I'm enjoying this show vicariously from everyone's recaps. And there's so much in here that shows why I love Green Day and this community. @Brooklyn Baby That's so sweet of you to give up your spot for someone seeing GD for the first time. This right here is why I love Green Day fans and GDC in particular. I feel this year more than others I've connected with other fans and we found ways to help each other out. And that's what I love. Too often I hear about fans being shitty to each other, whether it's being a gatekeeper, putting down other fans, or just being greedy. I love that so many in this community genuinely want to help out others. We look out for each other and are happy when someone is fortunate enough to get on stage with the band or meet them (maybe we're a little envious too but we're mostly thrilled). I'm sure the person you gave your spot to will never forget your kindness. You made the show that much better for them. @stories and songs This is the same reason I said fuck it and saw GD last minute this year. I skipped their recent tours thinking the same thing to myself: they'll be back. I said the same thing about Depeche Mode. They'll tour again. Then one of the members died. I still got to see them, but the band isn't the same. So if you can swing, definitely get to that concert! I'm so happy I saw the band this year because it was a great night. And I went by myself! I'm proud of that @AlissaGoesRAWR I really love your insight about how oftentimes we get so caught up in the planning, the micromanaging of a show that we can forget to enjoy it. I love that you were able to say fuck it and just enjoy yourself. It is such a relief just to be at a show and enjoy it. This is what I learned when I was invited to see Alkaline Trio back in March. I'm not a huge fan of them, but my bf LOVES them. And I really enjoyed just taking in the music, watching my bf have an amazing time, and being a part of a great concert. I wasn't thinking about my spot, being able to see during the show, etc. It was just nice to enjoy a good show. And I tried my best to do that at the Wrigley show. Sure I still took pictures, but instead of being obsessed with getting as close as possible, I just wanted to experience this once in a life time moment.

I also loved reading your post! (I remember your username from my active days here too! You might not remember me, but I'm always glad to see familiar "faces" still around ?). I have loved reading all the recaps from people who, like me, loved American Idiot back in 2004/2005 when they were in their teens, and have now experienced the full album live in this tour 20 years later. It's been so beautiful to see how many different people with this one thing in common, but pretty different life stories otherwise, react to these shows and how it's an emotional journey in one way or another for each of us, whether it's the "this show has made me see that that door is closed now and I feel fully healed" as @Brooklyn Baby wrote, or for you to have an opportunity to feel like yourself again and like you've done your 13 year old self proud... it's just so lovely to read all of this. ? I am glad you were able to enjoy the concert so much and be so present for it (I guess one thing came out of you being sick the days before the show).
  And I uggly sobbed each time at the end of Whatsername, not so much because of the song itself (although a bit of that too), but because it was the moment when it hit each time that I had just heard AI live, full and in order as I had dreamed when I was 14. So don't worry, you have not been the only 30-something crying "like a basic bitch" at these shows. I was in the barricade for one of the shows and one of the security guys saw me and poured me a glass of water. Talk about embarrassing ? I know, right?! I don't know which has been the best show of the tour, but this has been the best thread of any show in the tour so far ? So many insightful and lovely recaps, feels like Billie Joe chose the right show to make the "just like that 20 years" comment. And @Brooklyn Baby, @The Grohl is absolutely right that that girl will forever remember that gesture. When I was 18 I had my first Green Day pit concert experience. I was in third row (I arrived like 30 minutes before doors), and the people in front of me noticed me, they were older than me and much taller too, and they were like "you're not going to see anything from there, come here" and let me stand in front of them. From second row I had an unobstructed view of most of the stage, which would not have been the case if they hadn't let me in front of them. I still remember that now 15 years later and it also strongly formed my pit etiquette. I'm fairly short, so not many people will be shorter than me, but I would never let someone shorter than me stand behind me.

Fans looking out with each other. That's what it should be! I have a similar experience. The only time I was anywhere near the stage was at the NHL Allstars pre-game performance in 2020. This tall couple was chatting in front of me. They suddenly see me and say "hey wait! You get up here!" And they swapped spots with me. I will never forget. It's such a small act of kindness but it can mean so much. 

I absolutely loved reading your write up. This was my 11th time seeing them and I had a very similar experience to you in terms of how little I planned and how much I enjoyed it. I saw them in Philly last month after months of anticipation and planning — I had my outfit planned super early to be comprised of the oldest and most meaningful merch I own, kept reminding myself about what an incredibly important show it was going to be, and had the entire experience hyper-planned. And then the show ended and I felt…weird. Like I didn’t actually enjoy it how I wanted to, that I focused so much on planning the experience that, as you said, I forgot to actually experience it, and I felt like I barely remembered it after. I was so in my head about the whole thing that I didn’t actually focus on what mattered. Pittsburgh is 5 hours away from me and I got the tickets a few days before the show. I didn’t have an outfit planned and just wore the tour shirt from Philly, was mostly worried about driving there and going to an unfamiliar city, and just threw it all together on the fly. I just felt grateful to be getting a second chance to see them on this tour and so I didn’t overthink the concert itself at all — I didn’t have time to— and it ended up being one of my top favorite times I’ve seen them. I remember it so well — I had so much fun just taking it all in and feeling present. I only took 5 minutes worth of video and a handful of pics and I’ll treasure them forever because they perfectly encapsulate the night. I’m so happy that I had this opportunity because it ended up being the exact experience I wanted the first time but got in my own way of actually feeling. I took my mom with me and this morning she was like “you know, I just REALLY enjoyed that show, it was so special.” So I think everyone felt that positive energy! The “Just like that, 20 years” line hit me so hard too, because the entire time they were playing American Idiot, I kept thinking back to all the life I’ve lived with them. I remember watching them play Boulevard of Broken Dreams at the VMAs in 2005 (I was 12 and wasn’t supposed to be watching it without an adult, but I quietly snuck-watched it in my room lol) and was giggling to myself thinking about how Billie still has the exact same moves during the guitar solo now as he did then. Me and the band are so different from when I first found them, and yet we’re still so much the same, too, and the reasons why we simply go together have never changed. When Saviors dropped I felt so in touch with the girl I was when I first fell in love with this band, and I feel that again now after this show.

Exactly! Years ago when Temple of the Dog was on a reunion tour, I thought about seeing them at a small theater show but then decided against it. Chris Cornell passed away shortly after that. I can’t believe I had the chance to experience that special soul and his magnificent voice live and didn’t do it. I don’t like to think about this stuff when it comes to Green Day, but after missing out on that, I promised myself I’d never feel that way about them.