Remember back in 2019 when Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy all announced they would be co-headlining a tour together, then proceeded to hype the heck out of that tour, only to have to postpone it due to the “events” of 2020?
Yeah, we don’t blame you if you sorta forgot the Hella Mega Tour was even a thing. We’re big into two-thirds of that lineup and still haven’t thought much about it since early 2020.
But it’s finally here. The tour to end all tours, if the advertisements are to be believed. The three bands kicked things off to a sold-out crowd in Arlington, TX, with some 35,000 people in attendance. Imagine saying that this time last year. Or just imagine saying it now because that still seems a little iffy.
The concert started out, as they always do, with the opening act (does a show of three headliners really need an opening act?). The Interrupters warmed up the crowd with eight songs, one of those being a cover of Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy.”
Then came the first headliner.
Weezer took to the stage with some new, but mostly old, tracks, starting out with “Hero” (off 2020s Van Weezer) and ended with the always fun “Buddy Holly.” Somewhere in-between those were other favorites like “Island in the Sun,” “Beverly Hills,” and “Say It Ain’t So.”
Next up were Fall Out Boy, who brought only one song from their latest studio album, MAN I A, in “The Last of the Real Ones.” Early FOB was shining through with performances of “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy,” “Saturday,” and of course, “Sugar, We’re Going Down.”
The veteran rockers, Green Day, closed out the night with a massive 21-song setlist. The ever-relevant “American Idiot” opened their set, and was followed up by hit after hit, proving just how impressive their discography is. “When I Come Around,” “Basket Case,” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” were all present as the well-established artists closed the night out. They even covered “Rock and Roll All Night,” which got KISS’ seal of approval.
(You can see the full setlist over at Rock Sound.)
The Hella Mega Tour continues through the U.S. this summer, and will be back for round two in Europe mid-2022. The Asian leg of the tour has been canceled.
The entire show reportedly lasted nearly six hours, but if you’re young and spritely and feel up to rocking out for that long, you can always try your luck finding tickets to a show near you (just be sure to note that there are dates where the three acts are not performing together.) (Also don’t even bother looking if you’re not swimming in disposable income.)
Featured image courtesy of Fernando Loz via Wikimedia.
Alternative Echo 
