Green Day will launch its world tour tonight at KeyArena, letting locals be among the first to see the band perform songs from its new opus, “21st Century Breakdown.”
The band, which has been rehearsing for the tour in Seattle since Monday, has gone from snotty punk rockers to rock opera revivalists in the past decade.
That change has attracted new levels of acclaim for Green Day, a group that famously had a mud fight with the crowd at Woodstock in 1994.
It’s also led to some unexpected spin-offs. Songs from the band’s new album and its 2004 release, “American Idiot,” are being adapted into a musical by Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer, of “Spring Awakening” fame.
8 tonight, KeyArena, 305 Harrison St., Seattle; $25 to $49.50; ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.
American Idols Live!: Season 8 of “American Idol” is over, but the battle between finalists Kris Allen and Adam Lambert continues.
Fans can weigh in on the two singers when they perform at the Tacoma Dome as part of American Idol Live!, an annual revue featuring the past season’s top 10 finalists.
Lambert, known for his glam-rock style, lost the “Idol” crown to Allen, a singer with an image as polished as his voice.
Lambert, however, has since graced the cover of Rolling Stone — with a python slithering up his thigh — and seen a collection of his “American Idol” performances hit No. 33 on the Billboard 200, topping Allen’s own, which peaked at No. 50.
7 p.m. Tuesday, Tacoma Dome, 2727 E. D St., Tacoma;; $40.50 to $69.50; ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.
Rise Against and Rancid: Rise Against has a tough act to follow on its co-headlining tour with Rancid.
Rise Against, a hardcore band from Chicago, earned top billing on the tour thanks to politically tinged hits such as “Re-Education (Through Labor)” and “Prayer of the Refugee.”
Co-headliner Rancid, however, are veritable elder statesmen in punk rock.
The group emerged from the Berkeley, Calif., punk rock scene alongside Green Day in the early 1990s, quickly developing a following.
Rancid is touring behind its latest Clash-influenced album, “Let the Dominoes Fall,” which bowed at No. 11 on the Billboard charts, the group’s highest debut ever.
7:30 Monday, WaMu Theatre, 1000 Occidental Ave. S., Seattle; $29.50; ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.
New Kids on the Block: Some said it never could happen. Others hoped it never would.
New Kids on the Block, the 1980s boy band, has reunited, with its five members again offering their guilty pleasures and choreographed dance moves.
The group’s reunion has been a success. Its 2008 album, “The Block,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and reunion dates have found the group playing arena-sized venues nationwide.
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, White River Amphitheatre, 40601 Auburn Enumclaw Road, Auburn; $25.50 to $85.50; LiveNation.com or 877-598-6659.
Duran Duran: Speaking of guilty pleasures from the 1980s, Duran Duran is also hitting the road this summer.
The group, best known for hits like “Rio” and “Hungry Like the Wolf,” have released two albums of new material since its five members regrouped in 2001.
7 p.m. Sunday, Concerts at Marymoor, 6046 W. Lake Sammamish Parkway NE, Redmond; $49.50 to $79.50; ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.
Infected Mushroom: All Music Guide called this electronica act “one of Israel’s key trance producing duos,” which begs the question, does Israel have that many other trance-producing duos?
Regardless, the group’s high-energy live shows have attracted fans around the globe.
8 tonight, Showbox SoDo, 1700 First Ave., Seattle; $25; ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.
Jason Webley: The cult singer and accordion player celebrates his 11th anniversary as a performer with a show in Seattle.
Webley, an Everett resident, began his career as a busker but has since toured worldwide.
8 tonight, Town Hall Seattle, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle; $11; brownpapertickets.com.
In the clubs
Already, critics are calling the Dirty Projectors’ latest album, “Bitte Orca,” one of 2009’s best; tonight, Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., Seattle; $12; ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.
Cracker gave grunge an acoustic twang on 1990s hits such as “Low” and “Get Off This,” 8 p.m. Tuesday, the Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., Seattle; $18; ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.
Shemekia Copeland has created a stir in blues circle with her soul-shouting vocals, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., Seattle; $23.50; ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.
Howard Jones scored poppy new wave hits in the 1980s with “Things Can Only Get Better” and “Everlasting Love”; 7:30 p.m. Monday, Triple Door, 216 Union Street, Seattle; $35; www.thetripledoor.net or 206-838-4333.
Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455, arathbun@heraldnet.com.
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