The acoustics were buoyed further by Monday's many singalong moments. Giant video screens and a well-tuned mega-sized sound system extended out of the stage, reminding even the nosebleed-seat fans that Minneapolis' MLB stadium is still leagues above its NFL stadium as a concert venue. Even the Interrupters set had fans join in chorus with their snippets of Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" and Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It." The grassy field, almost completely covered in rubber flooring, was the one thing tightly masked at the event.
"How many of you are at your first concert of the year?" the Interrupters' Kevin Bivona asked as the hot sun bore down on the stage in center field. ahead of (in order) Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Green Day - the capacity concert crowd of more than 35,000 fans looked outwardly enthused and seemed blissfully unconcerned about COVID worries. In short, Minnesota fans were hella-excited for the Hella Mega Tour, the biggest rock show in the Twin Cities this summer.įinally pulling into Target Field a year later than planned, the four-band, 5 ½-hour rock concert seemed to knock all the worries and woes of 2020-2021 out of Target Field like a home run when Nelson Cruz still played for the Twins.įrom the moment opening band the Interrupters took the stage at 5:30 p.m. And they showed up largely unmasked despite the lack of vaccine requirements. They came young and old, despite two of the three co-headlining bands dating back to the ancient 1990s. But the guys have a knack for big, dumb and irresistible stompers - from “Longview” to “Holiday” to “When I Come Around” - that draw from the energy of punk and the archness of ’60s Britpop.They arrived early, despite the music falling on a Monday. It’s kind of amazing Green Day are still a huge draw some 27 years after the release of their breakthrough album “Dookie,” which was literally named after excrement. It helps that the band embraced their role as emo’s Smash Mouth and started releasing singles that sample the theme song from “The Munsters.”) On Monday night, Wentz’s face was kind of sour, but he had a few fun moments like his story about how the band’s manager told them “the kids don’t really listen to rock music.” (The manager is not entirely wrong FOB is one of the few guitar-driven rock bands that Top 40 radio still plays. But, as always, he lacks even a whiff of charisma as a frontman and lets bassist Pete Wentz act as the public face of the band.ĬHICAGO, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 15: Patrick Stump (L) and Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy perform during the Hella Mega Tour at Wrigley Field on Augin Chicago, Illinois. Lead singer Patrick Stump remains a vocal powerhouse and, if anything, his unexpected break from touring may have further strengthened his pipes. Weezer already put out two new albums this year and Cuomo says he’s got four more seasonally themed records he’ll release over the course of 12 months.įall Out Boy played for an hour as well, which is just the right amount of time to endure the Chicago foursome. Lead singer Rivers Cuomo - who has gleefully encouraged Weezer to transform into a living meme - now has a mullet because, of course he does.
(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)Īfter a brief opening set from Los Angeles ska punk band the Interrupters (whose single “She’s Kerosene” is literally upsetting), Weezer took the stage for a polished hour that managed to survey their entire career, from “Undone - The Sweater Song” and “Buddy Holly” to “All My Favorite Songs” and (shudder) their cover of Toto’s “Africa.” Rivers Cuomo of Weezer performs during The Hella Mega Tour at Citi Field on Augin New York City.
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The crowd - heavy with craft beer/bike dad types and all-growed-up now suburban punks - seemed happy to get back to some sense of concertgoing normalcy and cheered, sang along and jumped around to all the big hits in an evening full of them. Whatever the case, with a nearly sold-out ballpark, it stands as the metro’s biggest concert since Garth Brooks filled U.S. (Plus, nothing’s really about Gen X, because other generations don’t really acknowledge Gen X.)
Weezer, meanwhile, manages to score a big, if utterly shameless, radio hit every year or so. Fall Out Boy’s first wave of success in the mid-’00s coincided with Green Day’s massive second wave. It’s tempting to classify Monday night’s Hella Mega Tour stop at Target Field as an evening of Gen X nostalgia, given that two of the three main acts - Green Day and Weezer - saw their careers skyrocket in the post-Nirvana ’90s.īut the presence of Fall Out Boy on the bill proved it was really more about millennial nostalgia.
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