Green Day's Detroit show interrupted by overhead drone; police detain suspected operator
Detroit police say they have detained a person suspected of flying a drone over Comerica Park during Green Day's Wednesday concert, which prompted the band to abruptly rush offstage early in the show.
"There was an individual that flew a drone into Comerica Park, and because of that, Green Day was taken off the stage," Detroit Police Department spokesman Cpl. Dan Donakowski told the Detroit Free Press. "DPD did locate the individual. He is being detained pending further investigation."
Band members raced offstage at about 8:50 p.m. during a performance of the Green Day hit "Longview" amid signals from crew members who had suddenly emerged from the wings.
Stage video screens soon lit up with a message: “SHOW PAUSE: PLEASE, STANDBY FOR DETAILS."
The band resumed its performance about 10 minutes later, offering no explanation to the tens of thousands packing the Detroit Tigers' stadium. An official attendance hasn't been announced, but appeared to number more than 30,000, based on past sold-out concerts at the ballpark with similar stage configurations.
"How you guys doing? Everybody OK?" front man Billie Joe Armstrong said upon returning. He asked fans to put their mobile phones away for the time being: "Let's be here, right now."
Green Day representatives and show officials did not respond to Free Press requests for details, though a post on the band's X account later Wednesday apologized for the delay and added: "Stadium security had us clear the stage while they dealt with a potential safety issue. DPD quickly resolved the situation, and we were able to continue. Thanks for understanding."
A green-lit drone could be seen flying overhead before the band's abrupt exit — though drones aren't an unusual sight at big concert gatherings, often enlisted by bands and organizers to document the festivities.
The Detroit show was part of the band's long-running Saviors Tour, which finds Green Day performing "Dookie" in its entirety as a 30th anniversary salute, along with the album "American Idiot," which is notching its 20th anniversary. Core members Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool, along with three touring musicians, were all onstage at the time of the Wednesday incident.
Green Day ended the show just after 11 p.m. with a performance of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" and a sendoff from Armstrong with a seeming reference to the earlier interruption.
"A night we're all going to remember!" he said.
The minutes that ticked by during the band’s absence made for an odd, unsettling stretch in a show that had started with a bright, upbeat spirit, as the pop-punk stars dove into a night that promised to celebrate their two most beloved albums.
With openers the Smashing Pumpkins and Rancid, it was an event that harked back to an era of Lollapalooza tours and 89X radio playlists, played for a multigenerational crowd that included plenty of families with excited young kids in tow.
Green Day long ago nailed the craft of presenting wiry punk in large-scale settings, and the intro music that preceded the group's entrance seemed to drive home that happy marriage: the grandeur of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” paired with the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
From there it was on to Green Day’s 2023 single “The American Dream is Killing Me” before the retro fun began. “Dookie” unfurled onstage just at it on CD in ’94, a frantic rush of lurching riffs and pinpoint, earwormy hooks.
Armstrong’s familiar nasally, swooping vocals were pushed hard to the front of the audio mix as album-related graphics danced on the video screen behind him. At 52, his diminutive stature and bratty vocal delivery lend him a kind of eternal youthfulness, and he was the focal point of attention on the big stadium stage.
Following the break, the band seemed even more energized, perhaps driven by a sense of annoyed defiance, and fans were swept right along as the “Dookie” hits flowed: “Welcome to Paradise,” “Basket Case,” “When I Come Around.” A smattering of other tunes bridged the segue into “American Idiot,” and you could literally feel the stadium bouncing as the audience pogoed along to “Know Your Enemy.”
“American Idiot” and its more textured musical pieces played well inside the stadium, with the rock suites “Jesus of Suburbia” and “Homecoming” as standouts from a 2004 album that marked an ambitious leap of faith for the trio.
Armstrong tapped a bit of Jimmy Page when he toyed with the acoustic intro of Led Zeppelin’s “Over the Hills and Far Away” before Green Day closed the night with “Good Riddance,” the biggest hit of the band’s career.
The Smashing Pumpkins had preceded Green Day with their own hour-long set, as Billy Corgan — donned in a floor-length black cloak — provided a reliably demonstrative stage presence to lead a crisp but cinematic set.
With new touring member Kiki Wong adding to the three-guitar attack with Corgan and James Iha, it was a Pumpkins performance that was happy to reach back to the ’90s — “Disarm,” “Today,” “1979,” “Cherub Rock” — and throw in a grinding, turned-inside-out cover of U2’s “Zoo Station” for good measure, complete with a Jimmy Chamberlin drum solo for some good old fashioned Gen X rock glory.
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
Free Press staff writer Andrea May Sahouri contributed to this report.