“And just like that, 20 years,” Billie Joe Armstrong marveled within the closing seconds of American Idiot closing tune “Whatsername” throughout Green Day’s Tuesday live performance on the Azura Amphitheater in Bonner Springs, Kansas.

You may see the gravity of it hit him in that second. Twenty years because the blockbuster American Idiot gave the Bay Area punks a new lease on life and made them one of many greatest rock bands on the earth for the second time — simply as their meteoric major-label debut Dookie had performed 10 years earlier.

With a mixed 16 million U.S. gross sales, these twin peaks cemented Green Day’s standing as one of many final rock bands of monocultural import. They’re taking part in each in full on their present Saviors tour, named after their new album (which the band has known as a non secular successor to Dookie and American Idiot), and on Tuesday they tore by way of 37 songs over the course of two hours and quarter-hour with age-defying effectivity.

The totally different phases of the set showcased Green Day’s numerous strengths — Dookie a automobile their snot-nosed humor and Beatlesque melodies (countless credit score, as all the time, to bassist Mike Dirnt, whose masterful vocal harmonies elevated the songs), whereas American Idiot demonstrated their muscular grandiosity and prog-punk theatrics. Thousands of Gen X-ers, many with youngsters in tow, pounded their fists and sang alongside to slacker anthems like “Burnout” and “Longview,” however the live performance shifted into subsequent gear throughout the opening energy chords of “American Idiot,” bolstered by the screams of those that got here of age throughout Hot Topic’s halcyon days.

READ MORE: Why Green Day Initially Shelved ‘Good Riddance’

“Put the phones away! Just be here in the moment, right now!” Armstrong implored throughout “Longview,” marshaling the group with the zeal of a megachurch pastor or seasoned politician. Yet regardless of his now-routine jab at former President Donald Trump throughout “American Idiot” (“I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda”), Armstrong sought to uplift fairly than antagonize.

“This is not divisiveness — this is unity!” he shouted throughout American Idiot fan favourite “Letterbomb.” “This isn’t just a party — it’s a celebration!”

There’s been some existential handwringing in latest years whether or not Green Day qualifies as a traditional rock band. Those who got here up throughout the precise traditional rock period could balk on the notion, however listed here are the information: They’ve been doing this for practically 4 a long time, and so they’re one in all a choose few rock bands (together with Foo Fighters) able to packing stadiums whereas nonetheless limber sufficient to take flying leaps off stage risers. Their hits are a part of the pop-culture lexicon and proceed to encourage hordes of disaffected younger individuals who take solace in screaming guitars and singalong choruses.

Green Day is nicely into legacy-act territory now, however they steward that legacy responsibly, inviting starry-eyed younger followers onstage each evening to sing with them. (Along with the deliberate viewers participation throughout “Know Your Enemy,” Tuesday additionally featured a sensible, impromptu duet between Armstrong and a 17-year-old woman throughout the set-closing ‘Good Riddance [Time of Your Life].'”) And even if Saviors falls short of the dizzying peaks of Dookie and American Idiot, its highlights show impressive range and fervor, from the Weezer-adjacent “Bobby Sox” to the confessional alt-rocker “Dilemma,” one of their best songs of the past two decades.

They might not be your dad’s classic rock (unless your dad was born in 1981), but Green Day has earned their classic status, and they still rock with abandon. They’re long past the need to prove themselves — all that’s left to do now is celebrate.