Since You Hate It So Much
During a concert in San Francisco earlier this month, the frontman told the audience: “I hate Las Vegas. It’s the worst shithole in America”
Billie Joe Armstrong knows his enemy — and it’s Las Vegas. Earlier this month, while performing in San Francisco, the Green Day frontman aired out his frustration with MLB team owner John Fisher, who made the call to move the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas. His rant included, among other things, the straightforward declaration: “I hate Las Vegas. It’s the worst shithole in America.”
Las Vegas can’t claim to be the biggest Green Day fan either, or at least not if two local radio stations there have anything to do with it. KOMP 92.3 announced on Instagram that it would be pulling “any and all” Green Day songs from its playlist rotation. “It’s not us, Billie…it’s you,” the station captioned the post. X107.5 followed suit, sharing in a statement on its website: “In response to Armstrong’s inflammatory comments, the station is banning all Green Day music, effective immediately.”
X107.5 added: “Sin City heard him loud and clear—and X107.5 is not having it.” It’s unclear how much airplay Green Day was getting on these stations prior to the reactionary bans, or how long the stations will hold out before throwing them backing into the mix. X107.5’s most recently played tracks include songs from Sublime, Sum 41, Arctic Monkeys, and the Offspring.
Earlier this year, Green Day’s Saviors single “Dilemma” hit Number One on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay and Alternative Airplay charts.
Armstrong thinking Vegas is a total hellhole of a city hasn’t stopped him from showing up for the Green Day fans there. Last year, the band performed an intimate secret concert at the Fremont Country Club as part of the small-venue tour that preceded this year’s stadium run. They also headlined the 2023 iteration of the annual nostalgia-fest When We Were Young, which is held at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.
