THE FOO FIGHTERS LIVE AT THE “AMP”
If you haven’t seen the Foo Fighters live, go see the Foo Fighters live.
Just in case this is where you stop reading I have made my point. In 2015 I went to the Firefly Festival in Delaware with my son Jagger to see them live for the first time. I had always been a fan but was married and didn’t get to as many shows as I may have liked. Newly divorced the concert train had begun. I never understood the Deadheads just following the same band around until the moment I saw the Foo Fighters live. Jagger and I once saw them 4 times in 10 days and I was bummed after the 4th show that I wouldn’t be going to another one soon.
Friday night at the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater may have been the best show yet. I know I may be a little biased, I have a forearm Foo Fighters tattoo and am a big fan but the crowd seemed to agree. The “Amp” was rocking, even the people up in the skyboxes were outside their suites standing for the whole show. Jagger prompted my to make our way as close to the stage as we could because as he said “It is the Foos“. Very grateful for those words of wisdom.
Like him or hate him, Dave Grohl is a showman. He played every instrument for the Foo Fighters first album and is clearly the star of the band he has assembled. Class of 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees include Chris Shiflett on lead guitar, Nate Mendal on bass, Pat Smear on rhythm guitar, Taylor Hawkins on drums and Rami Jaffee on the keys.
The show opened with “Times Like These” which impressed the people around me as that was my predicted opening song. “The Pretender” followed. We have a running joke in my family about how long the band will take to play this one. It came in at a little over 9 minutes Friday which is one of the shorter versions I have heard live. ” Learn to Fly” was followed by a couple of newer songs ” No Son of Mine” and “The Sky Is a Neighborhood “.
” Rope” broke up the string of newer hits and was followed by ” Shame Shame”. If possible the new songs sound better live than on the album but that could have also been due to the adrenaline rush. “Breakout”, “My Hero” and “These Days” were up next and then the title track to the newest album, “Medicine at Midnight” followed by “Walk”.
The band then had a little fun playing off their Hail Satin album of Bee Gees covers as the Dee Gees. Band intros were included in ” You Should be Dancing” and Grohl’s falsetto actually sounded pretty good. I like the way the Foo Fighters work their intros along with short solos for each member. As this was the last night on this leg of the tour, Pat Smear’s son Patrick played his solo for him with a great rendition of “Cat Scratch Fever”. Taylor Hawkins comes down to sing for his moment in the sun and covered Queen’s “Somebody to Love”.
For me a highlight of Hawkins singing is that Grohl is the drummer for this song. As Jagger pointed out he only has to drum for about 5 minutes and he uses that time to go hard. “All My Life” and “This Is a Call” were next. The band went deep in the catalog for “Aurora” probably so they could see who the real fans were. Grohl explains early in the show that they will not make believe they are done and then comeback for an encore, they are just going to play. The final 3 songs of the night did not disappoint as “Best of You” was followed by “Monkey Wrench” and the night was capped off with “Everlong”
If you have read this far and haven’t seen the Foo Fighters live, go see the Foo Fighters live!
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