Green Day has been one of my favorite bands for years, yet somehow I'd never managed to see them live. When I heard they were returning to Salt Lake City, I knew I had to go. Normally I can't stand big arena concerts, but Green Day is one of the few bands I'll make an exception for.

When we got to the show, the sponsor (some cell phone company) was taking pictures of everyone in line to put up on the big screens inside. I tried my best to look hardcore but I ended up just looking retarded. Oh well. Inside they had a number up on the screens that you could send a text message to, and they would put your message up on the screen. It was a cool idea, but most people just used it to say "so and so's so hott...." so it wasn't all that interesting.

It wasn't long before Sugarcult took the stage. They've never really been one of my favorites so I wasn't too excited. They opened with "Stuck In America," which is one of their songs I actually like, but before long they started playing all of their newer whiny emo stuff, with titles like "Cry" and "She's The Blade." They didn't really have much personality onstage and were pretty forgettable.

Later on, New Found Glory came on, opening with a clip of Elle from "Kill Bill" whistling. That was pretty awesome, since I love those movies. NFG has always been confusing to me, because even though I don't like most of their stuff on record, they still pull off a pretty entertaining show. They played for about half an hour, focusing mostly on stuff from Catalyst, then thankfully left before they could wear out their welcome.

Before Green Day took the stage, a guy dressed in a bunny suit came out and started doing the YMCA. He was obviously very drunk. I get the feeling somebody lost a bet. Anyway, the lights went down, the crowd went nuts and Billie Joe and the guys took the stage, jumping right into "American Idiot." From there they played a bunch of songs from American Idiot in almost sequential order, which got a huge response from the crowd, especially before "Holiday" when Billie Joe screamed "This song is not anti-American. It's anti-war!"


As always, they brought up three guys from the audience to form their own band. Billie Joe kissed the guitar player on the lips, and later he gave him his guitar. Billie Joe also stuck his hand down his own pants and started moaning at one point. I'd really like to know what the mormons in the audience thought of that. Later they even played a cover of "Shout" (the old rock'n'roll song they used in "Animal House").

They finally slowed it down by dedicating "Wake Me Up When September Ends" to Johnny Ramone. After playing "Minority" they left, and less than two minutes later they were back. They finished off the night with "When I Come Around," and an awesome cover of "We Are The Champions." An amazing concert by an amazing band.

SETLIST:
American Idiot
Jesus Of Suburbia
Holiday
Are We The Waiting
St. Jimmy
Longview
Brain Stew
Jaded
Hitchin' A Ride
Knowledge
Basket Case
She
King For A Day
Shout
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Minority

ENCORE:
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
When I Come Around
We Are The Champions