Green Day @ Volkshaus (Feb 17, 1998)

Feb 17, 1998

Green Day

Nimrod tour

Volkshaus · Zurich, Switzerland

Setlist

Rarity 58%How rare this setlist is: higher when the band digs into songs they rarely play, lower for a night of staples.
Show tagged: Nimrod tour
Copies the setlist as Spotify track links. In the Spotify desktop app, make a new playlist, click into it and paste (Ctrl or Cmd V). 20 of 20 songs matched.

Concert poster

Green Day concert poster

Performers

Show notes

François Bonzon: "Why did everyone say it was such a fabulous evening? Easy! 'Cause Green Day was playing. Lots of teenagers with green hair were already queued up to the entrance. A sign over a concert poster read the show was sold out. About 1,500 people attended the show. D Generation was supposed to play first, but they cancelled. A local band, whose name I can't remember, shows up. They were so bad. They played for about twenty minutes. At 9:15 pm Green Day enters the stage. Tre Cool took his place behind the drumkit, Mike Dirnt and Billie Joe Armstrong stepped to their microphones and broke into Going to Pasalacqua, Welcome to Paradise and Geek Stink Breath without a break. Billie made funny faces to the photographers that tried to take a photo of him. He also kept doing these strange poses. Mike switched the bass and Billie switched the guitar - one of many copies of Blue with red BJ intials and two stickers on it. 'This is a brand new song. The song's called Nice Guys Finish Last,' says Billie. The crowd was very enthused. Billie also brought out a Tickle Me Elmo doll made its hands clap to the beat. Everyone followed. They played the great 2,000 Light Years Away. Halfway through the song Billie went backstage, then snuck up on Tre - we didn't really understand what was going on at that point - and emptied a bottle of water on him. Tre Cool kept playing. 'Do you like heavy metal?' The crowd cheered. Billie started singing, 'The beautiful people... The beautiful people,' and acting like Marilyn Manson. 'We're gonna play heavy metal songs for the rest of the evening. OK, we're just kidding.' They went into their old hits Chump / Longview, with such vigor. Then they play Brain Stew / Jaded. Billie did his famous spitting trick. He spat high in the air but didn't catch it in his mouth. Mike threw picks into the crowd. Tre Cool kept throwing a copious amount of drumsticks away! The band began playing Knowledge. Billie says, 'Hm... Does anyone know how to play the guitar? Come up and play here right now. You? You don't know how to play! You? How many years have you been playing? (The guy shows five fingers.) Come up here!' They ended the song with that guy playing the guitar. As always, they urged him to stagedive. Billie played the opening chords of Basket Case and then let the crowd sing. That was the moment everyone had been waiting for! After they play She, Billie Joe put this hideous mask on and began playing F.O.D. He then throws the mask away. They continue with Paper Lanterns, and then tease some songs, like Eye of the Tiger. Billie says, 'Thanks for coming tonight. We're gonna come back here in a few months. Bye,' and went backstage. After a while when Billie Joe came back onstage, ready to play, a group on the front row sang, 'Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you Billie Joe!' The rest of the crowd followed. Billie smiled and said, 'Thank you very much. I'm sixteen years old today.' He probably dreamed about being the same age as those front row groupies. The band finished the show with Scattered, Prosthetic Head and When I Come Around. Then the trio set about to destroy the whole stage. Tre couldn't leave a cymbal or a tom in its original shape. Mike offered special refreshments by spraying Feldschlossen beer all over the crowd. Tre Cool climbed on the amps and emptied Evian water on the crowd. Mike knocked the amp stack over and then smashed his bass. Billie Joe kneeled in front of amp stack, playing that heavily reverberating chord over and over. Billie came over and ended the show with electric solo number - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life). 'It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life.' It sounded great! They played for about half an hour."

Show Facts

Performance stats

25th of 119 in 1998
1st of 3 in Zurich
6th of 15 in Switzerland
69th of 147 of the Nimrod tour

Attendance

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Notable

Was this one for the history books?

Iconic performances or epic setlists, not just a great show.

Most played song

Longview 1,140 times

Rarest Songs Played

Prosthetic Head 62 times
The Grouch 87 times
Scattered 148 times

Album distribution

39/Smooth 1
  • - Going To Pasalacqua
Slappy 2
  • - Knowledge
  • - Paper Lanterns
Kerplunk 2
  • - Welcome To Paradise
  • - 2000 Light Years Away
Dookie 6
  • - Chump
  • - Longview
  • - Basket Case
  • - She
  • - F.O.D.
  • - When I Come Around
Insomniac 3
  • - Geek Stink Breath
  • - Brain Stew
  • - Jaded
Nimrod 6
  • - Nice Guys Finish Last
  • - Hitchin' A Ride
  • - The Grouch
  • - Scattered
  • - Prosthetic Head
  • - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)

Debut distribution

The year each song played here was first played live.

1989 2
1990 1
1991 2
1992 3
1993 2
1994 2
1995 2
1997 6

On this date

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