Green Day have developed a very sweet, heart-warming tradition on tour: bringing up fans from the crowd to let them strum the guitar part—and occasionally even sing—during their emotional closer, 1997 ballad “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” But during a gig in Luxepo, Luxembourg on June 30th, 2025, the big moment turned awkward after the fan in question failed to lock in on the chord progression—and then seemingly launched into another ’90s acoustic alt-rock classic, Oasis’ 1995 hit “Wonderwall.” We can’t know exactly what was rushing through their mind that night, but it sure looked like an epic case of onstage trolling—and, regardless, the entire world interpreted it that way.
But let’s back up. In audience footage posted across social media, Armstrong scans the crowd and finds the interested guitarist—though there appears to be some confusion over whether or not they could play the song. “This could go really great,” the frontman says. “Or…” After a brief hiccup, the fan starts strumming the primary verse progression: G, C, and D. But when it comes time to switch to an E minor, they get lost and stop, with Armstrong laughing in disbelief (“You told me you could play [the song]!”) and telling them the next chord.
The fan then plays the requested E minor but launches into what sounds exactly like “Wonderwall”—a song that, decades after hitting the Billboard charts, has taken on a second life as a meme. (According to Know Your Meme, “Due to the lasting popularity and easy chord progression of the song, it has been cited as one of the most frequently covered songs in the recent history of contemporary music, while equally mocked for its cliched nature and textbook status among novice guitarists. It’s also associated with the meme and catchphrase “Anyway, Here’s Wonderwall.”) It’s the kind of song a prankster would start playing in this scenario, so everything checks out.
“Oh, fuck me!” Armstrong reacts, apparently realizing what’s happened. “Nice try, nice try.” Security removes the fan, who appears to tell the singer something—but Armstrong winds up playing the song solo, with no fan assistance, except everyone belting along in the crowd.
Given the fan’s specific strumming pattern, it really does sound like they were playing “Wonderwall” here—perhaps an attempt to lighten the mood and make everyone laugh. And even if that’s not the case, they will go down in history as an all-time concert prankster—a hilarious outcome either way. But let’s at least consider one alternative: Perhaps amid the chaos and confusion, Armstrong’s suggestion of the E minor chord pushed the fan to start playing a different Green Day hit, 2004’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” which has essentially the same verse chords as “Wonderwall”—just in a different key. (It’s a very common chord progression.)
Keep in mind, this is just my conspiracy theory. I’m not saying it’s true—I said, “maybe.” Meanwhile, one Oasis member did weigh in on the story: After a fan posted a link to the Luxembourg clip on X, singer Liam Gallagher responded, “Best song of the night.”
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