Security Breach at Green Day Concert Forces Band Off the Stage

Green Day was forced off the stage less than 20 minutes into a stop on the Saviors Tour in Detroit on Wednesday night due to a security breach. The culprit was a drone that someone had flown into Comerica Park, and the concert resumed shortly after.

The moment occurred around 8:50 p.m. as the band was playing their hit song "Longview" off their 1994 album Dookie, when crew members suddenly signaled for them to exit the stage. According to the Detroit Free Press, video screens lit up with the message: "SHOW PAUSE: PLEASE, STANDBY FOR DETAILS." Shortly beforehand, a drone lit up in green could be seen flying overhead in the stadium.

The exact moment was captured by one fan who was recording the concert and posted it to social media. "Green Day just got forced offstage. Some guy ran onstage and said something and they all ran off," the user wrote.

Green Day just got forced offstage. Some guy ran onstage and said something and they all ran off pic.twitter.com/Nl9wsBbgfN

— brah, im an Alpha Dog (they hate this) (@dj_beav) September 5, 2024

About 10 minutes later, the band members returned to the stage but provided no explanation to the tens or thousands of fans. "How you guys doing? Everybody OK?" frontman Billie Joe Armstrong asked the crowd, before requesting that attendees to put their phones away, adding, "Let's be here, right now." The band then resumed with the song in the exact moment they left off.

Armstrong seemingly addressed the incident after their next song "Welcome to Paradise," telling the crowd, "There ain't no motherf--ker that's gonna stop us, I'll tell you that."

"There was an individual that flew a drone into Comerica Park, so Green Day was taken off stage," said Detroit Police Department spokesman Cpl. Dan Donakowski in a statement. "Shortly after that, they went back on stage to perform. DPD located this individual outside of Comerica Park. He is being detained pending further investigation."

Green Day have been performing their seminal, breakthrough album as well as their 2004 album American Idiot in their entirety on the tour for the 30th and 20th anniversary of the respective albums. The show ended just after 11 p.m. with a performance of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" as Armstrong once again referenced the interruption by calling it "a night we're all going to remember."

Following the concert, the band likewise addressed the situation by apologizing to fans on social media.

"Detroit! Sorry for the delay in the show tonight, Stadium security had us clear the stage while they dealt with a potential safety issue," they wrote in a since-deleted post to social media. "DPD quickly resolved the situation, and we were able to continue. Thanks for understanding."