Green Day and Jimmy Fallon play surprise New York subway set
Punk legends Green Day surprised New York commuters on January 16th with a busking performance featuring talk show host Jimmy Fallon.
This week is significant for Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool. On January 18th, they play at New York’s iconic venue, Irving Plaza, which precedes the release of their new album, Saviors, the following day.
The pop-up gig led to the formation of an excited mass crowd at the Rockefeller Center subway station. Quickly, word spread on social media as discerning spectators shared images of cameras being set up on the platform and of musical equipment.
Footage then started doing the rounds of a quartet arriving in costumes, with beards and prosthetics. Green Day, with the assistance of Fallon on tambourine, then performed a six-song setlist. The small acoustic show included covers of Bad Company’s ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’ and Kiss’s ‘Rock And Roll All Nite’, as well as the original hits ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Basket Case’.
Gearing up for the release of Saviors on January 19th, Green Day also performed ‘Dilemma’ and ‘Look Ma, No Brains!’, two singles from the new record. When the band released the former in December, Armstrong revealed that it was about his struggles with addiction and mental health. He explained: “‘Dilemma’ was one of those songs that was kind of easy to write because it was so personal to me.
It is currently unclear when the footage from the Green Day subway show will appear on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, as they’re not currently scheduled to appear on the programme.
Watch fan-shot footage of the Green Day subway gig below.
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