I can still remember listening to my Dad talk about the mammoth legacies of bands like Kiss, Van Halen, and Queen. These larger-than-life bands that took the explosion of the early ‘70s Glam Rock scene and paired it with the theatrics that fit the stadium audiences it demanded.

I would sit at home watching VHI Classics, as a kid, mesmerized by the stage presence of Freddy Mercury and the energy of David Lee Roth. These artists had made themselves larger than life characters on stage and the bands music was made to create audience engagement. A call and response or these epic choruses that were undeniable.

I would sit and watch these archival shows and wonder who my generation's Stadium Rock icons would be? During the early 2000s, the idea of a band playing stadiums was still a regular occurrence.

However, there hadn’t been bands that really owned that role in my generation. Bands like Pearl Jam or Oasis would sell out massive stadiums but Pearl Jam never made it their identity, nor would I consider them to be my band. Although I loved them, their peak commercial success came before my time. Their stadium shows were almost more out of necessity.

Oasis knew they wanted to be the best stadium rock act in the world and for a period of time they arguably were. But even at this point, each of those acts were really beginning their transition into legacy acts.

Around that time in 2004, the Rodeo, California, punk rock trio Green Day would release an album that bucked conventions of their already successful career. Dookie, their 1994 debut, exploded to the top of the charts giving life to a new the 1990s’ rock scene that needed revitalization after the devastating loss of Kurt Cobain and the death of Grunge.

Green Day’s success in the mid-90’s gave them radio hits throughout the next nine years, along with helping shape the Pop-punk explosion that would take place in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s.

However, with the Pop-punk and Emo market beginning to look oversaturated Green Day decided to take their music to the next step.

2004’s American Idiot, was that massive album. It offered the anthemic punk rock of Green Day’s early career, while adding in these elements of grandiose stadium rock and the theatrical natures of glam rock. Green Day ditched the slacker punk attire for a uniformed black and red style that was reminiscent of the Clash’s London Calling era.

The album was a blistering, anthemic, concept that was the bands best attempt at merging the political nature of the Clash with the melodrama of Queen’s, A Night At The Opera. Green Day had a certified smash hit record on their hands, and many kids of my generation had found their new rock icons of the era. Something new that was still accessible, angsty, and epic for all of those kids who wanted to be mad at something, Green Day had provided that with a catchy pop hook.

Now, 30 years since their debut and 20 years since their second wave of massive commercial success. Green Day is touring each of those albums in their entirety throughout baseball stadiums around the country. That tour stopped in Cincinnati Thursday evening at Great American Ball Park.

Now in their own Legacy era, Green Day has leaned into these big stadium shows and refuses to shy away from giving the audience everything they have and more. After the “Hella Mega Tour” a few years ago that boasted big billed acts to open for Green Day, they have continued that format by enlisting bands like The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas.

With the evening beginning early, the Linda Lindas and Rancid both played before 7pm. The Smashing Pumpkins then took the stage, where a seasoned band like them has been many times before.

As the sun was setting and a sea of fans flooded into the Reds Stadium, Great American Ballpark was filled with excitement, for a beautiful evening. The Smashing Pumpkins catalog for me has always been best suited for those dusk, evening drives. Their music romanticizes those moments, as much as they are able to make fans headbang to “Bullet With Butterfly Wings.”

Billy Corgan and company have been touring for just as long as Green Day and knew how to play to the audience in Cincinnati that night. Playing through a slew of their hits, while giving shout outs to Reds recently retired legend Joey Votto before playing “Cherub Rock.”

Just as the sun began to go down, the speakers began playing “Bohemian Rhapsody.” As if the Queen references weren’t already going to be upfront and glaring, this moment got fans singing and revved up for what was to come.

Then a mascot bunny dawning a Reds jersey came out on stage dancing to get fans even more hyped. A medley of what seemed to be Trey Cool’s drum beat from “Longview,” or something very similar, to John Williams’ Star Wars theme, and several other classics gave Green Day that truly epic introduction that all proper stadium rockers need.

After the crowd was properly excited, Green Day took to the stage. Bassist Mike Dirnt was wearing the band's iconic orange jumpsuit from their “Basket Case,” video, Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong wore their icon Black and Red, and drummer Trey Cool still rocking his dyed bright blue hair nearly 30 years later. Each giving an ode to different era’s of the band's time.

Armstrong at 52-years-old hasn’t seemed to have lost a step. His energy is what really drove the entire show. Still running around on stage, playing fast-paced punk rock, and seemingly never stopping to take a breath. As he counted off the band they broke into their newest single, “The American Dream is Killing Me.”

After that fireworks blasted off and up came a massive balloon showing the iconic Dookie mushroom cloud from the album cover. From there they were off and running in the lead track off of Dookie, “Burnout.”

I’ve seen several album anniversary tours now, and none have had the energy, the communal singing, and memories that this show gave fans. From “Burnout,” to “Having a Blast,” to “Chump” fans were elated to relive these memories. Then came the hits. “Chump” led into “Longview,” then “Welcome to Paradise,” “Pulling Teeth,” and the hit single “Basket Case.” Each one of these songs gave fans exactly what they wanted while sounding the same as they did the day they recorded them.

“When I Come Around,” for me, was the first Green Day song I could remember hearing on the radio as a kid. This would’ve still been several years after the album was released but even then I have core memories of listening to that song on 100.3 the Point in Upstate, New York. It was accessible, catchy, and blended with the mix of Gin Blossom, Hootie and The Blowfish commercial rock.

After running through Dookie, I expected to see some sort of set break, however, I was wrong. 50-years-old be damned this band wasn’t going to stop. Their “break” consisted of mixing in a few hits from more recent records to “Brain Stew,” off of Insomniac.

Then began the second half of the show, American Idiot. Now if I’m being objective, I think Dookie is the stronger album. However, you cannot deny the murderer’s row of tracks on the A-Side of American Idiot.

Like before, fireworks rip and they are into the title track. Often, the highlight of the show for me comes when I’m more pleasantly surprised by a moment. However, I almost knew what song I would be most excited for, that song was “Jesus of Suburbia.”

The 9-minute epic was and is still my favorite track from the band’s catalog. An ode to the more grandiose and overblown tracks of the classic rock era. Where a 9-minute song could make the radio and every ounce of it is used to captivate the listener. This is where the album really earns its “Rock Opera” credits and most likely where Broadway fans could translate this album into the inevitable stage show that would be birthed from this album.

After that the band broke into “Holiday/Broken Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” arguably the most popular songs from the album that would become Jock Jams and melodramatic soundtracks to kids' lives throughout the 2000s.

There were several other high points throughout for fans of some deeper cuts like, “St. Jimmy,” and “Are We The Waiting.”

As the show began to come to a close, there was only one way to leave the audience, that was with “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” Arguably their most popular song off of their 1997 record Nimrod. The acoustic smash hit was seen as a death sentence for the band by some punk purists. However, that song is what probably gave way to the band not caring to cater to punk audiences solely anymore, if they ever really care about that. The ideal High-School Graduation song, sent off fans from Great American Thursday night.

The proper send off left me feeling reassured in my thoughts all those years ago in 2004. Green Day for a certain age of Millennials was their stadium rock act. They were a continuation of what many bands before them. However, they did it under the guise of this anthemic pop-punk sound. They not only ushered in a genre of bands that came after them to also sell out arenas and stadiums but they still stand atop all of them. This all said should not sway a reader to believe that Green Day is in any way arrogant or ungrateful for that role. I was most impressed by the sheer effort they put out on that stage in a two and half hour span. There was not one moment mailed in by the band, and they showed no signs of slowing down.