The Hella Mega Tour: An Open Love Letter To My First Live Show Post COVID

Posted On August 5, 2021

Samantha Colleran, August 2021

Last night, I met up with a friend who I haven’t seen in a while. I was feeling a lot of emotions about interacting with this friend for the first time in almost three years. I spent hours thinking of what to wear; I went simple and comfortable, a look I’ve worn around this friend often. I was so nervous; how would I react? Would I scream? Cry? Stand there nervously and not know how to handle the overwhelming feelings of happiness rushing through my body? The second the house lights went down, and the cheers and claps and whistles coming from the people around me filled my ears, my body knew exactly what to do: I screamed, I danced like an idiot, and I let myself completely loose. It felt like coming home, like I came back into my own body and had some sense of the good things in life pre-COVID. That my lovely readers, is the wonderful, dizzying, adrenaline fueled feeling of being reunited with the greatest friend of all time: concerts. 

When COVID first hit I never imagined being able to step foot in a concert venue again. It felt like a foreign concept, seeing the artists and bands whose music has shaped memories in your life and getting to experience the feeling of singing with them and a crowd of people who sing along for a million different reasons. Let August 4, 2021 be known as the day live music returned, at least in my life. 

Although Fall Out Boy had to back out of the Citi Field show at the last minute due to a crew member testing positive for COVID, Weezer and Green Day still had their chances to shine. I was most excited for Green Day; I grew up with classics such as “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, “21 Guns”, and “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” playing on VH1 in my childhood home with my parents, but I grew to find a new appreciation for them on my own in my late pre teen/early teen years. I’d been waiting for the moment I got to see them, and the approximately seven year wait certainly did not disappoint. 

The Interrupters kicked off the night’s events and I was pleasantly surprised by them. I was surprised by the fact their lead singer was a girl named Aimee, whose voice sounded like a heavenly cross between Debbie Harry and Joan Jett. They told the crowd they make unity songs, and were super excited to be there. Of course, they did a quick tribute to Fall Out Boy and sung a snippet of “Sugar We’re Going Down”, which got the most attention from the crowd. They’re definitely a band worth checking out especially if you’re into No Doubt (they have a similar ska-punk influence), I know I’ve already downloaded some of their music on Spotify!

Next up is Weezer, who of course were also super fun. They performed some newer songs that I wasn’t too familiar with, but Weezer is Weezer and I don’t think they have any particularly bad songs. The band noted that they normally go on earlier, and jokingly said they wanted to talk to whoever was in charge about switching their sets around so they could perform later. The hits were the most fun to sing along to, the whole crowd went absolutely nuts at the opening chords of “Island In The Sun”, voices grew louder and more passionate during the chorus of “Undone (The Sweater Song)”, and of course “Buddy Holly” closing the set had everyone on their feet dancing and singing their hearts out. Rivers also covered “Sugar We’re Going Down” to honor the loss of Fall Out Boy on the setlist. 

The best part of the night was my seventh grade self breaking through and finally getting to experience one of the bands that has had the biggest influence on me since I was young, and finally having the chance to scream “American Idiot” along with them was something I know I’ll talk about forever. It was electric, something awoke inside of me and I felt alive, whole, myself. Watching Billie Joe Armstrong parade around the stage in the classic all black outfit, his eyes lighting up listening to the crowd sing back every word to every song, it was something I’ll never forget. 

The night was all about human connection, being present, together again. Halfway through “American Idiot” we were all instructed by a very passionate Billie Joe to put our phones away, we’d been looking at our phones for a year and a half, let’s be together and in the moment. This flooded into “Holiday”, and I can’t even tell you how hard I screamed every single word to the bridge. 

The rest of the setlist flowed on, mostly the classics like “21 Guns”, “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, “Basket Case”, and a lot of Freddie Mercury-esque call and response moments. No Father Of All… tracks made an appearance; part of me was surprised at the fact, but the other part of me remembered that this is one of their first shows back and they know people are itching to jump around and be surrounded by the sound of familiar songs. “Longview” allowed bassist Mike Dirnt his moment to shine, fans erupting into the loudest applause when the easily recognizable bassline filled the stadium. 

People certainly have their opinions on Revolution Radio, but one of the best moments of the entire night was when the band pulled out “Still Breathing”. It felt like an anthem, a reminder that after everything we’ve been through over this past year and a half we’re all still alive, still breathing, and we get to experience something incredible. The chant of “I’m still alive” nearly brought me to tears each time I sang the words. Call me dramatic, but I haven’t felt like this in a very long time, and to be able to witness this show that’s been three years in the making, and to be at the first live show at Citi Field since it reopened, it was truly something special. 

So, thank you, Hella Mega Tour, and every single person who played a part in making this show happen. You made this girl so very happy. As I type this my throat is on fire, my hands are still shaking with the pure adrenaline rush from being at a show, and I’ve never been happier.