HELLA MEGA TOUR AT CITIZEN'S BANK PARK IN PHILADELPHIA
When the Hella Mega Tour was initially announced I, like many others, were blown away by the line up. Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer are all titans in the scene, so it was wild to see them all on the same lineup. The tour had to be postponed due to the global pandemic, but it finally came time to attend the rescheduled dates. Philadelphia’s Citizen’s Bank Park was buzzing with joy to be able to go out and experience this event. Fans were lined up at the gates early on in the day for a chance to be able to claim a barricade spot in the pit. The magic of what makes shows so great was back in full force.
Kicking off the show was ska punk band, The Interrupters. Up until this point I had never really listened to them, let alone seen them live. There could not have been a better opener honestly. The Interrupters absolutely blew me away with their energy and the amount of fun they were having on stage. I wasn’t sure where to look first between vocalist Aimee Interrupter and bassist Justin Bivona. It is definitely worth getting to the tour early to catch The Interrupters’ set.
Taking the stage next was Weezer. I also hadn’t gotten to see Weezer live yet until now. Their stage setup was beautiful. On either side of the stage there were stacks of colored Marshall amps framing a set of stairs in the center of the stage with matching colors. Above the stage were huge panels of lights and larger than life lightning bolts that hung down. In the center of the top of the stage was the Weezer “W” logo. When the band walked out on stage, vocalist Rivers Cuomo was dressed as if he walked straight out of the 80’s - ripped jeans, studded jacket, mullet, mustache, and all. They opened up their set with “Hero”. Much of Weezer’s set was great, but it’s worth it to note that viewing their live performance was a little bit lackluster. I had high hopes and expectations after seeing their stage setup, outfits, and instruments, but visually speaking it was not the most exciting set to watch. They did however, sound great and played a setlist worth hearing with some of their big hits such as “Beverly Hills”, “My Name is Jonas”, and “Island in the Sun”. They also performed their cover of “Africa” which had the entire stadium singing along.
The forecast for that day had changed quite a bit. What was supposed to be quite a stormy night looked like it would be fairly tame weather, or so we thought. About 10 minutes before Fall Out Boy took the stage, the skies opened up and poured down on fans. This absolutely did not stop the band from coming out on time. I was surprised when the band came on stage right on schedule, and what I thought would be a wet, miserable time, actually ended up being a unique and wonderful experience. Vocalist Patrick Stump came down the catwalk at the start of the set, kicking up water while opening up with “The Phoenix”. It was an epic opening between the rain and the on stage pyrotechnics. Bassist Pete Wentz also came out onto the catwalk to give fans a better center stage view of his notorious fire shooting bass guitar. The band had mentioned on stage that they weren’t going to let anything stop them from playing, not even the weather. Fall Out Boy’s set included tons of great tracks such as “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me”, “Grand Theft Autumn/ Where is Your Boy”, and “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs”. The band shot off confetti regardless of the weather, which was still heartwarming to see. All in all, their set was a lot of fun and very nostalgic to listen to.
Taking the stage last for the night was Green Day. “Bohemian Rhapsody” played over the speakers and the whole stadium had a huge sing-a-long. The bunny mascot came out wielding a Stella Artois in one paw and a stuffed unicorn in the other, prancing around until the band came out. “Blitzkrieg Bop” also played which had the whole stadium yelling, “Hey ho, let’s go!”. By this point it was barely drizzling and the soaked fans didn’t seem to mind that the weather earlier was less than ideal. The giant screen behind the band displayed a lot of really cool visuals, from footage of crowds at previous shows to various logos. The band opened up their set with “American Idiot” and immediately transported me straight back to middle school. They incorporated on stage bangs and little fireworks here and there which really added to the performance. I absolutely loved the setlist they had picked out for this show. I had never seen Green Day before so I got to hear tons of tracks I’ve always wanted to hear live like “Brain Stew”, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, and “21 Guns”. When they played a cover of “Knowledge” they even had a fan come on stage. Green Day ended their set with “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, shooting off confetti and tons of fireworks. A hella mega tour indeed…
Nicole DiBenedetto is a photographer based out of New Jersey. She likes making new friends and meeting new people so catch her out in the pit and say hi!