Foo Fighters performed live at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL on January 16 - with special guests Jimmy Eat World and Against Me! Check out the review below from the Palm Beach Post!
Concert Review: Foo Fighters Kick Their Tour Off With A Scream
In the very near future, some industrious someone recording the ever-tumultuous history of rock-n-roll will surely note that one Dave Grohl was part of one of the most important, ground-breaking, elastically stylistic rock bands in history.
No, not that one. The Foo Fighters.
In the two-hour kick-butt party that was the Foo's tour debut Wednesday night at the BankAtlantic Center, Grohl and his merrily emphatic band of men (and one woman) rolled out a never-ending collection of songs that combine poignant melody and passionate screams, ditties suitable for both humming along and head-banging along to. And man, are there a lot of them.
"We've been a band for kind of a (bleeping) long time now. So we got lots and lots of (stuff) to play," said the charismatically scruffy Grohl, who as a frontman has morphed into something of a rock-n-roll P.T. Barnum, albeit an emphatically profane one given to shaking his shaggy head like Animal from "The Muppet Show."
It's true: somehow in the past decade, as rock journalists continuously canonized Nirvana, for whom Grohl played drums in its last incarnation, the Foo Fighters became a reliable musical mainstay. Like Green Day, the Grammy-nominated band is one of the only big '90s bands that has continued to stay relevant by evolving while still staying true to their raucous roots.
The set, proceeded by strong performances by Gainesville's Against Me! and the Foo Fighters' contemporaries Jimmy Eat World, was a break-neck tour through Foo Fighter history. There were selections from the Album of the Year-nominated "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace" like "The Pretender," the anguished "Let It Die" and "But, Honestly" tossed in with older hits like "Times Like These," the stunning "The Best of You" and the jaunty "Big Me."
All throughout the show, the band threw out surprises: a small circular stage that literally descended from above into the floor section for an intimate middle set; a hilarious pre-encore bit where, shown on a screen from backstage, Grohl smoked, drank a beer and let the audience literally beg the band to come back and play some more.
Of course, they were already going to, and part of the Foo Fighter's down-to-earth lack of pretension is that they knew you knew they were coming back. For this tour the lineup includes past guitarist Pat Smear, percussionist Drew Hester, who Grohl joked was about to rock the audience's world with a triangle solo and string instrumentalist Jessy Greene. The new additions melded beautifully with Grohl, drummer Taylor Hawkins, bassist Nate Mendel and guitarist Chris Shifflet, and their chemistry is partly what makes the Foos so much fun to watch.
The other key parts of their success are the strength of the songs — "Everlong," for instance, remains the quintessential rock love song with its sedated vulnerability that gives way to loud, passionate insistence - and the cursing charm and energy of his frontman. The moment that best exemplified that Wednesday night was, again, during "Everlong," which Grohl sang mostly solo, isolated from his band on the small second stage. He sang the heartfelt lover's plea in solitude and in stripped-down fashion - "The only thing I'll ever ask of you/You gotta promise not to stop when I say 'When'" - and then exploded down the long walkway to the main stage to electrify that pleading.
It was heart-rendering, heart-pounding and ear-splitting — all the same ingredients as the Foo Fighters themselves.
No, not that one. The Foo Fighters.
In the two-hour kick-butt party that was the Foo's tour debut Wednesday night at the BankAtlantic Center, Grohl and his merrily emphatic band of men (and one woman) rolled out a never-ending collection of songs that combine poignant melody and passionate screams, ditties suitable for both humming along and head-banging along to. And man, are there a lot of them.
"We've been a band for kind of a (bleeping) long time now. So we got lots and lots of (stuff) to play," said the charismatically scruffy Grohl, who as a frontman has morphed into something of a rock-n-roll P.T. Barnum, albeit an emphatically profane one given to shaking his shaggy head like Animal from "The Muppet Show."
It's true: somehow in the past decade, as rock journalists continuously canonized Nirvana, for whom Grohl played drums in its last incarnation, the Foo Fighters became a reliable musical mainstay. Like Green Day, the Grammy-nominated band is one of the only big '90s bands that has continued to stay relevant by evolving while still staying true to their raucous roots.
The set, proceeded by strong performances by Gainesville's Against Me! and the Foo Fighters' contemporaries Jimmy Eat World, was a break-neck tour through Foo Fighter history. There were selections from the Album of the Year-nominated "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace" like "The Pretender," the anguished "Let It Die" and "But, Honestly" tossed in with older hits like "Times Like These," the stunning "The Best of You" and the jaunty "Big Me."
All throughout the show, the band threw out surprises: a small circular stage that literally descended from above into the floor section for an intimate middle set; a hilarious pre-encore bit where, shown on a screen from backstage, Grohl smoked, drank a beer and let the audience literally beg the band to come back and play some more.
Of course, they were already going to, and part of the Foo Fighter's down-to-earth lack of pretension is that they knew you knew they were coming back. For this tour the lineup includes past guitarist Pat Smear, percussionist Drew Hester, who Grohl joked was about to rock the audience's world with a triangle solo and string instrumentalist Jessy Greene. The new additions melded beautifully with Grohl, drummer Taylor Hawkins, bassist Nate Mendel and guitarist Chris Shifflet, and their chemistry is partly what makes the Foos so much fun to watch.
The other key parts of their success are the strength of the songs — "Everlong," for instance, remains the quintessential rock love song with its sedated vulnerability that gives way to loud, passionate insistence - and the cursing charm and energy of his frontman. The moment that best exemplified that Wednesday night was, again, during "Everlong," which Grohl sang mostly solo, isolated from his band on the small second stage. He sang the heartfelt lover's plea in solitude and in stripped-down fashion - "The only thing I'll ever ask of you/You gotta promise not to stop when I say 'When'" - and then exploded down the long walkway to the main stage to electrify that pleading.
It was heart-rendering, heart-pounding and ear-splitting — all the same ingredients as the Foo Fighters themselves.
Posted by Leslie Streeter
1 comment:
I was sooo there! The acoustic set stole the show!!!
I never knew Dave Grohl was such a bad ass!!!
Myspace.com/marcsolomonrock
Check out some of my instrumental guitar driven funk/jazz songs!!
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