Hella Mega Tour featuring Green Day, Weezer a rockin' good time at Historic Crew Stadium

It took only a moment for Billie Joe Armstrong to remind those at Historic Crew Stadium what they were there for.

The rain had held off, the sun was down and the Green Day frontman was just getting the closing set of the Hella Mega Tour underway Tuesday night when he yelled out a command to a crowd that had just watched the Interrupters, Weezer and Fall Out Boy play their styles of rock music for the better part of three hours.

“Put your phones away!” Armstrong yelled before emphasizing the fact that, after nearly two years of waiting, this tour had finally arrived. And for the next 90 minutes, Green Day’s frenetic frontman did his part to make up for lost time with a set heavy on the hits that opened with “American Idiot,” ended with “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” and closed with red, white, blue and finally green fireworks.

Announced in September 2019, this tour was initially slated to take place last summer and did not include a Columbus date. Once the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the live music industry, the participants punted their hopes to 2021 and eventually announced rescheduled dates — as well as new ones — in late May.

Fall Out Boy, Weezer pay homage to Columbus Crew, Historic Crew Stadium

The show was a celebration of rock 'n' roll, something Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz made sure to point out during his band’s set that featured a massive dance-along to “Dance Dance”, phones held aloft like lighters and even a flaming piano during another song. By the end, Stump closed out the band’s set in a Columbus Crew jersey. If rock music was indeed dead, Wentz said, why was the stadium packed?

It came after Weezer tore through a litany of hits led by singer, songwriter and frontman Rivers Cuomo, who came out dressed in a leather jacket and sporting a mustache and long hair. It was a fitting homage to the band’s latest effort, “Van Weezer,” a guitar-heavy album that was represented by three songs during the show as Cuomo rocked a Flying V electric guitar. The band played four songs from its classic eponymous debut, known as the “Blue Album,” and closed with “Buddy Holly.”

Cuomo also paid homage to the stadium where the United States men’s national soccer team famously defeated Mexico 2-0 in freezing temperatures on Feb. 28, 2001. Cuomo told fans that he was in attendance for the game, pointing out its significance in soccer history, and later shouted out Crew Circle of Honor member — and United States national team member — Brian McBride. Not to be outdone, drummer Patrick Wilson performed the band’s entire set while wearing a T-shirt reading “Ohio Against The World”.

That, plus a string of crowd-pleasers from “Island in the Sun” (complete with pink and purple beach balls) to “El Scorcho” and “Say It Ain’t So” had some in the crowd wondering why the band has gotten third billing on the tour.

Green Day headlines Hella Mega Tour rocking 21 songs

Green Day, though, deserved every bit of the headlining spot and somehow packed 21 songs into a tight window. Armstrong was all smiles throughout, constantly mixing in yells of “O-H!” with his customary “Hey-ooo!” call-and-answer bit. During “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” as the stadium switched off its lights and fans held their cellphones aloft, a low-flying airplane on eastward approach to the John Glenn International Airport passed noiselessly overhead, completely drowned out by the sounds of Armstrong’s crunching guitar, Tre Cool’s drumming and Mike Dirnt’s bass playing.

If there was a fault to be had with Green Day’s set, it was the complete omission of the band’s most recent album, “Father of All…”, released in February 2020. Of the band’s 21 songs, six came from breakthrough album “American Idiot” and four from “Dookie”, relegating the band’s rich history to compete for only nine spots on the setlist when factoring in two covers the band played. Otherwise, the classics lived up to their stature and the back half of the set provided a touching moment with single “Still Breathing” from 2016’s “Revolution Radio” album and its message of simply still being alive after enduring tragedy and loss.

The specter of the delta variant was still felt, if only briefly. No bands took the stage for jam sessions with others, and when Armstrong brought a kid onstage named Frank who appeared to be no more than 8 or 9 years old and was wearing a mask, the singer donned one himself while teaching him the chords to Operation Ivy’s “Knowledge.”

Otherwise, there was plenty of joy to be found, even if overwhelmed staffers handing out wrist bands for floor access caused lengthy delays for fans trying to get to floor seats, and lines for merchandise and food stretched throughout the concourses as all three food trucks brought in for the event quickly ran out of food.

On this night, it was a slice of normalcy again soundtracked by some of the best-known rock songs of the past 25 years.

As Armstrong yelled at one point: “That’s how we do it in Ohio, baby!” 

He wasn’t wrong.

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy