GREEN Day proved they're no American Idiots when they wowed the crowd at Sheffield Arena last night.
The American band played a whopping two hour and 40 minute set to a packed house in a show which never stopped from the word go to the final encore.
The crowd screamed and roared appreciatively before the band even had chance to pick up their instruments and lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong commanded the mayhem from the very first song. He held the captive audience in the palm of his hand for almost three solid hours while the band turned out a collection of their new and old songs.
A true showman, Armstrong delivered sharp vocals and witty banter, along with his constant boundless energy which had crowds on their feet and clapping for the entire night.
On 'Do You Know Your Enemy,' Armstrong jumped offstage and ran into the audience where he was swamped by adoring fans eager to pose for a quick snap with the star, or even just touch him.
The stage was busier than the M1 at rush hour for the rest of the night, with fans being brought up to sing, dance and perform with their idols.
A memorable moment for me was when Armstrong temporarily benched himself as the lead singer and invited a kid near the front of the stage up to sing 'Longview,' which he did with gusto, bouncing around in a perfect imitation of the Green Day singer, mimicking his American accent and keeping the crowd going.
"Hey dude, would you let me cut your hair?" Armstrong asked him and after a nervous glance at his friends, the kid agreed and someone ran onstage from the wings with a large pair of shearing scissors. Armstrong hacked the kid's chest-length hair off up to his chin while the audience screamed in delight and disbelief, then sent him off for a stage dive.
The band sang hit after hit from their songlist, including Holiday, Give Me Novocaine, The Waiting, Welcome To Paradise and Boulevard of Broken Dreams. They also stepped out of their genre comfort zone nicely with fantastic renditions of 'Shout,' 'Stand By Me' and 'I Can't Get No Satisfaction.'
Boys will be boys and the stage was rigged up with water guns and toilet paper guns which Armstrong took great delight in using on the crowd every chance he got.
The band finished by thanking Sheffield profusely for helping them celebrate their 21st anniversary in style. Armstrong came out on his own then and sat in the spotlight with his acoustic guitar to play a medley of Green Day's famous ballads, including Time of Your Life and Wake Me Up When September Ends.
The tour bus hits Birmingham later today for a two-night run at the LG Arena.
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