There are frontmen, and then there is Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters.
A.K.A. the nicest guy in rock. A man who seems so sweet that butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, yet his speech is liberally peppered with F-bombs. Not that the 50,000-strong crowd in Melbourne minded this at all. Not the grandmotherly lady sitting to my left, nor the cute 9 year-old girl sitting with her father in the row in front. (Incidentally, the older lady knew every word to every song. Impressive).
Dave’s Gibson Trini Lopez DG-335 guitar, in Pelham blue, was used on most of the Foo Fighters’ songs this evening. Topically, it seemed to be forever changing colour; from blue to black, and from white to gold.
The band played a long set. With no encores. (“We don’t do encores”, Dave informed us). “We don’t play for one and a half hours. We don’t play for two and a half hours”, Dave told the delighted crowd. “We play till we can’t play anymore. We’ve been a band a long fucking time and we’ve got a lot of fucking songs!” Unfortunately, due to Etihad’s curfew, the band left the stage almost on the dot of 11pm, just shy of two hours and 45 minutes.
Some songs were stretched out for longer than others. ‘Monkey Wrench’ turned into something like Derek Small’s ‘Jazz Odyssey’, lasting almost 12 minutes.
Dave then took to the lengthy catwalk to perform a solo acoustic set of ‘Skin And Bones’, ‘Wheels’ and ‘Times Like These’, before the band suddenly appeared behind him on a rotating stage.
They played some covers; ‘Detroit Rock City’ (KISS), ‘Stay With Me’ (The Faces) and ‘Let There Be Rock’ (AC/DC), before Dave invited a young couple on stage for a marriage proposal. When the bride-to-be accepted, Dave cheerfully announced, “Congratulations. Get the fuck off my stage!”
They then went into ‘Under Pressure’ (Queen and David Bowie) with drummer Taylor Hawkins taking on the role of Freddie. Taylor is considered one of the finest sticksmen of our generation and it’s not hard to see why.
Returning to the main stage for the final set, including singles, ‘All My Life’, ‘These Days’, ‘Best Of You’, the Foos finished up with a rousing rendition of ‘Everlong’.
There was apparently a storm raging outside during most of the gig. However, no one inside the packed stadium appeared to notice.
Foo Fighters, Melbourne, 28 February 2015
Something From Nothing (from Sonic Highways, 2014)
The Pretender (from Echoes Silence Patience & Grace, 2007)
Learn To Fly (from There Is Nothing Left To Lose, 1999)
Breakout (from There Is Nothing Left To Lose, 1999)
My Hero (from The Colour and the Shape, 1997)
Big Me (from Foo Fighters, 1995)
Congregation (from Sonic Highways, 2014)
Walk (from Wasting Light, 2011)
Cold Day In The Sun (from In Your Honor, 2005)
This Is A Call (from Foo Fighters, 1995)
Arlandria (from Wasting Light, 2011)
Monkey Wrench (from The Colour and the Shape, 1997)
Skin and Bones (from Skin and Bones, 2006)
Wheels (from Greatest Hits, 2009)
Times Like These (from One By One, 2002)
Detroit Rock City (Kiss cover)
Stay With Me (Faces cover)
Let There Be Rock (AC/DC cover)
Under Pressure (Queen + David Bowie cover)
All My Life (from One By One, 2002)
Outside (Blood Stain Child cover)
These Days (from Wasting Light, 2011)
Generator (from There Is Nothing Left To Lose, 1999)
Best of You (from In Your Honor, 2005)
Everlong (from The Colour and the Shape, 1997)
Foo Fighters are touring Australia and New Zealand for Frontier Touring.
Foo Fighters remaining dates
March 2, Tasmania, Derwent Entertainment Centre
March 4, Adelaide, Coopers Stadium
March 8, Perth, nib Stadium
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