The Hella Mega Tour with Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Weezer
Globe Life Stadium, Dallas, TX
July 24, 2021
Review and Photography by Michael Mullenix
After a year’s delay due to the global pandemic, Saturday, July 24th, the Hella Mega Tour featuring Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer finally launched in Dallas to a sold-out audience at the Globe Life Field. This show represented the best in Pop Punk and Alternative Rock with the unquestionable titans of the genres packing in over an hour’s worth of their respective top songs. Weezer was the first to the stage setting the mood with their eclectic collection of feel-good anthems. The more Pop-minded band’s stage setup was awash in pastel turquoise, pink, and magenta, and the diminutive singer River Cuomo sported a studded black leather jacket and long hair while ripping into songs like Hash Pipe and Beverly Hills. The crowd was enthralled as the band performed Undone (The Sweater Song), Island In The Sun, and even shared in a laugh when Cuomo got to the second verse of El Scorcho and sang “I asked you to go to the Green Day Concert.” The spark that hit everyone’s mind was collective and instantaneous.
After Weezer, it was Fall Out Boy’s turn at the plate, and the mood of a campfire sing-a-long turned into a frenzied dance party. The band came to the stage with the song Phoenix and in line with its namesake set off the pyrotechnics. Even bassist Pete Wentz was equipped with a flame-thrower at the end of his instrument he shot into the air while drummer Andy Hurley was flanked by rising streams of fire. All of this kicked off the mosh pits from the general admission section, and one song later during Sugar We’re Going Down, concert-goers were surfing over the barricades for their glorious chance to get close to their idols. The rest of their set was… surprisingly old-school. Several throwback picks meshed into their lineup like This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race, Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy, Dance Dance, and even the first live performance of A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More “Touch Me” made classic fans feel right in line with the band. Closing out on Saturday gave flashes of attending current Emo Nite events at dance clubs around the city.
At the end of the night, the PA system was cranked with Blitzkrieg Bop blaring through the stadium and a dancing bunny mascot hyping up the crowd for Green Day. Once the song was over and he was ushered from the stage, Billy Joe Armstrong took the center spotlight and hit the opening chords to American Idiot. The crowd was electrified and the band gave them hit after hit to devour. This was Green Day at their finest, concentrated down to all their hits, even the nearly 10 minute and 4-part epic Jesus Of Suburbia. Nearly every classic album was represented and acted as a retrospective look at the band’s dizzying legacy. The band also did not break with tradition and found a young man from the audience (waiving his vaccination card) to join them on stage and play guitar in their “let’s make a punk band” moment, covering Operation Ivy. However, either due to health concerns or time restrictions, they did not fully flesh out the would-be band with a crowd drummer and bassist. Maybe next time. After an hour and a half of Arena-level Pop Punk, the band ended it the only way that seemed appropriate: with an acoustic guitar and the parting hopes of Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life).
PHOTO GALLERY
Weezer, ‘Hella Mega’ Tour Set List, July 24, 2021, Dallas
1. “Hero”
2. “Hash Pipe”
3. “All the Good Ones”
4. “Beverly Hills”
5. “The End of the Game”
6. “My Name Is Jonas”
7. “Pork And Beans”
8. “Feels Like Summer”
9. “All My Favorite Songs”
10. “Undone — The Sweater Song”
11. “Surf Wax America”
12. “El Scorcho”
13. “Island In the Sun”
14. “Africa” (Toto cover)
15. “California Snow”
16. “Say It Ain’t So”
17. “Buddy Holly”
Fall Out Boy, ‘Hella Mega’ Tour Set List, July 24, 2021, Dallas
1. “The Phoenix”
2. “Sugar, We’re Goin Down”
3. “Irresistible”
4. “Uma Thurman”
5. “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy”
6. “Save Rock and Roll”
7. “The Last of the Real Ones”
8. “Dance, Dance”
9. “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me’”
10. “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race”
11. “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)”
12. “I Don’t Care”
13. “Thnks fr th Mmrs”
14. “Centuries”
15. “Saturday”
Green Day, ‘Hella Mega’ Tour Set List, July 24, 2021, Dallas
1. “American Idiot”
2. “Holiday”
3. “Know Your Enemy”
4. “Pollyanna”
5. “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
6. “Longview”
7. “Welcome to Paradise”
8. “Hitchin’ a Ride”
9. “Rock and Roll All Nite” (Kiss cover)
10. “Brain Stew”
11. “St. Jimmy”
12. “When I Come Around”
13. “21 Guns”
14. “Minority”
15. “Knowledge”
16. “Basket Case”
17. “She”
18. “Wake Me Up When September Ends”
19. “Still Breathing”
20. “Jesus of Suburbia”
21. “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”