Whether now is really the right time for large-scale concerts–of any genre–to return remains to be seen.
The tour, so named for bringing together three of modern rock’s largest acts in Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer, was initially slated for 2020 before suffering a pandemic delay along with the rest of the live music calendar.
By the time I made it to my seat, Weezer’s intricate stage setup—color-coded in teal, pink, and purple, complete with fake Marshall amps and six kick drums spelling out the band’s name—was already in place.
Frontman Rivers Cuomo was sporting a track star outfit—complete with headband and runner’s shorts—for the duration, and the band ran through a set that touched on many of its greatest hits while mixing in cuts from its two 2021 releases, OK Human and Van Weezer.
Fall Out Boy, while admittedly the band on this bill that I knew the least about, still seemed to be the most out of place of the bunch.
Much will be said and written over the next few months about the catharsis of returning to live music, but it was no more apparent on Sunday night than when each and every one of the tens of thousands of fans in Hard Rock Stadium belted out the 1975 hit in unison.
When Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt did take the stage at 9:30 after the aforementioned boisterous sing-a-long, they did so with considerable aplomb—kicking things off with iconic mission statement “American Idiot,” before delving into a set that touched on all aspects of the trio’s mostly illustrious 34-year career.
Taken as a whole, the closing set dwarfed the group’s previous stop in South Florida, a commendable but bloated show at West Palm Beach’s iThink Financial Amphitheater nearly four years ago.
With a glint in his eye during a particularly rousing rendition of nimrod cut “Hitchin’ a Ride,” Armstrong thanked the crowd for its fervor with the commendation “That’s how it’s done in Florida, son.” Later on, as rain fell during the back-end of the show, Armstrong told the crowd with a genuine smile that “This has been the funnest show of the tour so far.” Usually when an artist shares similar sentiments to a crowd it feels empty, like a rehearsed snippet of stage banter to be deployed in different markets.
Despite some aforementioned sound issues that are par for the course at a stadium-sized show such as this one, the Hella Mega Tour was comfort food for thousands of South Florida fans that had been starved for live music over nearly 18 months of quarantines and lockdowns.