by The Cowl Editor on September 19, 2019
Music
by Julia Vaccarella ’20 A&E Staff
For anyone nostalgic for the 2000’s alternative-punk sound, three popular bands have recently announced a joint tour, which will commence next summer. Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer, have decided to team up to put on a show for fans. Decades ago, rock bands often toured together in the same way, which seems to have inspired these three groups to revive the concept. The Interrupters will open the stage at each location of the tour, which the groups have named “HELLA MEGA TOUR.”
The trio of bands is unexpected yet not unfounded. According to Billboard “These three band leaders and their groups have a combined seven No. 1s on the Billboard 200 and 15 No. 1s on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart…Yet instead of staying in their comfort zones, they’re eager to create a live experience that’s as legendary as anything else they have done.” According to the released tour schedule, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer will reach fans on a global scale. The tour is set to begin in Paris, France in June 2020 and continue throughout Europe before heading to the United States the following month.
In honor of the tour announcement, the bands have each released a new song, hinting at what is to come. Album releases are sometimes tricky for groups with such successful history because there is always an urge to do something different and better. For example, Weezer took on this challenge in the past by creating an album entirely of cover songs, fueling excitement from fans of ‘80s and ‘90s music. Green Day, on the other hand, has been riding under the radar recently.The record that they plan to release is significantly shorter than past projects.
Andy Greene of Rolling Stone says, “Green Day and Weezer both broke through to mainstream success in 1994 thanks to multiplatinum albums that spawned a series of goofy videos that went into heavy rotation on MTV. Their paths have diverged over the years, but they remain two of the most popular acts from that generation still on the road.” Likewise, Fall Out Boy came to the stage a bit later and younger alternative music fans are generally familiar with their music. The slight generation gap among the groups may attract a wider group of people to the tour.
With the rise of streaming services and the easy accessibility to music today, it is expected that listeners may not want to spend money to see artists live. However, big music festivals like Boston Calling and Governors Ball still attract fans each year. This is because concerts with multiple artists provide fans with the ability to listen to their favorite artists live in one space, adding value to the experience.
Ultimately, the success that each of the bands has had in their respective careers is impressive. The announcement of the tour, coupled with the fact that these artists are still releasing new music that fans want to listen to, proves this type of music’s relevance in today’s industry.