The Izod Center- East Rutherford, NJ 6/29/08
Having grown up in the midst of Nirvana's explosion into the music scene of the early 1990's, I'll be the first to admit I was never too keen on the Foo Fighters, save for their modern rock radio staples such as "Everlong," "My Hero," and "Best of You." I always thought they were a polished rock band, not as groundbreaking and acrobatic in their sound as Nirvana. Granted, as the drummer for Nirvana, it took major brass tactics for Dave Grohl to come out with his fronted Foos less than 2 years after Kurt Cobain's suicide that ended the band. This was a move I always respected though I was never head over heels for his new musical venture. I have to say though, in listening to more recent sounds of the Foo Fighters, and having seen them perform live, I admit wrongdoing and defeat. And if my 12 year old self could go back to 1995 and witness such an amazing live, raw, rock n' roll spectacle, I would never have had this pro-Nirvana chip on my shoulder for more than a decade.
The house lights dimmed at around 8:45 PM, and Dave Grohl emerged onto the catwalk that extended from the front of the stage all the way to the end of the general admission floor seats. With an obviously loyal fan following, the crowd was deafening as he defiantly strummed his signature classic looking royal blue guitar. They opened the show with "Let It Die" off of their latest album, "Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace," which has to be one of the greatest rock songs of the past 3 years at least. It was hard to believe this was the same group of "Monkeywrench" fame.
Following this with another another recent tune, "The Pretender," which showcased their recent touring addition of violinist/cellist Jessy Greene, it became obvious that this band was much different than the one I initially kept guard of earlier in their career. Grohl has grown from the energetic drummer, then to slapsticky goofball, into a bonafide rock and roll frontman. Having seen such frontmen as Bono, Bruce, Eddie Vedder, and Jon Bon Jovi to name a few, Grohl is just as much the genuine article. His banter with the crowd was ongoing throughout the night and at times projected a repore that transformed the crowd of 20,000 plus into a small club room. The show relied less on visual spectacle and let the music do the talking, especially during their semi-acoustic set halfway through the show.
A stage was lowered from the rafters at the back of the floor and the band convened at it for some of their most emotional bits of the night. The only hint of Nirvana left here was in their performance of "Marigold," a Grohl-penned b-side of the group's "Heart Shaped Box" single back in 1994. Their soft, stripped performance of "My Hero," gave the song the soul of Springsteen and brought the cell phone lights out. The highlight of the night for the rest of the audience had to be "Everlong," which started as Grohl sang solo with a guitar on the acoustic stage. He then bolted down to the regular stage to join the band for it's thundering conclusion.
However, I thought the song that best highlighted the tranformation of the Foo Fighters from their spawn of Nirvana status to where they stand today was ironically one from their self titled 1995 debut album. Grohl again stated the presence of Jessy Greene, the lone female Fighter, and admitted to the audience that he wished this was the way the song was recorded originally. They then went into "Big Me," which everyone knows as the "Mentos Song" due to their parody of the early 1990's candy commercials in the music video for it. The song has now turned into a heartfelt ballad that could be confused for something off of the Robert Plant/Allison Krauss collaboration album, "Raising Sand." The softness of the song that Grohl shared singing duties on with Greene, showed perfectly just how far this band has come; it was only fitting this number opened up their encore. Followed by their second Who cover of the night, "Bargain" (the first being "Young Man Blues") they closed the show with arguably their biggest hit, "Best of You."
In a matter of about 2 hours and fifteen minutes, the Foo Fighters became one of the best rock bands of the past decade in my eyes, and helped to reiterate my belief in the art of the live performance. In an era where unfortunately, image has become everything, this group who mostly donned t-shirts and jeans lacking designer labels let the music do the talking and gave this tri-state audience one hell of a show.
