‘90s Alternative Music Revival: The Birth of The ‘’Hella Mega’’ Tour

In an age where the conditions of music genres are evolving, some of alternative rock’s most notable bands are teaming up in an act of musical preservation.

Written by Emma Kjaer

Originally proposed by Green Day’s frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, the 2020 Hella Mega World Tour is set to be a rebirth of early nineties, mid two-thousands alternative rock, with Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer headlining stadiums around the world.

The tour was announced on the bands’ respective YouTube channels in three differently-styled videos on September 10. Green Day released a “deep fake” trailer depicting their lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong, Weezer’s frontman, Rivers Cuomo, and Fall Out Boy’s bassist Pete Wentz as characters from the 2004 film Anchorman, Weezer created an animation of an alien promoting the tour, and Fall Out Boy created a WWE parody promotion. Each band will perform in more than 29 cities around the world.

As a throwback to the 1988 Monsters of Rock Tour, headlined by some of rock’s most famous musicians: Van Halen, Metallica, The Scorpions, Dokken, and Kingdom Come, the Hella Mega tour teams Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer in a “counter-programming to the trend of music production and performance today,” said Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz in an interview with Beats 1.

All three bands aim to bring the original feeling of rock music back to the genre with their new and remastered music set to release in 2020. The albums incorporate metal and hard rock riffs, short/choppy songs, and alternative sounds to their original styles in an attempt to stray from the mainstream, hit-making approach to music that has consumed the industry in recent years.

Green Day’s new album, Father of All Motherf-ckers, is their shortest since their previous albums, Dookie and Insomniac of 1994 and 1995 respectively, consisting of only 26 minutes of music divided into ten songs.

Despite its short duration, the album’s 26 minutes are meant to make the listener feel bad, just as rock music in general is supposed to feel, according to Billie Joe Armstrong, in an interview with KROQ. Green Day’s intent is to bring historically rock-associated elements back to the genre by mixing more garage, Motown, and soul elements with power pop and grunge in a fully-charged way.

“(Rock) has become so tame. Rock acts are trying to look for the feel good song of the year, and everything gets really watered down and wimpy. I feel rock music should make you feel bad,” said Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day’s lead singer, in an interview with Beats 1.

Van Weezer, Weezer’s newest album, marks the rebirth of guitar in rock music, as the band incorporates harmonics, bar dives, and powerful guitar riffs into their new music, said Rivers Cuomo, Weezer’s frontman.

“We just noticed over the last few years, there’d be these moments during the show, unlike in decades past, (when) the audience would go wild when they’d hear (harmonics, whammy bar dive, or a even a little tapping), so we said, ‘geez we should make an album like this,’” said Weezer’s frontman Rivers Cuomo in an interview with Beats 1.

However, Fall Out Boy will be releasing Greatest Hits: Believers Never Die - Volume Two, a continuation of their first compilation album from 2009. “It’s so weird to say it though; it’s a little more like a sampler plate,” says Pete Wentz.

Each of the three bands represent a different time within the alternative rock genre, and together, through the Hella Mega Tour, they are working to revive the classic sound and feel of rock music.