After giving what was described by Billboard as a, “lackluster first weekend set,” the Replacements started off the second weekend with a special gift for the Coachella crowd, Billy Joe Armstrong. With Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg sitting on a sofa, playing guitar, and sitting up every once in a while to add vocals, the band enlisted the legendary Green Day frontman to lead the set.
With Westerberg taking the back, after complaining of throwing his own out, The Replacements brought Armstrong out early. Playing for the whole set, Billie Joe did well on some of the fan favorites like “Color Me Impressed,” “Can’t Hardly Wait,” and “Alex Chilton”, while falling a little short on some, provoking bassist Tommy Stinson to joke with him saying, “You’ll get it Billie, it’s in E like all the others.”
Rocking the festivals second weekend of ticketholders with more of their gems such as “I’m In Trouble,” “Kiss Me On The Bus,” “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out,” “I Don’t Know,” and “IOU.” With the crowd more invested and the attendance much higher than the first week, which was the band’s first California appearance since 1991, Westerberg referred to Armstrong’s addition as an “expansion” of the band.
Exclaiming, “Dreams really do come true!”, Armstrong seemed excited to be fronting a band that influenced his own music. Although sporting a full beard, and shaggy hair, Armstrong joined the band, who looked much nicer than the week before, wearing matching tan suits, except for Westerberg who wore sneakers, and a khaki jacket with a giant P on it.
Although the fans seemed to poke fun at Westerberg sitting on the couch, then standing for the last three songs, with the inclusion of Billie Joe Armstrong, the performance can only be described as victorious.
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