At the inaugural North American show of their ‘Saviors Tour’, Green Day’s lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong altered the lyrics of one of their iconic songs to express his disapproval of Donald Trump.
Green Day performed at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on Monday, July 29th, marking the start of the North American leg of their ‘Saviors Tour’. The European portion of the tour concluded a month earlier, with a final performance at Wembley Stadium in London on June 29th.
The ‘Saviors Tour’ follows the release of Green Day’s 14th album, *Saviors*, which debuted earlier this year. The album received a four-star review from Far Out, which praised it as a collection of “authentic post-punk anthems for a broken world.”
Instead of focusing on their latest release, the tour’s setlist includes complete performances of two of Green Day’s most celebrated albums, *Dookie* and *American Idiot*, commemorating their 30th and 20th anniversaries, respectively. During the *American Idiot* segment, Billie Joe Armstrong updated the politically charged lyrics of the title track to comment on contemporary American issues.
While performing the politically charged track ‘American Idiot’, Armstrong modified the lyrics to target Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Instead of singing “I’m not a part of the redneck agenda,” he sang, “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda,” referencing Trump’s campaign slogan, ‘Make America Great Again’.
Following this, during a performance of ‘Jesus of Suburbia’, a concertgoer threw a Trump mask with the word “idiot” written on it towards Armstrong, who then held it up during the song.
Earlier in January, Armstrong discussed with Vulture the ongoing relevance of *American Idiot*. He noted, “American Idiot hits the nail on the head whenever there’s political or social betrayal in the world.” He recalled a moment when the album soared to No. 2 on the charts during Trump’s visit to England, emphasizing the record’s continued relevance in times of political corruption and strife.
The North American leg of the ‘Saviors Tour’ is set to continue in Canada on August 1st, with upcoming shows in various U.S. cities including San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago throughout August and September.
