Green Day is a blast at Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival kickoff in Milwaukee

Standing in front of tens of thousands for the first of two Veterans Park concerts for the Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival Friday, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong said he was inspired to create his own bikers club.

“We’re going to call ourselves the Hell’s Idiots,” he said with a laugh.

Make no mistake: Armstrong proved again Friday, leading one of the main attractions for the Milwaukee motorcycle company’s 120th anniversary bash, that he’s one of the most electrifying rock stars alive. His two longtime Green Day bandmates, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool, were just as magnetic.

But it’s irreverence, not ego, that generally rules Green Day, keeping things fresh and fun as the band approaches its fourth decade.

What other frontman besides Armstrong would get a kick out of his drummer sabotaging his acoustic guitar to strum a hideous note to close out a concert, as Cool did Friday at the end of set finale “Time of Your Life”?

Across 23 songs and an hour and 47 minutes, Armstrong and company seemed to be having the time of their lives, alongside three touring musicians (and, briefly, a Spotted Cow-swilling bunny and Gene Simmons-mask wearing, tambourine-smacking roadie).

The one-two opening punch of “American Idiot” and “Holiday” was mere foreshadowing of the breathless blitzes to come. “Longview,” for instance, with Cool’s tattoos dancing on top of his vibrating arms as he slammed his kit, and Dirnt spinning and bouncing like he was riding a bucking bronco, raced right into “Welcome to Paradise,” which jumped immediately into an Armstrong “Crazy Train” guitar fake-out that flowed into a rollicking “Hitchin’ a Ride.”

The pace was so relentless Friday, within songs and between songs, that when Armstrong did suddenly hit the brakes — pausing for 30 scream-baiting seconds at the “St. Jimmy” climax, playfully teeing up a “Tequila” sax interlude from Jason Freese during “King for a Day,” or heightening the tension ahead of the epic finale of “Jesus of Suburbia” with a crowd-orchestrating hum-along — the suspension, and suspense, were spine-tingling.

Armstrong was a master of crowd control like that, like when his eyes darted madly for the “little bit louder now” build during a cover of the Isley Brothers’ “Shout,” his impish grin recalling late Milwaukee-born movie great Gene Wilder.

But again, fun mattered most of all. And with that in mind, Armstrong was open to sharing the spotlight with a few lucky fans.

After "Waiting" for instance, he invited a couple on stage, a man getting down on his knees and proposing to his girlfriend in French. Armstrong of course playfully poked fun at the sweet moment, teasing the woman for kissing him on the cheek instead of her new fiancé, and quipping, "Well, now they're stuck with each other."

There was more sincerity when he invited a fan on stage to sing some of "Know Your Enemy," their collaboration inspiring delighted pogo-dancing in the pit. And he again looked out over the crowd to find a volunteer to play guitar during the Operation Ivy cover "Knowledge," spotting a girl who was hit with stage fright but who, through Armstrong's patient guidance and sweet encouragement, got to live out her rock-star moment.

But after cheering her on, it was the crowd's turn to poke fun. When the fan, Maddie, told Armstrong she was from Chicago, a wave of boos washed over Veterans Park. (She took it in stride.) "Why did I have to ask that question?" Armstrong quipped, before letting Maddie keep the guitar she got to jam on with Green Day.

"Happy birthday, Harley-Davidson," Armstrong made sure to say Friday — before joking that he rolled into Milwaukee riding "the baddest electric scooter." "You sure made Milwaukee proud."

And by booking Green Day for their 120th birthday bash, Harley sure did Milwaukee good.

More: HarleyFest is coming to Milwaukee July 13-16. Here's the full schedule.

More: What you need to know about the Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival in Milwaukee

The Cult step in for Social Distortion at Harley fest

Maybe the Cult shouldn’t have tempted fate by playing “Rain” for the last of four opening sets Friday. As soon as Ian Astbury started belting about the the rain coming, loving the rain and so on, a few raindrops started falling on Veterans Park. (Some light rain also intruded during Green Day's set, but no deluge or lightning.)

Social Distortion was supposed to play this set but canceled while frontman Mike Ness recovers from surgery related to Stage 1 tonsil cancer. The Cult’s Gothic shades come with less octane than Social Distortion’s punk rippers, but along with Astbury vamping it up for “Wild Flowers” and “She Sells Sanctuary,” the band’s lone remaining longtime member Billy Duffy gave his copious guitar solos plenty of horsepower.

And Astbury did a very punk rock thing near the end of their nearly hourlong set, giving an apparent shout-out to the VIP section — garnering applause from the reserved bleachers — before uttering a disgusted “(Expletive) you.” The common folks standing in the field (and even many VIPs) got a big laugh out of that.

