Green Day: Intimate ‘Dookie’ Las Vegas Show With Big Announcement

Green Day does what they want, when they want. The rock band is celebrating the 30 year anniversary of their album, "Dookie" which was released in February of 1994. To mark the musical holiday, Billie Joe, Tre Cool, Mike Dirnt and Raj Punjabi took over the Las Vegas Country Club to perform for 750 lucky fans. The legacy band has acquired a global fanbase that has and continues to show up time and time again. Last night, Thursday, October 19, was no different. The ticketless event sold out in three minutes with fans traveling from New York, Florida and New Mexico to make the show. The longevity and history of the band is true testament that they are here to stay.

Green Day Las Vegas Show Opener

Las Vegas Country Club, on Fremont Street, was turned into a Green Day haven. The "Basket Case" band played an exclusive show. The intimate room was opened by Ultra Q, who's lead singer is Jakob Danger (Jakob Armstrong) which is Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong's son. Our mid-day personality, Carlota, had never seen Ultra Q but thought "they sounded good." She thought that the lead singer's vocals were similar to his dads. She goes on to say that "genetics aren't just eyes and hair color but also vocal chords" which is a big compliment as Billie Joe can belt.

A small venue performance from Green Day is almost unheard of in this decade. Understanding and knowing their celebrity marks a special occasion to bring the band out. This show was a "treat" as Carlota says as a show like this would have happened pre-"Dookie" album.

Green Day Las Vegas Setlist And Crowd

The band performed the "Dookie" album and many songs that aren't regularly added to the setlist such as, "Warning", "Geek Stink Breathe", "Nuclear Family" and "Homecoming." Carlota noted that this was a very "fan-driven set" versus a popular hit setlist. The house was packed from front to back. The theme of the night was "zombie" which fans went all out. The crowd was very "considerate" says Carlota. As "Idiot Nation" (Green Day Fandom) knows, fans were a bit rowdy but that was a given. Moshing took place near the front which brought us back to early Warped Tour days. Would it be a true Green Day show without crowd surfing? We think not.

Billie Joe Armstrong had a "big announcement" which will be a 2024 headline tour with Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and The Linda Lindas.

Green Day’s Dookie was released on February 1, 1994. The album remains both timeless and a snapshot of the rock world as grunge's popularity started to wane.

Simply put, Dookie helped turn Green Day into a household name. The album was the band's major label debut and third album overall. It went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide. In the United States, Dookie has been certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 10 million copies. That certification was awarded in February 1999. (It would be interesting to see how many more copies have sold since.)

To paraphrase "The Iceberg That Sank the Titanic" from Saturday Night Live, Dookie is 14 tracks, "no skips, swear to God." (Well, it's technically 15 tracks when you count the hidden track "All By Myself,", but you get the idea.) The album yielded four singles: "Longview," "Basket Case," "Welcome to Paradise" and "When I Come Around." Each of those songs is a stone-cold classic. In fact, Setlist.fm notes that "Longview" and "Basket Case" are the two most-performed Green Day songs in the band's history. Overall, "Longview" has been featured on 1,008 setlists, while "Basket Case" has been featured on 965. Not to be outdone, popular album track "She" is third with 829.

While the album is a timeless piece of rock magic, the same can be said about the album cover of Dookie. Drawn by local East Bay artist Richie Bucher, the cover alone deserves special recognition. It’s full of all sorts of references to Berkeley’s punk scene at that time, but there are also a number of musical references even fans outside of the East Bay would know.

How many? Seven in total. Think you know what they are? Scroll through the gallery below to find out!