Green Day frontman attacks A's owner and Las Vegas in onstage rant | Kats | Entertainment

Billie Joe Armstrong used the San Francisco Giants stadium on Friday evening to take a vehement dig at the owners of the A's and the Las Vegas area.

The frontman of the Bay Area punk icons Green Day challenged the A's owners at a sold-out concert at Oracle Park.

“We do not accept no (swear word) from people like John (expletive) Fishermanwho sold out the Oakland A's to Las (expletive) Vegas,” Armstrong shouted to the crowd of 43,000, the San Jose Mercury News reported. “I (expletive) hate Las Vegas. It's the worst (expletive) hole in America.”

Armstrong was born in Oakland and has always been a staunch defender and advocate for the East Bay.

An email to an A representative seeking comment was not answered.

Green Day have been performing in Las Vegas for three decades, dating back to two shows at the Huntridge Theater in September 1993 and again in February 1994. In October of last year, the band played a two-hour pop-up show at the Fremont Country Club and its attached Backstage Bar & Grill.

This wild performance, packed with Green Day fans (most from Las Vegas), took place right before the When We Were Young festival this weekend at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.

The band played for two and a half hours on Friday, playing “Dookie” for the 30th anniversary and “American Idiot” for the 20th anniversary. “Dookie” was also revived during the Fremont Country Club performance.

The concert at Oracle Park came as the A's played a home game against the Yankees at Oakland Coliseum over the weekend. The A's end their 57-year run in the East Bay this week with a three-game series against the Texas Rangers.

Lars von Rancid Frederiksenwho also hails from the East Bay, joined the Fisher members.

“Oh, I'm going to say some (expletive) tonight – (expletive) John Fisher,” Frederiksen said from the stage. “His whole family makes money off the backs of people in the Bay Area and then he wants to (expletive) run off to Vegas. (expletive) him.”

“Thank God we still have the Giants.”

For Armstrong, this is not the first time that the punk star has vented his anger in Las Vegas.

In September 2012, Armstrong went on a tantrum during the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden. He had nothing against Vegas in particular, but was extremely angry about the crowd's lethargy after usher destroyed the place with his 15 background dancers.

Armstrong was also upset that Green Day's performance was shortened from 45 to 30 minutes.

“We have nine (expletive) minutes left?! What the (expletive)?!” he shouted, staring at a giant monitor in the middle of the arena that read “9 MINUTES.”

“I've been here for 25 (swear word) years! I should get more than a minute per song!” Armstrong then smashed his guitar in half as bassist Mike Dirnt slammed his instrument against the amplifiers stacked behind him.

The band then stormed off, full of boiling emotions. Rihanna and honestly, I don't remember anything from their set.

And visitors and locals alike can learn more about or relive Green Day's history at the Punk Rock Museum, a thoughtful and comprehensive tribute to punk culture here in Las Vegas.

John Katsilometes' column appears daily in the A section. His podcast, “PodKats!”, can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.