I’ve got Another Confession To Make. A Hyperbole Free Review of the First Foo Fighters Show in a LONG Time
I’ve got another confession to make. I went to a concert last night as the COVID-19 pandemic rages. And it was glorious.
The Foo Fighters originally planned a tour to celebrate their 25th anniversary last year following the same itinerary and hitting the same cities as their first tour. COVID had other plans. So they rescheduled and while the pandemic is still among us, and 8,000 fans crammed onto the lawn outside the new Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center in Cincinnati to give the virus a rock and roll sized middle finger.
The new venue is fine, an outdoor stage and a grassy knoll along the river with a sweeping view of the Cincinnati skyline. There is also an indoor theater as part of the complex. The Foos could have played Riverbend and originally this show was supposed to be at US Bank Arena, but this was perfect. A bit more intimate, everyone felt close to the stage. Radkey opened and they were awesome, definitely going to check them out more. The crowd reacted well to these punk rockers, but we were there for one thing, the Foo freaking Fighters.
The band hit the stage at 8:30. Dave Grohl, rock’s kindest god, stood at the front of the stage for about 5 minutes, grinning from ear to ear, his constant companion, that blue guitar slung low around his body. “I’m just going to take this in for a minute. It’s been awhile.” We needed a minute to take it all in ourselves.
From that moment on, 8:30-11, the Foo Fighters didn’t stop fighting. And neither did the crowd. Sure, Dave took a few minutes here and there to introduce the band, to call out some fans, to catch his breath and let us catch ours, but it was a 21 song assault that included new songs, old songs, classic songs, and of course a few covers. Your favorite song was probably played and if it wasn’t there were enough sing along, sorry shout along tunes to keep you on your feet, give you goosebumps, and ensure you wouldn’t be able to speak the next day. I am not sure how Dave does it, screaming for nearly three hours without a crack, a mistake, or blowing out his vocal chords. Standouts of the night from Dave were The Pretender, Rope, My Hero, These Days, Walk, Best of You, and Monkey Wrench. The crowd screamed along with every single word he said.
One particularly magical moment came mid-show during the song Walk. During the lyrics, “
Forever, whenever, I never wanna die
I never wanna die
I never wanna die
I'm on my knees, I never wanna die
I'm dancing on my grave
I'm running through the fire
Forever, whenever
I never wanna die”
there seemed to be a physical and emotional release. The entire audience shouting those words back at Dave almost in response to the last year was overwhelming. I literally sobbed. I don’t want to die. And am glad I haven’t. Yet. This show seemed like a reward for 16 months of wearing masks, avoiding people, washing my hands till they bled, and grieving the loss of 600,000 Americans. We’re not out of the woods yet, but I felt hopeful. At least for a moment. I’ve always loved this song, and now its among my favorites. By the Foos or anyone else.
Dee Gees
There was a fun moment when the Dee Gees made their appearance. Just two songs from the bands latest covers EP, You Should Be Dancing and Shadow Dancing. All of the hot moms and dads around us went bananas for these songs and everyone seemed to have a blast taking a moment to dance their asses off. Everyone except maybe Pat Smear who looked like he was thinking “I was the touring guitarist for Nirvana for Christ’s sake” during these two disco songs.
Taylor Freaking Hawkins
Can we talk about Taylor Hawkins for a minute? I love the guy. Like he might be my favorite person. And this is in a band that includes Dave Grohl. Taylor gets his moment to shine, even his friend Dave calls it out during his introduction; “He likes to hear how many people love him.” And we do. Taylor and Dave switch places and for me it’s the best part of the night. Tonight it was Queen’s “Somebody to Love” and it was GLORIOUS. Taylor can sing his ass off, wears Van Halen board shorts everywhere, and is just the coolest dude alive. He did of course return the love reminding everyone, for a moment while he sings we get to see one of rock’s greatest drummers play. And that always hits me. I get to see the drummer for freaking Nirvana. It’s a fun moment and I am forever a Taylor Hawkins stan.
The band eschewed an encore saying simply they could walk off the stage for a minute and what for the call back, but they wanted to squeeze as many songs in as they could. I called the first encore. Dave walked around and talked to everyone in the band, switched guitars, and hit a note. “Monkey Wrench” I called to my son. Sure as shit they SCREAMED their way through this classic. Then wrapped up with Everlong, of course, as the hour struck 11.
Consumate pros. Rock gods. Cool dudes. This was an epic night. Thank you.
