Green Day at British Summer Time in Hyde Park was officially epic.

Playing to a sold out crowd on Saturday night (July 1), the band - lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong in particular - had thousands of people as putty in their hands for almost two-and-a-half hours.

Billie Joe asked everyone to put politics out of their minds and just come together and have fun for one night.

But he did call for: "No racism, no sexism, no homophobia, and no Donald Trump!"

The sky looked spectacular over the stage on Saturday night (July 1)

His occasional calls to arms against politicians seemed to bring people together, as the huge crowd roared in agreement.

This was repeated when Billie Joe thanked all the other bands who had played at Hyde Park that day with a dig at Justin Bieber, saying it was "much better than what's on tomorrow [Sunday]".

He also dedicated Boulevard of Broken Dreams to "all the weirdos and the freaks, and the strangers, and the metalheads, and the punks, and all the queers, and all the straights, and everyone here tonight".

"This is a place where we can all be free," he said.

However, as great as all the talk was, it was the relentless rock music and pure joy of the crowd that made the night so special.

Green Day played a set with songs spanning almost 30 years, the oldest being 2000 Light Years Away from back in 1991 (that's if you're not counting the cover of Operation Ivy's Knowledge).

There was something for everyone - people in the crowd were wearing shirts from many different tours and albums, most notably American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown and Revolution Radio, and all the hits were there.

Green Day played to thousands in Hyde Park

For anyone who grew up listening to International Superhits! on repeat before delving into other albums and then, later, all the new stuff, it was ideal.

Highlights had to be Basket Case, which the crowd went wild for, and Jesus of Surburbia - because when a band announces something is their last song, what could beat a 10-minute opus!

The band also did their usual trick of getting people up on stage to join in.

One guy sang a verse of Know Your Enemy before getting very overexcited and running to hug all the band members, the next girl absolutely owned the crowd, and finally a 15-year-old girl quickly learnt the necessary guitar chords from Billie Joe and everyone went mental in support.

The crowd had such a mixture of old and new, male and female fans and it felt like everyone was joining together for something special.

Setlist:

  1. Know Your Enemy
  2. Bang Bang
  3. Revolution Radio
  4. Holiday
  5. Letterbomb
  6. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
  7. Longview
  8. Youngblood
  9. 2000 Light Years Away
  10. Hitchin' A Ride
  11. When I Come Around
  12. Welcome to Paradise
  13. Minority
  14. Are We the Waiting
  15. St. Jimmy
  16. Knowledge (Operation Ivy cover)
  17. Basket Case
  18. She
  19. King for a Day
  20. Shout / Always Look on the Bright Side of Life / Teenage Kicks / (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction / Hey Jude
  21. Still Breathing
  22. Forever Now
  23. American Idiot
  24. Jesus of Suburbia
  25. Ordinary World
  26. 21 Guns
  27. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)