They promised a free show, and they delivered (kind of).
The NHL had announced that Green Day would be playing a free concert ahead of the 2020 NHL All-Star game being held in St. Louis at the Enterprise center. With this announcement, fans flocked to 14th and Market in STL and waited in line for hours to be let into the concert area and then stood in place for a couple more hours before Green Day finally hit the stage, ourselves included. The band came out and played just three songs. Actually, they played three songs, left, and then came back because the NHL wanted them to perform the last song again so they had a better recording for TV and then they left for good.
This left a lot of fans in shock. Many expected the band to come out and play for at least a half hour or an hour, but we just got 12 minutes. 12 free minutes that inspired a few in the crowd to boo the band and even chant “Green Day sucks” after the show.
We drove four and a half hours just to see the performance and walked away happy. We got there around 1pm, they let us in at 3pm and we made it right to the gate, and we watched Green Day play three songs from the barricade, something that we would have normally had to pay top dollar for.
I’ve been asked several times over the last couple of days if it was worth it. Hell yes it was worth it to see them play “Know Your Enemy,” “Bang Bang,” and “Fire, Ready, Aim.” If you ever get the chance to drive almost five hours and see one of your favorite bands play for 12 minutes, some of which was televised, do it. You only live once, as the kids say.
What’s more punk rock than offering a free show, playing three songs, saying goodnight, and walking off the stage? Performing on live TV and yelling “Get your f*cking hands up in the air!”
Watch the band’s second performance of “Fire, Ready, Aim,” the Wednesday Night Hockey on NBCSN theme, as required by the NHL along with their performance from the 2nd period intermission of the game.
Green Day’s new album “Father of All…” comes out on February 7th and features “Fire, Ready, Aim.” Pre-order the new record by clicking here.