Having grown up in the midst of Nirvana's explosion into the music scene of the early 1990's, I'll be the first to admit I was never too keen on the Foo Fighters, save for their modern rock radio staples such as "Everlong," "My Hero," and "Best of You." I always thought they were a polished rock band, not as groundbreaking and acrobatic in their sound as Nirvana. Granted, as the drummer for Nirvana, it took major brass tactics for Dave Grohl to come out with his fronted Foos less than 2 years after Kurt Cobain's suicide that ended the band. This was a move I always respected though I was never head over heels for his new musical venture. I have to say though, in listening to more recent sounds of the Foo Fighters, and having seen them perform live, I admit wrongdoing and defeat. And if my 12 year old self could go back to 1995 and witness such an amazing live, raw, rock n' roll spectacle, I would never have had this pro-Nirvana chip on my shoulder for more than a decade.
The house lights dimmed at around 8:45 PM, and Dave Grohl emerged onto the catwalk that extended from the front of the stage all the way to the end of the general admission floor seats. With an obviously loyal fan following, the crowd was deafening as he defiantly strummed his signature classic looking royal blue guitar. They opened the show with "Let It Die" off of their latest album, "Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace," which has to be one of the greatest rock songs of the past 3 years at least. It was hard to believe this was the same group of "Monkeywrench" fame.
Following this with another another recent tune, "The Pretender," which showcased their recent touring addition of violinist/cellist Jessy Greene, it became obvious that this band was much different than the one I initially kept guard of earlier in their career. Grohl has grown from the energetic drummer, then to slapsticky goofball, into a bonafide rock and roll frontman. Having seen such frontmen as Bono, Bruce, Eddie Vedder, and Jon Bon Jovi to name a few, Grohl is just as much the genuine article. His banter with the crowd was ongoing throughout the night and at times projected a repore that transformed the crowd of 20,000 plus into a small club room. The show relied less on visual spectacle and let the music do the talking, especially during their semi-acoustic set halfway through the show.
A stage was lowered from the rafters at the back of the floor and the band convened at it for some of their most emotional bits of the night. The only hint of Nirvana left here was in their performance of "Marigold," a Grohl-penned b-side of the group's "Heart Shaped Box" single back in 1994. Their soft, stripped performance of "My Hero," gave the song the soul of Springsteen and brought the cell phone lights out. The highlight of the night for the rest of the audience had to be "Everlong," which started as Grohl sang solo with a guitar on the acoustic stage. He then bolted down to the regular stage to join the band for it's thundering conclusion.
However, I thought the song that best highlighted the tranformation of the Foo Fighters from their spawn of Nirvana status to where they stand today was ironically one from their self titled 1995 debut album. Grohl again stated the presence of Jessy Greene, the lone female Fighter, and admitted to the audience that he wished this was the way the song was recorded originally. They then went into "Big Me," which everyone knows as the "Mentos Song" due to their parody of the early 1990's candy commercials in the music video for it. The song has now turned into a heartfelt ballad that could be confused for something off of the Robert Plant/Allison Krauss collaboration album, "Raising Sand." The softness of the song that Grohl shared singing duties on with Greene, showed perfectly just how far this band has come; it was only fitting this number opened up their encore. Followed by their second Who cover of the night, "Bargain" (the first being "Young Man Blues") they closed the show with arguably their biggest hit, "Best of You."
In a matter of about 2 hours and fifteen minutes, the Foo Fighters became one of the best rock bands of the past decade in my eyes, and helped to reiterate my belief in the art of the live performance. In an era where unfortunately, image has become everything, this group who mostly donned t-shirts and jeans lacking designer labels let the music do the talking and gave this tri-state audience one hell of a show.
Set List:
1. Let It Die
2. The Pretender
3. Times Like These
4. Learn to Fly
5. Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)
6. Young Man Blues (The Who)
7. Long Road to Ruin
8. Breakout
9. Stacked Actors
10. Skin and Bones
11. Marigold
12. My Hero
13. Cold Day in the Sun
14. But, Honestly
15. Everlong (finish with rock version)
16. Monkey Wrench
17. All My Life
Encore:
18. Big Me
19. Bargain (The Who) with Gaz from Supergrass on lead vocals
20. Best Of You
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