Two years ago today it was announced that Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy would be touring together. They were calling the tour the “Hella Mega Tour.” Our oldest begged and pleaded for us to get tickets. Green Day is his all-time favorite band and he was desperate to see them perform. Weezer and Fall Out Boy were both bands he wanted to see perform live as well. We thought it would be a fun concert for the boys, so David got tickets for July 25, 2020 in Los Angeles. The boys were super excited. Then the pandemic hit and no one was sure what would happen with concerts. Would they be postponed? Cancelled? In February of 2020, the bands announced that Asian dates would have to be postponed. Then in April, the European dates were postponed as well. Finally, in May they announced that all tour U.S. tour dates were also postponed. We knew it was coming but it was still sad.
We waited for over a year, but they finally announced that the tour would be coming to LA July 17, 2021. Unfortunately they had to reschedule again. The boys were starting to think the whole thing might get scrapped, but they held out hope. They were not disappointed. We finally got to see them last Friday on September 3, 2021 at Dodger Stadium.
We still had our original tickets, but we have a client that was able to hook us up with five floor tickets (so we could also take our daughter) and access to the VIP lounge. We gave the original tickets to some friends, so they didn’t go to waste. I’m not sure if the kids were more excited about sitting on the floor, or the free Dodger dogs in the lounge. That’s not entirely true, our oldest was definitely most excited about the music. For the other two, it was probably a toss-up.
Our oldest had the time of his life. He was able to meet up with two of his closest friends for a while and then he somehow managed to work his way into the pit. I’m still not sure if I want to know exactly how he managed that. He was not only in the pit, he was right up next to the stage for most of the concert. As for the rest of us, we found our floor seats. They were great seats, but they were also in the middle of the row and it was going to be hard for our youngest to see anything. Plus, I have a serious crowd aversion and don’t like people touching me, so I was perfectly content to hang out on the floor behind all of the seats. They actually have a big open area in the back of the floor and my youngest was able to see the stage and she could dance along to all of her favorite songs. Plus, we were at least six feet away from other people. It was fabulous.
The show was fantastic. All three bands put on an impressive performance and the kids all got to hear their favorite songs. While the three performances were vastly different, they complimented each other nicely. One of my favorite moments of the night, however, happened when none of the bands were performing. Between the Fall Out Boy and the Green Day performances, they played Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody over the loud speakers and the entire crowd sang along. It was magical. I also loved it anytime the crowd waved their phone flashlights in the air. Pictures just can’t do it justice. So much fun. The bands also all had great pyrotechnics and the kids all enjoyed the fireworks and confetti blasts.
My daughter was tired and wanted to be picked up part way through the Green Day show. She ended up falling asleep and rather than one of us trying to stand and hold her the entire time, I sat down in the bullpen field box area that is just off of the floor. They didn’t sell tickets for this section, so we had it all to ourselves. While the seats didn’t have an optimal view of the stage, I could still see quite a bit, the sound was great and my back wasn’t killing me.
After waiting two years to see the concerts, they put on a heck of a show. Even though my oldest had said that Guns N Roses was his greatest concert ever, after seeing the Hella Mega Tour, GNR was relegated to his second favorite. The kids are already suggesting that we could go and see them again in Europe next summer. My oldest pointed out that they are playing in Vienna on June 19th and that the drive from Budapest to Vienna only takes about two and a half hours. We’ll see.