Phantogram a poor fit at Harley fest

Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel struck a quick rapport with the Green Day fans in the crowd, saying “Dookie” was the first CD she ever bought. Her attempt to connect with the Harley faithful was more awkward. After suggesting playing the festival was a "girl’s dream come true,” then stressing it was a “straight girl’s dream come true,” Barthel talked about how happy she was to be surrounded by lots of hair, jeans, tattoos and sex. Then, not getting the hint from the absence of any reaction from a (possibly offended) crowd, she doubled down after the next song, claiming she saw 35 people having sex from the stage, and again getting crickets.

Phantogram’s often dreamy synth pop and rock may not have been a good fit either, although a couple of more biting tracks, “Mister Impossible” and “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore,” created a modest energy bump near the end. Phantogram also might have made a misstep playing “Black Out Days” so early in the set. The song is such a signature that three different versions are among the band’s most played songs on Spotify.

Wisconsin's own KennyHoopla and Abby Jeanne opened

“I thought that was one of the worst performances I’ve ever done,” a bemused KennyHoopla said late in his set — right after crowd cries of “Kenny” brought him out for an unplanned encore. The Travis Barker-endorsed punk rocker from Oshkosh (born Kenneth La’Ron) is his own worst critic, because this here critic (and the crowd) clearly had fun.

He certainly was better than the last time he opened for Green Day in Milwaukee at Summerfest 2021, when uncontrolled enthusiasm got the better of him. Displaying greater stage control (likely due to experience, and possibly, some pretty intense heat), Hoopla and his aggressive drummer and guitarist still conveyed the requisite rawness for breakneck originals like “Estella” and Barker collaboration “Smoke Break,” with Hoopla accelerating his contributions from arm waves to stage hops and spins to a backflip off the drum kit for the encore “Hollywood Sucks.” It was the second time he played it in a 43-minute set, but given the screamed catharsis of “I’m moving to Wisconsin,” the home-state crowd was happy to hear it again.

When Harley announced the Veterans Park concerts in January, it said there’d be two local acts to be announced. It ended up booking just one, but Abby Jeanne was a good local representative, dedicating her set to fellow “healing degenerates” with retro-rock originals like the heart-bursting “Cosmic Beings” and guiding Sly and the Family Stone’s “I Want to Take You Higher” with her equally soulful and playful rasp. If you missed out, you can see the now New York-based Jeanne July 25 at the Back Room at Colectivo Coffee.

13 things to expect at the Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival concert in Veterans Park

Friday marked the first Harley-Davidson-sponsored music festival in Veterans Park in 15 years. Day 2 Saturday of the Homecoming Festival's centerpiece will include performances from Foo Fighters, Cody Jinks, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, White Reaper and Ghost Hounds, plus a burger build-off hosted by "The Bear" actor and chef Matty Matheson.

Here are 13 more things you can expect if you didn't go to Day 1.

• Dozens and dozens of beer vendors (lines were never an issue), plus a massive “craft beer hall” tented area

• Absolutely insane lines for band merch and especially Harley merch (Harley fumbled with just one area for those)

• The main stage with the bands, but also a second stage with a DJ

• A stunt show area, with some impressive aerial flips and leaps from the motocross team Nitro Circus (another Wall of Death show was scrapped Friday).

• Plenty of water refill stations, with cold water! (bring empty bottles)

• Locker and phone charger rentals

• A tobacco vendor

• Bleachers near the stage and tents for VIP ticket holders

• A couple of Harley display areas to check out some products

• Some scattered games of cornhole (if only Aaron Jones had been here)

• Free bags of Mission “Racing Style” tortilla chips, with many chips coming in dorky/cute motorcycle shapes

• An impressive slate of largely local food vendors, whipping up the usuals (pizza, burgers, hot dogs, BBQ) and Wisconsin standards (cheese curds, brats). But there's also more exotic fare for a fest setting like steamed bao buns, frozen pudding, Quesabirra and vegan grub from Twisted Plants. I opted for a giant slice of “Eat a Peach” from Pizza Nova, topped with peaches, goat cheese and bacon. Smelled amazing, tasted even better.

• No onsite parking, unless you have a handicap placard or plates or drive a motorcycle. I managed to park at a garage across from the Milwaukee Art Museum with no issues (aside from the long wait to exit), which was a short walk to the festival’s south entrance.

Green Day's Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival setlist

1. "American Idiot"

2. "Holiday"

3. "Know Your Enemy"

4. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

5. "The Grouch"

6. "Longview"

7. "Welcome to Paradise"

8. "Hitchin' a Ride" (preceded by a snippet of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train")

9. "Rock and Roll All Nite" (KISS cover)

10. "Brain Stew"

11. "St. Jimmy"

12. "When I Come Around"

13. "Waiting"

14. "Stuck With Me"

15. "21 Guns"

16. "Minority"

17. "Knowledge" (Operation Ivy cover)

18. "Basket Case"

19. "King for a Day" (with a snippet of "Tequila")

20. "Shout" (Isley Brothers cover)

21. "Wake Me Up When September Ends"

22. "Jesus of Suburbia"

23. "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Green Day kicks off Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival in Milwaukee