Green Day unleashed a heavy helping of rarities — including some songs the band hasn’t played in over 20 years — during their semi-surprise, Lollapalooza aftershow gig Friday at Chicago’s Metro.
Free from the shackles of their just-ended leg of their Hella Mega Tour — where Green Day performed largely the same concert nearly 30 times — Billie Joe Armstrong and company dug deep into their catalog for Friday’s show, unearthing songs like Warning’s “Church on Sunday” and that album’s title track for the first time since 2001.
During the freewheeling set, Green Day also delivered a trio of Kerplunk! tracks — “Private Ale,” “Christie Road,” and “One of My Lies” — and fan favorites like “Geek Stink Breath,” “Letterbomb” and “J.A.R.” that hadn’t been played live in a half-decade; the band also performed American Idiot’s “Whatsername” together for the first time since 2005.
Friday’s show was both a trip down memory lane and a warm-up show in anticipation for Green Day’s Sunday night headlining set at Lollapalooza, followed by another headlining gig next weekend at San Francisco’s Outside Lands. After a brief two-gig visit to South America, Green Day will return to the festival circuit in September for Asbury Park’s Sea.Hear.Now and Dover, Delaware’s Firefly.