For many Malaysians who grew up in the 90s listening to punk rock music, last night must have been a dream come true for those who got to attend the iconic American punk rock band Green Day’s concert.

The Grammy-winning band, consisting of lead vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong, drummer Tré Cool, and bass guitarist Mike Dirnt, held their 2025 Malaysian concert at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil in front of screaming fans last night (18 February).

Fans share nostalgic feelings on social media

Many Malaysians who discovered Green Day during their youth have shared their memories as well as emotions associated with the band on their social media accounts during and after the concert.

Despite rainy conditions, fans still made themselves present at the show to experience the band playing hits such as American Idiot, Basket Case, When I Come Around, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and more, in person.

“Grew up listening to them, played their songs every time I went jamming with friends and they’re also one of the reasons I started exploring how music can be used to criticise the f**king government,” one fan tweeted.

Another user expressed how Green Day is his favourite childhood band, and that he had waited years for them to come to Malaysia.

He also mentioned that he had memorised 90% of the band’s song lyrics from their 1990 album 39/Smooth to their most recent Savior album which came out last year.

Every social media post at the Green Day concert last night showed how much of an impact the band has made on its fans all the way here in Malaysia, and fans were just grateful they got to see them perform live.

Billie Joe waves Palestinian flag in solidarity with Gaza

As if their fans didn’t already adore them enough, the band pulls a stunt that brought even more cheers from fans.

About halfway through their performance, frontman Billie Joe raised a Palestinian flag that was passed to him by a concertgoer.

This is not the first time Green Day has shown support for Palestine, as they have been seen flying the flag at other concerts in their tour.

The band is well known for being outspoken in political activism, often using their music and performances to criticise and condemn war, social injustice, and right-wing politics.

Their 2004 album American Idiot condemned the George W. Bush administration and at a certain 2016 performance, the band chanted “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA”.

An advocate for social justice, and a proud bisexual

Aside from being outspoken about social injustices, Billie Joe embraces his bisexuality and thinks it’s great to be labelled a bisexual icon.

“I like it. I think it’s f**king cool that someone calls me a bisexual icon. I’ve seen that before. I’m like f**k yeah!” he said in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE magazine last year.

Due to his sexual orientation, criticism began pouring in when the concert’s organiser, Live Nation Malaysia, announced that local punk pop band Bunkface was chosen as the opening act.

Fans questioned the decision as Bunkface had previously expressed anti-LGBT sentiments through their 2020 song Akhir Zaman, which contained the lyrics “LGBT boleh pergi mampus!” (LGBT can go and die).

A few days later, Live Nation Malaysia announced that Bunkface had to be pulled out as the opening act for Green Day due to “logistical” issues.

Opinions were divided on social media, with some fans saying good riddance to the Malaysian band, while diehard Bunkface fans expressed their disappointment that their favourite local punk band would not be opening for Green Day.

Despite that, the show still went on and many Green Day fans were pleased to see their all-time favourite punk rock band perform live.






Source link

Leave a Reply