Last time I saw Foo Fighters it was an emotional experience, with the then recent and (still to this day) devastating loss of Taylor Hawkins. And it was on that day two years ago that Josh Freese opened the drumming of main set. Therefore, out of all the guest artists, it was no surprise when it was announced who the new full-time drummer would be.
First off, get the negatives out of the way. Negatives! How can any Foo Fighters gig have a negative? Well, Villa Park for a start. I must have drawn the short straw out of the three stands of seating because the Doug Ellis Stand was poor. No food, warm drinks, 50+ queues for the each of the female toilets, most cramped seats in an arena ever, and a rear concourse where several thousand had to navigate and was about the width of my living room. People were getting crushed and having panic attacks, but I was suitably informed by a local, “You think this is bad, you should see it on match days.” The other downside was the sound being a bit iffy. A heck of a lot of feedback to the point I could barely understand a word Dave Grohl said all night. And we all want to hear the Grohl.
Kicking off with All My Life, we then entered more recent territory and songs which were not available or played at the tribute. No Son of Mine and Rescued tell us what every long-lasting fan would want to hear, that new material is as good as anything before. The staples then continued with The Pretender, broken by an interlude of Stairway to Heaven which Grohl threatened to play in full unless a little crowd disturbance ceased. Thankfully, the ploy worked, and we got a mix of hits and new material: Walk, Times Like These, Breakout and My Hero interspersed with La Dee Da, Nothing at All and Under You from the 2023 album, But Here We Are. Also, from that album we had The Teacher. 10-minutes’ long and a tribute to Dave Grohl’s mother who died shortly after Taylor.
Now, the Foos are known for having A-List guest stars at their gigs and this time it was local lad Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath fame (who used to live three streets away). Joining on bass, the crowd were treated to a full-blooded beast of a rendition of Paranoid. There was also another (and more poignant) guest in the form of Taylor Hawkins’ son, Shane Hawkins, last seen at his dad’s tribute in 2022. One month short of turning 18, the energy of his father was there for all to see during This Is a Call, and he looked and sounded as if he would be at home in any top band.
Monkey Wrench, Best of You, These Days and Learn to Fly were there, as was one of my favourites, The Sky is a Neighbourhood. One other song to note is Aurora, Taylor’s most loved Foo Fighters song which is played at all gigs now in tribute.
Rounding off the night was, as always, Everlong, and the crowd went wild. Sound issues and shitty stadium aside, it was a great night and Dave Grohl promised to be back. “As long as you guys keep turning up, we’ll keep playing.” I’ll settle for that. The world is not done with the Foo Fighters yet. Not by a long way.
Cheers.
Antony N Britt - Author 