Watch Green Day Dedicate “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” to Oakland Fire Victims

Green Day are currently on tour behind their new album Revolution Radio. Last night, they performed at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Before playing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” Billie Joe Armstrong paid tribute to the victims of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire, CBS reports (via Stereogum). “These are people that are just here looking for themselves, just trying to have a moment where they could all just celebrate just being artists and being weird and having fun,” he said. The band then dedicated the American Idiot track to the victims. Watch Green Day’s tribute below. Scroll down for Armstrong’s Instagram post where he mourned “this intense loss.”

The Ghost Ship fire claimed 36 lives on Friday, December 2. Among the victims were K Records artist Joey Casio, Them Are Us Too’s Cash Askew, and 100% Silk artists Nackt and Cherushii. In the wake of the tragedy, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced a $1.7 million investment in “safe spaces for Oakland’s artists and arts organizations.” The city’s trio of professional sports teams (the Athletics, Raiders, and Warriors) are raising funds for the victims’ families; find more information here.

Read “After Ghost Ship Fire, Oakland DIY Grapples With a Broken System” on the Pitch. 

it’s been many years since i’ve lived in warehouses and communal spaces like Ghost ship.. those were some of the best and most fulfilling times in my life. living with other weirdos, artists, activists, and musicians.. spaces like this allow the strange ones to thrive and be the people that normal society rejects. we inspired each other, laughed together, and created new friends and family we didn’t know existed. The city of oakland provided that for me and my closest friends. this tragedy hits close to all of our hearts. please do what you can to help heal this intense loss.. more information to come .. let’s take care of each other.. BJ

A photo posted by Billie Joe Armstrong (@billiejoearmstrong) on Dec 5, 2016 at 11:23pm PST

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