Billie Joe Armstrong, frontman of Green Day, surprised fans with a special pop-up show in London with his cover band, The Coverups. The intimate show was held at The Garage, a 600-capacity venue, and featured an unexpected guest appearance by ‘90s icon Courtney Love.
Love joined Armstrong and his band for multiple songs, thrilling the audience with her rare performance. She even teased the possibility of a reunion with her band Hole, exclaiming “Later, I’ll be back in Hole” before exiting the stage. Armstrong also expressed how special the night was, telling the crowd “I told you it was going to be a special night.” Love, who hadn’t performed in some time, jokingly introduced herself as if the crowd may not remember her, saying “My name is Courtney Love. You may not remember me. I’ve been living in a cave in Birmingham for about nine years. We’ll give this a f—ing try, right?” Armstrong was joined by his bandmates, Mike Dirnt, Greg Schneider, and members of the Green Day touring team, including bandmate Jason White, tour manager Bill Schneider and audio engineer Chris Dugan — accompanied Love for the three songs.
The crowd cheered enthusiastically as Love hinted at a potential reunion with her band Hole, which disbanded over two decades ago in 2002 and briefly reunited with a different lineup from 2009 to 2012. However, in an interview with Vogue in 2021, Love firmly stated that a proper Hole reunion is not in the cards. Despite yearly inquiries from their former manager Peter Mensch, Love shared that she is honoured to be mentioned in the same breath as Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, but a reunion is simply not going to happen.
The setlist from the special evening:
A Million Miles Away (The Plimsouls cover)
I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones cover)
Ready Steady Go (Generation X cover)
I Think We’re Alone Now (Tommy James & the Shondells cover)
Message of Love (Pretenders cover)
Summer of ’69 (Bryan Adams cover)
Walking Out on Love (Paul Collins Beat cover)
I Fought the Law (The Crickets cover)
Dancing With Myself (Generation X cover)
Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) (Buzzcocks cover)
I’m So Bored With the U.S.A. (The Clash cover)
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie cover)
He’s a Whore (Cheap Trick cover) – With Courtney Love
Even the Losers (Tom Petty cover) – With Courtney Love
Neat Neat Neat (The Damned cover)
Drain You (Nirvana cover)
Last Nite (The Strokes cover)
American Girl (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)
Love is for Losers (The Longshot cover)
Fox on the Run (Sweet cover)
Rockaway Beach (Ramones cover)
Should I Stay or Should I Go (The Clash cover)
Surrender (Cheap Trick cover) – With Courtney Love
Where Eagles Dare (Misfits cover)