With the speakers blaring the Village People's "Y.M.C.A.," someone in a pink bunny costume came on stage to lead the crowd through the song's familiar dance moves, and stayed there through a fist-pumping version of The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop."

The silliness did not let up once Green Day - singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool - took the stage. Crowd participation was the rule, whether through sing-alongs, screaming competitions between different sides of the venue, Super Soaker water fights led by Armstrong or one interlude when young musicians were pulled from the audience and told to take over on Green Day's instruments. The Green Day guys might be older, but they still know how to turn a show into a party.

The music, though, was the main draw, and Green Day was super-tight throughout a set that included generous portions of "American Idiot" among its familiar canon of hits from the past decade.

After opening with the potent punk blast of the new album's title track, the band tackled "Jesus of Suburbia," a challenging five-part mini-suite that came off perfectly. Whether delivering dead-on vocal harmonies on that power-pop gem or angst-ridden punk outrage on "I Don't Care," the band nailed this 10-minute epic, aided by three additional musicians filling out the sound.

Other than a couple of anti-George W. Bush asides toward the end of the show, Armstrong never got more political than in his terse introduction to "Holiday," another song from "American Idiot."

"This song is not anti-American," he yelped. "It's anti-war!"

The middle of the show was given over to older Green Day tracks, and they were met with at least as much enthusiasm as the "American Idiot" material. "Longview" featured furious bass-riffage from the hyperactive Dirnt, while "Hitchin' a Ride" had a prolonged mid-song breakdown to allow Armstrong to beseech the crowd for physical affection in ways that would make the Moral Majority cringe.

Armstrong dedicated the powerful "Wake Me When September Ends" to Johnny Ramone, the punk legend who died earlier this fall, and worked "Minority" into an extended jam before launching the encore with another worthy "American Idiot" cut, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

The encore also included "When I Come Around" and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," but its true highlight was a spot-on version of Queen's "We are the Champions," with Armstrong revealing a stellar falsetto.

For some punk bands, covering a song by one of the most pompous rock bands ever would be sacrilege, but for Green Day it was just more good, clean, super-soaked fun.