Minnesotan's Husband Appears at Target Field With Some Friends

A New Brighton woman's husband took a trip to Target Field this past Saturday night to hang out with a few (tens of thousands) of his friends. It really was thoughtful of her to let him out of the house on such a beautiful Minnesota evening!

In today's episode of Choad on the Road, I brave the warzone of burned-to-the-ground Minneapolis to watch some punks wax poetic about stupid people and poop.

Green Day Brings Their 'Saviors' Tour to Target Field

Burnt-To-Toast Target Field, pre-show (Choad via TSM)

If you're not in on the joke, the 'husband' is Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. While he's an Oakland native, his wife - Adrienne - is a Minnesotan. This year is their 30th anniversary.

The day was a lot more hospitable than Foo Fighters' appearance at Target Field a couple weeks ago; which was hot, humid, sunny, and then rainy. Gross.

My seats were aaaaaaaaaall the way up top, as seen in the photo above. There was a pleasant breeze and an unobstructed (although distant) view of the stage.

First Up: The Linda Lindas

The Linda Lindas (Choad via TSM)

The show started promptly at 5:30 with The Linda Lindas. For some reason I thought they were a legendary underground all-woman punk group, but I was wrong: they're a group of kids on their way up the punk ranks. Their age range is 14-19, and they rocked! Lots of energy, song hooks, and attitude. Their song "Growing Up" is featured on the Inside Out 2 soundtrack.

Next Up: punk legends Rancid

Rancid (Choad via TSM)

After a quick equipment change (less than half an hour), punk legends Rancid took the stage and blasted through their hits. I'm not a huge fan of Rancid, but they're a tight band. A poignant moment of their set was when guitarist Lars Frederiksen had a brief rant about the owner of the Oakland Athletics (who is moving the franchise to Las Vegas). With Minnesota Twins ownership being legendarily cheap (and allegedly planning to cut salaries even more next season), it was relatable frustration.

The odd band out: The Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins (Choad via TSM)

I could not stand The Smashing Pumpkins in the late 1900s. Back in my teens, you basically chose one of the big grunge bands and stuck with them. I was a Nirvana kid.

Now, I dig the Pumpkins. Billy Corgan still has a whiny voice, but it's his signature. The riffs are righteous, the band was tight, and the set was a good blend of smash(ingpumpkins) hits and a few deeper tracks. They stuck out as being the only band on the bill without a "punk" label; but it was a good genre detour before the main course.

The EnTré: Green Day

Seriously, what a beautiful night! (Choad via TSM)

Green Day took the stage...after 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and 'Blitzkrieg Bop' played on the P.A. Have you ever sang along to 'Bohemian Rhapsody' with 30,000 (or whatever) people? It was absolute magic. I'd post the video I took but...copyright laws and whathaveyou.

Green Day are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their punk rock opera American Idiot, as well as the 30th anniversary of their breakthrough album Dookie, and performed both albums in their entirety.

Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt in his Dookie orange (Choad via TSM)

To the delight of Dookie fans, that included the depraved hidden track 'All By Myself'.

Tré Cool was all by himself (Choad via TSM)

Each album's performance was separated by other hits from Green Day's extensive catalog.

The band didn't make fans wait 5 minutes for an encore, as Billie Joe Armstrong walked out to center stage armed with an acoustic to send fans off with "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". Tré and Dirnt joined him towards the end of the song...

This was something that was NOT unpredictable (Choad via TSM)

...and with the final chord strummed by Tré...

Fireworks go boom! (Choad via TSM)

It was a great show on a beautiful night in a good stadium owned by trash people in a city that somehow only murdered me 17 times that night. I may not ever go to a Twins game again, but after seeing two awesome shows at Target Field this summer, I'll happily get a cheese curds canoe at a concert.

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\m/ \m/ (Choad via TSM)

Mammoth WVH w/Nita Strauss at First Avenue in Minneapolis

The 2nd stop of Mammoth WVH's biggest (so far) headlining tour was at the iconic First Avenue in Minneapolis on November 5th, 2023. Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper's guitarist) opened the show. There were zero Van Halen songs played (as Wolfgang Van Halen has said will happen numerous times in the past) but the spirit of his father was present in the joy Wolfgang displayed in his performance. The set was filled with Wolfie's rockers, and included a brief but emotional solo acoustic set by Wolfgang that featured "The Distance"...a song written for his late father, guitar hero Edward Van Halen.

Gallery Credit: Choad