Green Day and Ultra Q at the Fillmore in San Francisco

Green Day took a detour from the media blitz surrounding the release of their latest album, Saviors to make room for some intimate shows including a benefit for “Right Here Right Now” Global Climate Alliance at the historic Fillmore in San Francisco. With the venue capacity at around 1,300 and what had to have been a lengthy hometown guestlist, tickets were a hot commodity. The show sold out in seconds, leaving thousands of disappointed fans but those that were lucky to score tickets lined up early for what would prove to be an unforgettable show.

Fronted by Billie Joe’s youngest son Jakob Armstrong, Ultra Q kicked the night off with a stellar set, leaning heavily on their barely two-week-old sophomore release, Empty Eddy. The crowd clearly dug the tunes, delivered with talent and originality but heavier and less atmospheric than their recordings. The San Francisco crowd ate it up and no doubt the would have been happy to hear more than what they had time for during their brief 25 minute set. This is a band to keep an eye on!

Green Day took the stage to a cacophony of cheers, skipping the usual pre-show Drunk Bunny sing-along and instead choosing to jump right into the title track from Saviors before Billie Joe paused to provide a bit of an explanation, “we have a new album called Saviors and we’re going to play every song tonight,” which did not come as a surprise to the San Francisco crowd which had clearly already been paying attention . The Fillmore fans sang along enthusiastically as the band delivered spot-on renditions of the new material (save for an errant mid-song belch during “Fancy Sauce”), pausing only briefly to dedicate “Living in the 20’s” to the “QAnon motherfuckers out there.”

Wrapping the Saviors playthrough the crowd was gifted another surprise. Afterall, there was more to celebrate than a new release … namely the twentieth anniversary of American Idiot which had the energy in the room redline as soon as the instantly-recognizable opening chords hit. As if one album playthrough wasn’t enough, Green Day proceeded to give American Idiot the same treatment much to The Fillmore crowd’s delight!

With American Idiot done and dusted, it was time for a few classics to round out the nearly 2-hour set. Skipping the pretense of walking off the stage to return for the encore, Green Day tore right into “Minority” and left barely a moment for Billie Joe to swap out his Gibson guitar for his legendary Blue Strat before busting into the evening’s closer “Basket Case,” which hadn’t been included on the setlist.

All-in-all this was probably the best Tuesday night these 1,300 some-odd fans have had in a long time. Thanks to Green Day for the experience!

Setlist – Saviors