Green Day Performs Sped-Up Version of 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)' as Fans Exit Venue to Escape 'Lightning Storm'
Billie Joe Armstrong sang a fast-paced, acoustic version of the encore song at the band's St. Louis show on Aug. 15
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Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day performs in 2024Rain or shine, the members of Green Day will do whatever it takes to make sure their fans have the time of their lives!
As the band — drummer Tré Cool, bassist Mike Dirnt and frontman Billie Joe Armstrong — took the stage for an encore during their The Saviors Tour stop in St. Louis on Thursday, Aug. 15, the rain moved in, forcing them to speed through their final song.
As per usual, the rockers wrapped the show with their hit “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” but this time, they performed a sped-up version of the song in an attempt to finish before a storm moved in at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater, fan-captured footage shows.
After telling fans “we gotta get you out of here because there’s a big lightning storm that’s coming right now” — and thanking them, of course — Armstrong, 52, rushed into an extremely swift and entirely acoustic rendition of the hit 1997 song.
“Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road / Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go,” he sang in a much higher pitch — and faster speed — than his usual singing voice.
The Green Day vocalist continued singing as the crowd shuffled out of the amphitheater, pausing intermittently to say things like “keep walking” and motion toward the exits with his hands.
“I hope you had the time of your life,” Armstrong finished as Cool, 51, and Dirnt, 52, flanked him on either side for one final “thank you” to their fans.
Daniel Boczarski/Getty
Green Day performs in July 2023Green Day’s Saviors Tour, which kicked off in May, is a massive celebration of two milestones — the 30th anniversary of the band’s 1994 album Dookie and the 20th anniversary of their 2004 LP, American Idiot — plus, the release of the band's 14th studio album, Saviors.
In North America, the tour featured openers The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and The Linda Lindas, while Nothing But Thieves, The Hives, Donots, The Interrupters and Maid of Ace opened for the band in the U.K. and Europe.
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Speaking with PEOPLE ahead of the tour, Armstrong broke down the meaning of several of the band’s classic songs — including set staple “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).”
"I had my first real girlfriend, and she went to Cal [University of California, Berkeley]. Me and Tré and a bunch of other guys lived at this house on Ashby Avenue, and she and her roommates lived above us,” he recalled. “I remember going to this party one night and listening to these college kids play these acoustic songs, and I was like, ‘Oh wow, that’s pretty cool.’ ”
“She was moving to Ecuador, and I was pretty heartbroken about it, so I wrote that song [from 1997’s Nimrod] for her,” Armstrong continued. “It’s a simple love song on a guitar, and it has ended up being played at graduations and bar mitzvahs; it’s at funerals and weddings.”
"It’s wild what it turned into,” he added of the track.
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