TORONTO -- In the end, it was worth the wait. Last night, punk popsters Green Day and Blink-182 took the stage at the Molson Amphitheatre on the Toronto stop of their Pop Disaster Tour.

But if you were a little tardy in getting to the venue -- such as yours truly -- you had to endure: A massive traffic jam heading to the Amphitheatre; a seemingly interminable wait in an endless lineup once you got in; and another long delay while you got your bag checked.

All told, I was held up -- as were many other concertgoers -- for roughly an hour before I actually sagged into my seat. Still, the long wait didn't dim the mood of the rabid -- and mostly teenaged -- audience.

"I'm the biggest (Green Day) fan ever!" exclaimed 17-year-old Lisa Krawchuk, who also said some other things better left to the imagination. Suffice it to say that Green Day latched onto that vibe and ran with it, rocking out the sold-out crowd of 16,000 with a raunchy, naughty, expletive-laden but absolutely thrilling set.

The seminal neo-punk trio, consisting of guitarist/vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool, had the screaming crowd completely under their control. Armstrong was like a man possessed as the band launched rapidly from one song to another. He kicked, jumped and ran across the stage; he perched himself atop the speakers and sprayed moshers with water from his supersoaker.

He even groped himself -- much to the audience's delight.

The band performed most of their hits, including such favourites as Longview, Basket Case, When I Come Around, Minority, Hitchin' A Ride, Brain Stew and She. Before launching into Welcome To Paradise, Armstrong paid homage to one of his punk predecessors, Dee Ramone,the bassist for the Ramones who was found dead earlier this week.

After the smoke cleared and their electrifying set was finished, the only question that remained was whether the crowd would have anything left for Blink-182. The answer: Don't ask stupid questions.

When the Sacramento threesome, made up of bassist-vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist-vocalist Tom DeLonge and drummer Travis Barker, took the stage, it was clear who this massive throng of teens had come to see.

The crowd stood for the entire set, singing along to songs such as What's My Age Again, All The Small Things and even O Canada.

The notoriously juvenile trio were up to their usual pranks -- lots of talk about masturbation and penises, etc. And even though this wore thin, and their instruments often drowned out their voices, the crowd more than made up for it with their enthusiasm.

But this night belonged to Green Day -- the old guys who showed the pups how it's done. (More on Green Day and Blink-182)

JAM! Rating: 4 out of 5