Yes, you read that right -- The Hella Mega Tour, featuring rock juggernauts Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy, is set to run from July to September after having been delayed due to COVID-19. I don’t know who’s more excited for this, 13-year-old me or current me. These are three bands I grew up with, three bands I have loved since before my emo middle school days even began. And now, they’ll all be together at cities (and, more specifically, baseball stadiums – see the tour schedule here) across the country. Goodness gracious, where to even begin. This is going to be nuts, simple as that.
In honor of this stacked line-up, I thought I would make my ideal set list and then address it briefly. Here’s what I have:
1. GREEN DAY
"Welcome to Paradise"
"American Idiot"
"Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
"21 Guns"
"Basket Case"
"When I Come Around"
"Wake Me up When September Ends"
"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"
2. WEEZER
"(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To)"
"Say It Ain’t So"
"Africa"
"Island In The Sun"
"Pork and Beans"
"Undone – The Sweater Song"
"Hash Pipe"
"Buddy Holly"
3. FALL OUT BOY
"Sugar, We’re Goin Down"
"HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T"
"Centuries"
"This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race"
"Dance, Dance"
"Uma Thurman"
"Thanks fr th Mmrs"
"What A Catch, Donnie"
First and foremost, I know what you’re thinking: I didn’t include songs from the albums this tour was originally created to promote, particularly Green Day’s Father of All… and Weezer’s Van Weezer (Fall Out Boy will be touring to promote a compilation album). While, yes, this is basically a best-of set list, this is what I would like to see in a perfect world. Admittedly, I am less familiar with these bands’ more recent discographies, especially those of Weezer and Green Day, but all of the songs I mentioned above are such classics. If I know anything about big-time concerts, the hits are almost always incorporated at some point, and I just don’t know what I would eliminate from this list.
Second, I’m not sure if these three bands are planning on actually playing together (which would be SO cool) or, at least, mixing up the order in which they perform. If that’s the case, I would re-arrange the list to look something like this:
"Welcome to Paradise", Green Day
"Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams", Green Day
"(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To)", Weezer
"Buddy Holly", Weezer
"Sugar, We’re Goin Down", Fall Out Boy
"Centuries", Fall Out Boy
"Africa", Weezer
"American Idiot", Green Day
"This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race", Fall Out Boy
"When I Come Around", Green Day
"Say It Ain’t So", Weezer
"HOLD ME TIGHT OR DON’T", Fall Out Boy
"Undone – The Sweater Song", Weezer
"Island In The Sun", Weezer
"Basket Case", Green Day
"Dance, Dance", Fall Out Boy
"Uma Thurman", Fall Out Boy
"Hash Pipe", Weezer
"21 Guns", Green Day
"Thanks fr th Mmrs", Fall Out Boy
"Wake Me up When September Ends", Green Day
"Pork and Beans", Weezer
"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", Green Day
"What A Catch, Donnie", Fall Out Boy
How can you not kick things off with “Welcome to Paradise” in either iteration? It’s just the perfect intro, there’s nothing else to say. And people may not be as familiar with “What A Catch, Donnie”, but this would be my choice to close things out because it has that anthem-like quality that would really put an exclamation mark on the evening. Plus, Panic! At The Disco is on it, and I don’t know… maybe that way they could bring Brendon Urie and company on board too?! I know, now I’m getting greedy. Shame on me!
Regardless, I love all three bands, and I hope I’ll be able to make it to one of the tour dates! I’m playing some of their greatest hits as we speak, and man, do enough of the Gen-Zers these days appreciate them? One would hope. Either way, the Hella Mega Tour is going to be exactly that – hella mega! What a way to celebrate this return-to-normalcy Summer in style. Rock on, everyone!