Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was overwhelmed to see his punk rock opera American Idiot brought to life on stage, calling the new show "pulverising".

The rocker and his bandmates were treated to a preview of the stage spectacular, which debuts at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in Berkeley, California in September (09), and he's full of compliments for director Michael Mayer - the brains behind Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening.

Armstrong says, "It's incredible... I couldn't f**king believe it.... all those voices singing your songs at you. There's no intermission. It's just blasting straight through for 75 minutes... He (Mayer) stuck to the spirit of the record, which is pulverising."

Green Day drummer Tre Cool adds, "It's gonna really kick ass if you're lucky enough to go see it... This is not your grandparents' musical. It's dangerous, it's fun, it's sexy and it's relevant." (KL/WNWC/LR)

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