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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Super Bowl LX pregame performer Green Day played it safe Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, less than 48 hours after taking aim at U.S. President Donald Trump, and kept politics out of the high-profile appearance.
Performing as part of the run-up to the NFL title game between the Seahawks and Patriots, the veteran rock band was long on energy but short on the political vitriol that has been core to their history, particularly in recent years.
Green Day played a medley of four of their biggest hits: “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life),” “Holiday,” “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams,” and “American Idiot.” There was no mention of anything overly political, however. Most pointedly, the performance cut out two segments—the bridge in “Holiday” and the second verse of “American Idiot”—where the band typically weaves in anti-Trump commentary.
The performance followed an incendiary one the band had Friday night at an invite-only Super Bowl week party organized by Spotify and FanDuel. There, Green Day took sharp aim at Trump and the recent activities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“This goes out to all the ICE agents out there, wherever you are: quit your shitty-ass job. Quit that shitty job you have,” said Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. “Because when this is over—and it will be over at some point in time—Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, J.D. Vance, Donald Trump, they’re going to drop you like a bad fucking habit. Come on this side of the line.”
During “Holiday” that night, Armstrong sang “the representative from Epstein Island has the floor,” referencing the recent release of millions of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.” During “American Idiot,” Armstrong changed a lyric, as he often does, to sing “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda.” Before Super Bowl LX, though, both were cut.
Despite the song changes Sunday, the presence of Green Day previously helped lead Trump to decide not to attend the game. He called the Bay Area location of the game “too far away,” but also said of the band and halftime show headliner Bad Bunny, “I’m anti-them… I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.”
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