Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and his cover band, The Coverups, played a secret show in California this week which included some classics.
As Rolling Stone reported, fan-shot footage captured highlights including blistering takes on Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust,” and a surprising rendition of Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69.”
For the uninitiated, The Coverups are something of a Green Day extended family affair. The lineup features Armstrong on vocals, Green Day’s touring guitarist Jason White, tour manager-turned-bassist Bill Schneider, and audio engineer Chris Dugan on drums. Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt was an original member but hasn’t performed with the group since 2019.
The band formed back in 2018 and has a history of popping up for surprise gigs in small Californian venues, playing at least one show a year since their formation (with the obvious exception of 2020).
The gig comes after Green Day performed at the Super Bowl last month. While the band skipped overt political commentary during the televised set itself, Armstrong had stirred up conversation just a couple of nights earlier at a Super Bowl party in San Francisco. At a Spotify-backed event just days earlier, he directly challenged ICE agents with a poignant message.
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“To all the ICE agents out there, wherever you are,” he said from the stage, “quit your shitty-ass job. Quit that shitty job you have. Because when this is over — and it will be over at some point in time — Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller, JD Vance, Donald Trump, they’re gonna drop you like a bad fucking habit. Come on this side of the line.”
