Green Day have been playing a lot of awesome shows over the past few months (in support of 2024’s Saviors), yet they surely outdid themselves last night (April 12), when they dominated at Coachella by focusing on their major hits. Plus, frontman/guitarist Billie Joe Armstong joined the Go-Go’s the day before for one of their biggest songs.
What Green Day Played
The three-day festival is currently taking place at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, Calif., and the iconic pop-punk/alternative rock group played for about 90 minutes.
Per setlist.fm, their 18-song performance expectedly kicked off with the title track to 2004’s landmark American Idiot. Later, several other standouts from the LP – including “Holiday,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “St. Jimmy” and “Jesus of Suburbia”) – appeared, as did classics such as “Know Your Enemy,” “Brain Stew,” “Basket Case,” “When I Come Around” and of course, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).”
As reported by People, this was Green Day’s first time playing Coachella, and naturally, they also brought out LGBTQIA+ anthem “Bobby Sox” and “One Eyed Bastard” from Saviors. Along the way, they recreated “Longview” and “Welcome to Paradise” from 1994’s Dookie, too, as well as “Hitchin’ a Ride” from 1997’s Nimrod.
The L.A. Times added that the band welcomed a fan on stage to play “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” Specifically, the publication said that the fan was especially “confident” and “dressed in a black tank top and leather trousers, with a bedazzled belt buckle that glittered under the stage lights.”
As the guy made his way to join Green Day, Armstrong even remarked, “Oh, he’s handsome,” and after “[swinging] Armstrong’s guitar strap over his shoulder as if it were his own,” – the L.A. Times continued – the fan began “cooling strumming the chords” and “mugg[ing] for Coachella’s cameras” as Armstrong sang.
The L.A. Times also mentioned that Armstrong joked, “Quit being so professional,” as well as that Green Day held the crowd in the palm of their hands with “call-and-response routines and crisp video production.”
Expectedly, Consequence wrote, the evening saw Armstrong revising certain lyrics for modern times, too.
In particular, he sang, “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda” during “American Idiot” (which he’s done before, sparking criticism from Elon Musk). Similarly, Armstrong lamented, “Running away from pain like the kids from Palestine” during “Jesus of Suburbia.”
One aspect of their show that Green Day didn’t intend for is how their fireworks display (during closer *Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”) ended up igniting a palm tree in the artist section nearby.
Per The Express Tribune, it “remains unclear whether anyone was injured,” and firefighters arrived quickly to extinguish the blaze. That said, one concertgoer posted video of the incident on X, commenting: “A firework just exploded next to me and all my friends at Coachella. I can’t hear out of my right ear, multiple people hurt. That was fucking insane, I thought it was a terrorist attack.”
The Express Tribune noted that “event organizers immediately instructed people to evacuate the area,” too.
You can view Green Day’s entire setlist – and see videos – below.
Green Day’s Coachella 2025 Setlist (April 12, 2025)
01. “American Idiot” (“…I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda”)
02. “Holiday” (“…The representative from Coachella now has the floor”)
03. “Know Your Enemy” (with Brooke, a fan pulled from the crowd to help sing the bridge)
04. “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
05. “One Eyed Bastard”
06. ” Longview” (with band introduction of member Mike Dirnt)
07. “Welcome to Paradise”
08. “Hitchin’ a Ride” (with “Iron Man” tease by Black Sabbath)
09. “Brain Stew”
10. “St. Jimmy”
11. “21 Guns” (shortened; ended after guitar solo)
12. “Minority” (with band introductions)
13. “Basket Case”
14. “When I Come Around”
15. “Wake Me Up When September Ends” (with Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin” intro)
16. “Jesus of Suburbia” (“…Running away from pain like the kids from Palestine”)
17. “Bobby Sox”
18. “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” (with fan on guitar and fireworks at the end)
Green Day – “Jesus of Suburbia” (April 12, 2025)
Green Day – “American Idiot” (April 12, 2025)
Green Day – “Wake Me Up When September Ends” (April 12, 2025)
Green Day – “Know Your Enemy” (April 12, 2025)
READ MORE: Weezer Play Coachella Days After Bassist’s Wife Was Booked for Attempted Murder – Setlist + Video
Billie Joe Armstrong Joins the Go-Go’s
Green Day’s set wasn’t the only cool thing Armstrong did at Coachella, as he also joined the Go-Go’s to perform “Head Over Heels” (from 1984’s Talk Show) this past Friday, April 11. It was only the second show from the new wave/post-punk group since 2022, and as Ultimate Classic Rock noted, it happened “near the middle of their show, which focused heavily on the band’s multiplatinum 1981 debut, Beauty and the Beat.”
In addition to “Head Over Heels,” and per setlist.fm, the Go-Go’s pulled out hits “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat,” too, as part of their 13-song set.
You can watch their full performance of “Head Over Heels” below.
The Go-Go’s + Billie Joe Armstrong, “Head Over Heels” (April 11, 2025)
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Prepare your Dickies and black wristbands.
Gallery Credit: Loudwire Staff
