For the penultimate day of music at the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ), Green Day took matters into its own hands, bringing a much-appreciated nostalgia to the Plains of Abraham.
The late night with Green Day has begun… strangely. It all started with the chords of Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen, at the time when the members of Green Day were expected on stage. The lights went out, the audience sang at the top of their voices.
The speakers then spat Blitzkrieg Bop, of the Ramones, while a pink rabbit mascot took care of the crowd animation.
Eventually, the Green Day logo appeared on the giant screen at the back of the stage. Ten long minutes after the first notes of Bohemian Rhapsody, Billie Joe Armstrong and his band appeared on stage.
Always the same, his bleached dyed hair, his red tie on a black short-sleeved shirt, his guitar hung very, very low, Armstrong, all in voice, immediately did better than the mascot to animate the crowd.
Holiday was then sung, like a pop punk anthem that everyone knows, which brings people together. Green Day was just that, Sunday night: unifying. The crowd actively participated in creating a good time. By singing in chorus, and even, at the time of the piece Know Your Enemy, by going directly to the microphone of Billie Joe Armstrong. A fan has indeed had the opportunity to sing the bridge of the popular song with the leader of the formation. A bit of a missed opportunity, since he didn’t know the lyrics (or has he forgotten them?), but an entertaining moment all in all.
The Grouch, song from 1997, Longview, from 1992, Welcome to Paradise, which dates from 1991… we were treated to a satisfying return in time with Green Day. Often, as soon as the first chords of a song were strummed, the cries of satisfaction rose. The power of nostalgia was felt.
The Californians kept a frenetic pace throughout the hour and a half allotted to them. The guitars led the dance, the drums of Tré Cool keeping pace and sometimes even imposing themselves in the foreground.
Billie Joe Armstrong knows how to entertain his audience, he interacts, he raises the tension, he sings with all his might, he wanders around when he doesn’t have his guitar in his hands, he seems to be genuinely having fun. And the fans gave him back all his energy.
“You make me so fucking happy,” Billie Joe said, overwhelmed by the roar of the huge crowd.
A fiery rendition of Hitchin’ a Ride and a rousing cover of Rock and Roll All Nite followed, followed by Brain Stew, St. Jimmy, When I Come Around and Waiting.
After Stuart and the Ave., the pace slowed down slightly for the beautiful ballad 21 Guns. Leaving its most recent tests aside, but equipped with a dozen albums in the bank, the group did not lack material to please the greatest number.
During Knowledge, Billie Joe Armstrong again asked for help from a member of the public. Or rather a member of the public. “Too many dudes,” he said, looking at those who volunteered to take the stage. He finally found a guitarist who, very moved, went to play and sing with Green Day. And before she left the stage, Billie Joe simply told her she could walk away with the guitar he had just lent her!
Basket Case then restarted the machine. King for a Day (during which Billie Joe lay on the ground while a saxophone solo took place) and a cover of Shout, by The Isley Brothers, officially marked the time when the allotted time was exceeded. Fortunately, concerts at the FEQ can overflow.
We ended the evening a little before 11:30 p.m. with the ballad Wake Me Up When September Ends, then Jesus of Suburbia, Good Riddance (accompanied by fireworks) and, finally, an acoustic version of Time of Your Life (accompanied a shower of confetti and a whole number of fireworks).
The evening had already started well on the theme of nostalgia before this moment offered by Green Day.
Although it was formed very recently, the group Peanut Butter Sunday plays with the codes of another era. In our article published last month presenting the music of the Acadian formation, the two founding members explained to us that their inspirations came from Blink-182, Sum 41 and… Green Day.
Michael Saulnier, Normand Pothier and their acolytes, Jacques Blinn and Andre LeBlanc, were to present a show from the FEQ’s Discovery Series at the start of the evening. And then, a few hours before, as Pothier told us during their performance, they received a call: they were offered to replace Meet Me at the Altar (unable to make it to Quebec in time) on the stage main event of the festival, opening for Green Day. “Do you know what we said? We said yes! »
The members of Peanut Butter Sunday clearly had a moment they couldn’t even have imagined when they woke up that morning. A huge crowd, certainly the biggest they had ever had in front of them, greeted them with enthusiasm. If the Baie Sainte-Marie quartet is far from having the experience of Bad Religion (which followed it on the big stage), it brings a beautiful communicative energy. It was touching to see the four members in front of the festival-goers, almost incredulous, always so quirky and funny, enjoying every moment of this unexpected half-hour.
Bad Religion followed. The pioneers of punk rock, who clearly helped pave the way for the Green Days of this world, delivered a very compelling performance. We had never seen the group with 40 years of career and 17 albums. It is therefore impossible for us to compare the moment shared on Sunday to older performances, but it seems that Bad Religion has retained a lot of its ardor (we suspect, of course, that it does not equal that of its debut).
Many festival-goers around us were won over from the very first notes, and the group was able to demonstrate why it is still very high on the festival bill after such a long career.
“We’ve been here before, I remember this place well,” point guard Greg Graffin told the Plains crowd. “You look better every time we come back. »
For a busy hour, the band served up their catchy choruses, their melodious and hard-hitting riffs, to nicely set the table for Green Day.
What was to be the last evening of the FEQ finally precedes a final moment of festivities, scheduled for Monday evening. The Cowboys Fringants, Robert Charlebois and Sara Dufour will have the opportunity to resume their evening ruined by rain and thunderstorms on Thursday.
