TKC Quickie Concert Review: Green Day, Rancid & The Linda Lindas In Kansas City 2024

We'll spend most of this week recovering from a rare journey outside of our (mom's) basement this week.

However . . . We wanted to share a quick recap of our adventures and a local rock concert note given that local print outlets no longer bother to compete with quickly shared garbage phone camera footage.

And so . . . 

Here are quickie highlights from last night's stop of "The Saviors" tour in Kansas City:

- The Linda Lindas are a decent young lady band and seem like something better for your little sister to listen to than garbage pop music or lady rappers bragging about their private parts. Given so many oldsters in the crowd with their offspring in tow . . . This group might have been directed at the Gen Alpha crowd.

- Rancid remains in top form even as they're visibly "weathered" from decades on the road. Their style of accessible & rhythmic punk rock holds up better than most and as we suffer through the era of the selfie, it's encouraging to see a collection of roughneck musicians holding on to their authenticity without much effort. A special local moment . . . The group invited Midtown denizen "Rico" onto the stage and gave him a shout out amid the dude's recent health struggles and a bevy of love from his vast network of friends.

- The main act: Green Day played for more than two hours and the endurance and youthful energy of 52-year-old front-man Billy Joe is a marvel to witness. In the heart of Trump country, the lead singer kept his politics in check and only spoke of love & unity to an enthusiastic crowd. There was one dig at MAGA but only close listeners noticed as evidenced by a smattering of cheers. 

It's amazing to see how well Green Day's repertoire has held up over the years. The 20 year anniversary of "American Idiot" has passed by quickly but a crowd of middle-aged and younger people sang along and seemed to ready and willing to take direction from Billy Joe Armstrong. 

KC always scores extra points for audience participation . . . A lady with an impressive smattering of underarm hair was invited on stage to sing and then took a surprise stage dive. 

The band honorably stopped the show for a few seconds to allow security to attend to a person suffering a minor medical issue and the night concluded with a youngster girl seemingly impressing Billy Joe with her guitar mastery as she helped him finish the concert with Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).

We've followed the band over the course of their career and what we like is that their performances mix a blend of classic punk rock theatrics with pyrotechnics and crowd participation. However, this time around, many followers might not have noticed that their set was just a bit more melancholy and reflective in what might be a sign that they won't follow the lead of the Rolling Stones and tour into their 70s. 

Slowly, surely, defiantly and spectacularly . . . We're witnessing the career conclusion of an iconic American band that has garnered a catalog of songs which fans still can recite for hours on end.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Kathy Griffin Reacts To Green Day Front Man Holding Up Donald Trump 'Idiot' Mask Onstage

The comedian once posed for an infamous photo that showed her with the Republican's fake severed head.

Green Day to Reissue American Idiot for 20th Anniversary

The new set includes B-sides, unreleased demos, live versions, documentaries, and more

Finally, Green Day Got Their Own Keurig Machine

Green Day are currently on a huge stadium tour with the Smashing Pumpkins and Rancid, and they're celebrating two big anniversaries - Dookie turning 30 and American Idiot turning 20 - by playing both albums in full every night. That's not all that Green Day are doing to mark that big American Idiot birthday.

Developing . . .