing Pumpkins went on, and many in the crowd were singing along. The Smashing Pumpkins commanded attention to the stage, effortlessly drawing all eyes to them. While I haven’t really taken a deep dive into their discography, I, like many in the crowd, were very familiar with their hits and when they came on (“Today”, “Bullet with Butterfly Wongs”, “1979” etc.) the entire stadium perked up, arms in the air and fervently singing along. I can’t emphasize what a treat it was to watch one legendary band after another take the stage, and we hadn’t yet gotten to the headliner of the night. 

Last but certainly not least is the one and only Green Day. Where do you start with this band not only making a return to Target Field, but playing two incredible albums in full AND throwing in a mix of hits and songs from their newest record? Starting the night off with a new song off of Savior before heading right into a play through of Dookie, Green Day absolutely dominated Target Field, holding the crowd tightly in their grasp the entire show. It felt like nearly every song had a flash of pyro or a firework bang to breathe extra life into the music. For both album play throughs, Green Day had what I assume were large scale inflatables of main pieces of the respective album artwork, something that was a first for me to see from a band playing an album front to back. Billie Joe Armstrong took every opportunity to work up the Twin Cities crowd to get them to match his nonstop high energy, taking every moment he could to connect with the crowd near and far. 

The Dookie play through flew by, with a majority of the songs from that album leaning on the short end, and before I knew it we were in the intermission songs. During “Know Your Enemy” the band pulled a fan on stage to sing the last bit of the song before rolling into a couple of new songs off of Saviors and a few classics. Then it was time for the American Idiot play through, my personal favorite Green Day album. Over the years, I’ve heard bits and pieces of this iconic album, but the opportunity to hear it live in order and front to back was completely unreal. The stage production only added to the musical performance, with more pyro and fireworks, with lines of fire outlining the edges of the stage a few times, and even a disco ball for “Are We The Waiting.”  It was clear that while most in the crowd highly enjoyed Dookie and the classics, a lot of people were there to hear American Idiot.  There were points in this play through where the crowd would be jumping and I could feel the stadium shaking in my seat, the crowd thoroughly enjoying every moment. Again, I cannot emphasize enough what a treat it was to be a part of this incredible night of music, with what was definitely an elevated all around performance by Green Day.