Green Day, Weezer & Fall Out Boy Kick Off Pandemic-Delayed Hella Mega Tour in Style

It took a hella mega long time to happen, but on Saturday (July 24) the eagerly anticipated, twice-postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic three-headed Hella Mega Tour featuring Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy finally launched.

The first show of the summer stadium tour kicked off in Arlington, Texas, in front of a sold-out crowd of around 35,000 people, and it featured the headliners giving the fans what they wanted over nearly six hours, serving up a buffet of hits in front of one of the largest concert crowds in the U.S. in more than 17 months.

“Take a look around you,” Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong said to the mostly unmasked crowd at Globe Life Stadium, according to Rolling Stone. “This is human contact. We cannot be locked up anymore. We need to be together.”

After L.A. punkers the Interrupters warmed the crowd up with a set that included their cover of Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” Weezer ripped through “My Name Is Jonas,” “Undone — The Sweater Song,” “Island in the Sun,” “El Scorcho,” “Hash Pipe,” “Beverly Hills,” “Say It Ain’t So,” “Buddy Holly” and, of course, “Africa.”

Fall Out Boy took over with a pyro-heavy set that featured “Save Rock and Roll,” “Uma Thurman,” “Centuries,” “Dance, Dance” and “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down,” “Thnks fr the Mmrs,” “Save Rock and Roll” and “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race.”

The sun was setting as elder statesmen Green Day hit the stage for a robust 21-song set, blasting out of the gate with “American Idiot,” and then blitzing through “Holiday,” “Longview,” “Welcome to Paradise,” “21 Guns,” “Minority,” “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” “Brain Stew,” “Jesus of Suburbia” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” whipping the crowd down front into a mosh pit frenzy.

Oh, right, and they also covered KISS’ “Rock and Roll All Nite” like champs, which drew some kind words from the iconic greasepaint rockers.

Check out KISS’ shout out and some other pictures and videos from the tour kick-off below.