Green Day are midway through their Saviors Tour, which kicked off in May 2024 and is set to wrap at the end of September.
The shows are built around their latest album, Saviors, but longtime fans say the tour feels like a greatest-hits package, with the energy of the band’s early days still very much alive.
Stops have included North America, South America, and soon Canada, with packed stadiums and sweaty crowds singing along to decades of anthems.
But it wasn’t just the music that got people talking after their recent stop in Lima, Peru.
The band decided to jump into the ongoing internet discourse about Will Smith’s tour visuals — and they did it in a very Green Day way.
Green Day trolls AI crowd controversy
On Instagram, Green Day posted a clip of thousands of fans screaming every word to “Basket Case.” The caption read: “Don’t need A.I. for our crowds.”
That one-liner was a clear jab at Smith, who’s been under fire for his own tour content. The Oscar-winning actor and rapper is on the road with his “Based on a True Story” 2025 tour, but his concert footage drew skepticism online. Clips showed fans with too many fingers, blurred hands, and strange visual glitches, all telltale signs of AI-generated crowd shots.
Critics accused him of faking engagement with artificial fans. Smith tried to diffuse the backlash by posting a tongue-in-cheek video of his crowd replaced with giant human-sized cats, joking: “Crowd was poppin’ tonite!!”
Still, Green Day’s post poured more fuel on the fire, making it clear where they stand in the debate.
Green Day is no stranger to mixing humor with sharp commentary.
Earlier this year, drummer Tré Cool poked fun at Charli XCX’s viral “Miss Should Have Been Headliner” Coachella sash by crafting his own “Actual Headliner” sash out of toilet paper.
Fans back Green Day
On Reddit, fans leaned heavily in Green Day’s favor. “Keeping punk alive,” one commenter wrote.
Another added: “Well, Green Day vs Will Smith wasn’t something I’d ever imagined, but I’m here for it.”
Others reflected on the band’s staying power: “Each time I’ve seen them it’s been an out three-hour show that has me exhausted and I have a ton of respect for that work ethic.”
As for Smith, commenters seemed confused as to why he leaned into AI in the first place. “The funny thing is that there was ZERO reason for Will Smith to do the AI thing,” one wrote, noting that the crowds were already real.
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