Green Day Headlines Coachella 2025, Gets Political, and Sets Palm Tree on Fire

April 14, 2025 – Last Saturday, Green Day finally took to the Coachella stage, leaving behind a political message and accidentally starting a fire.

This year marked Green Day’s debut at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Though Billie Joe Armstrong cameoed at Coachella with the Replacements back in 2014, this was the band’s first time headlining the music festival.

Never one to not leave an impression, Green Day made sure to cement themselves in Coachella history, performing decades of hits, getting political, and even setting a tree on fire.

Green Day’s Politically Charged Lyric

sGreen Day has never been shy about making political statements. As fans know, the band has and always will be political. Their viral “American Idiot” was originally a reproach of President George W. Bush’s Iraq War politics, but the punk rock band revamped the song’s lyrics to target today’s political environment. Performing the song, Armstrong sang “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda,” taking aim at President Donald Trump.

But Green Day didn’t stop there. They also changed their “Jesus of Suburbia” lyric of “Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimized” to “Runnin’ away from pain, like the kids from Palestine,” referencing the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Other hit songs in their performance included “Holiday,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” and their recent single “One Eyed Bastard.” Green Day also paid tribute to other iconic bands, referencing Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” and  Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” riffs.

Green Day Pyrotechnics Lead To Fire

While Green Day always gives a fiery, passionate performance, not all the fire on Saturday was intentional. While the punk rock band was on stage, some fireworks shot out and hit a nearby palm tree. It quickly caught fire, startling many audience members who were close by. People Magazine posted the following on Instagram, showing the extent of the fire.

 

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Published by HOLR Magazine

Image Credit: @greenday Instagram