Green Day have diversified into video games and even a hit Broadway musical but the Californian band’s ferocious live show is still the best way to experience their pop-punk tunes.

There were a few thousand empty seats, though singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong — a pint-sized rock star daubed in black eyeliner — worked tirelessly to entertain the 60,000-odd fans who did buy tickets. Some of the more obsessive were invited on stage, where they got to sing with Green Day and perform an obligatory stage dive.

In truth, the cartoon-like band, also featuring bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool, are not the world’s most talented musicians.

Nevertheless, Green Day set the tone with a breathless opening 20 minutes, including the blistering Know Your Enemy.

“This is going to be the best rock ’n’ roll show you will ever see in Wembley Stadium,” bawled the frontman, who demanded we get out of our seats.

It was impossible to refuse a crowd pleaser such as Armstrong, who draped himself in a St George’s Cross from the audience like a man who expects Wayne Rooney to recover his form against Slovenia. The melodic Boulevard of Broken Dreams and 21 Guns were great stadium moments, yet Green Day were just as effective when drawing on more ragged tunes from their early days.

There was some goofing around over the three hours. At one point, Armstrong decided it was a good idea to wear a feather boa and sing Monty Python’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

The finale was fantastic, though, combining the grinding riffs of American Idiot and the acoustic Good Riddance (Time of Your Life). Armstrong declared that he would “remember this for the rest of my f***ing life,” and you didn’t need to have dived from the stage to agree.