For nearly two years, pop punk fans have been anticipating a tour so powerful it could only be called The Hella Mega Tour. What was once a dream became reality as Weezer, Fall Out Boy, and Green Day came together to form one Summer stadium tour of epic proportions with The Interrupters set to open. Originally scheduled for the Summer of 2020, The Hella Mega Tour was rescheduled and officially hit Fenway Park Thursday, August 7, 2021. Unfortunately, Fall Out Boy had to miss New York, Boston, and DC due to a crew member testing positive for COVID-19. With one headliner down I was slightly worried how the show would go on, yet I was heavily relieved to find out that not only was the show still going forward, but it absolutely rocked my world to the core.
Thursday afternoon, double masked and full of excitement, my friend and I headed off to Boston for what we hoped would be a night to remember. For my friend , this was her first show back since the live music scene reopened its doors. Prior to that day I had attended a couple small shows, yet that was all. Nervous was an understatement to how I felt while we boarded the subway, yet I had been waiting since October 2019 for this moment and I was not going to let nerves get in the way of what would possibly be one of the best nights of my life. As soon as we got off at Kenmore Station excitement took over. It was a short walk to Fenway Park, where we quickly found one of many official merch tents. Surprisingly, the line to grab merch went by fast and we were soon on our way to hit the lockers and make our way inside the ballpark.
To my dismay, no one was checking for proof of vaccination nor negative tests. Everything was on an honor system and very few people were masked. Thankfully, I was double masked, prepared to trust no one. One would think for how many times security checked our tickets so we could get our seats there would be some sort of safety protocols in place. My friend and I had turf seats and were stopped about four times to check our tickets to make sure we were in the right spot, yet not once did anyone think to check for negative tests or vaccination cards. Smaller venues have vaccine checkers keeping everyone safe, yet a stadium as large as Fenway Park had nothing.
The turf was about half full by the time The Interrupters took the stage. For a band not used to stadium level shows, they sure did not show it. The members used the entirety of the space given. I had been so excited to find out that The Interrupters would be opening the tour, as I had been a fan for a few years now. A small ska punk band opening for the dads of pop-punk themselves was absolutely huge. I wish more larger bands would take a chance on smaller acts and I sincerely hoped that this tour would put The Interrupters on the map. Not everyone is a fan of ska, so I was a bit apprehensive as well, yet by the end of their set The Interrupters had almost everyone on their feet and dancing along. Since Fall Out Boy was unable to play, The Interrupters took it upon themselves to do a medley of Fall Out Boy hits including Dance Dance, My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up), and This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race. If anyone was not standing up already, they sure at that point, belting the lyrics to each Fall Out Boy song. Adding to the covers was a song the Interrupters had covered before and had gotten them notoriety with fans of The Umbrella Academy, a cover of Billie Eillish’s “Bad Guy.” Between covers and originals, this band absolutely kicked ass and proved they belonged on this lineup.
Empty seats started filling up for Weezer, everyone excited to catch these radio pop punk legends perform. Out of all the bands, Weezer’s set design had to be my favorite. Giant neon pink and purple speakers were stacked on each side of the very wide drum riser. The riser had to be wide in order to fit the extremely large drum kit which included six bass drums, each with one letter spelling out “weezer.” Three giant teal lightning bolts hung from above along with the giant signature orange “W.” Different images and videos popped up on the giant digital backdrop, creating an absolutely amazing and intuitive design. Personally, I was fond of the image that read “Van Weezer’s Pork and Beans Original. I’m ‘a do the things that I wanna do” as the band played their hit, “Pork and Beans.” Setlist wise, they started off strong with a Van Halen cover, jumping into their set with “Jump.” A solid mix of radio hits and deep cuts, Weezer brought out every trick they had and played them well, pyro and all. That’s right. Weezer brought out the pyrotechnics for a few of their songs, including “Feels Like Summer.” In the middle of their set, vocalist Rivers Cuomo took it upon himself to add an acoustic cover of Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down.” A treat for fans who were bummed to miss Fall Out Boy. The entire ballpark screamed the infamous lyrics at the top of their lungs. If Fall Out Boy were not quarantined they would have surely been proud to hear their fans screaming their songs. In the middle of the cover, Cuomo addressed the band stating, “Thank you. Hope to see them again soon.” Ending their set was a confetti bomb-- or more so a confetti grenade that hit the stage and the entirety of the pit. A mesmerizing way to end a set. Say what you want about Weezer, but when it comes to live shows they put on one hell of a performance.
Last to play was the band everyone was holding out for, the fathers of all pop-punk-- Green Day. Only Green Day could get away with having the entirety of Fenway sing to a backtrack of Bohemian Rhapsody and clap as if the band had played a cover. That’s right. A backtrack of one of Queen’s most popular tracks. The lights lit up to show an empty stage, yet the crowd continued to sing along to the entire track. Stage lights danced as if someone was actually playing, and who knows, perhaps the ghost of Freddie Mercury was performing. It sure felt like he was, especially with fans sitting in the stands waving their phone flashlights. One would expect the band to just pop out right after, yet Green Day had other plans. A giant bunny mascot in a punk vest was pushed out on stage to the Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop. The bunny was then promptly pushed off stage as the screen changed, now featuring a montage of different Green Day moments and albums. A mini history that ended with the band coming out and playing their number one hit, “American Idiot.”
“Oh my God,” Billie Joe Armstrong yelled into his mic midway through their first song. “We’re finally together. It took us two years, but we made it, we found each other. Put your phones down. We’ve been staring at our phones for over a year now. We get to be with each other, right next to each other. We get to dance together. We get to sing together. We get to scream together.” Billie led the crowd into chants and everyone started screaming back, the energy absolutely unmatched. Fireworks had gone off at the end of the song, and it was then and there that I knew things were only about to get crazier. A mix of classic hits, deep cuts, and covers were played, providing a well-rounded 21 song set list. 21 songs and nearly no interruptions, spare for the brief moments Billie would address the crowd. Being able to hear my favorite songs such as “Pollyanna”, “St Jimmy”, and “Jesus of Suburbia” was an out of body experience--something I rarely experience at shows of this size. Green Day could play to intimate venues or sold out stadiums and the experience would still be the same. Same enagemement, same excitement, same chills and thrills. In the middle of their set the band threw in a cover of KISS’s “Rock and Roll All Nite,” reminding me of the time I saw KISS play TD Garden. Honestly, I thought the cover was far superior to the original, as risky as a statement that may be. As usual, Green Day brought up a fan selected at random to play with them. I was a bit skeptical on how this part would play out given the state of the pandemic, yet was pleased to find a fan join the stage and given Billie Joe’s guitar to join in on a cover of Operation Ivy’s “Knowledge.” All Armstrong was looking for was a fan who could play three chords. “This person can play, this person can play, this person is saying he’s vaccinated.” Finally, a girl from the crowd was chosen and with help from security she climbed on the stage. With help from Billie Joe, she was able to start jamming, absolutely killing it. At the end of the song she was encouraged by Billie Joe to stage dive, everything caught on camera and shown through the side screens. A long and crazy night could only end one way, with the calm ballad, “Good Riddance.” Once again, confetti was shot in the air. Confetti was for closures, or so it usually goes, however Green Day ended the night with a firework finale, colorful fireworks filling the sky as Frank Sinatra’s cover of Summer Wind played through stadium speakers. A hella mega way to end a hella mega show.
It was no exaggeration to name a tour of this much energy, spunk, and power The Hella Mega tour. As much as I wished I could have caught Fall Out Boy and Pete Wentz’s flame thrower of a bass, I was absolutely entertained and enthralled with the show Boston was given. This was a night and tour to go down in the history books, and I was grateful for the opportunity to attend.