When you watch Dave Grohl running around the stage, wearing a massive grin, you can’t help but imagine he’s channeling his 15 year old self, going – “hey buddy, look how cool it is! Your dreams are totally do come true!” Maybe that’s how Dave has kept it real all these years. But however he’s done it, it’s mesmerizing, it’s awesome.
It’s rock and roll.
Things kicked off with Melbourne’s Stonefield, filling the local quota for the (early) evening with style. They filled the stadium with their brand of 70s circa rock and roll with ease, with tracks like “Black Water Rising” getting the crowd particularly in the mood. Overwhelmed by the occasion, the drummer and lead singer of the group, Amy Findlay, could only say: “We’re playing in a Stadium with the Foo Fighters…. Wow”. But what more would you need to say? A momentous occasion, but something tells me it won’t be the last time we see the young girls grace a stadium stage. Let’s just hope they weren’t too corrupted backstage. “Through The Clover” ended the set.
Faces were a bit confused when Toronto Polaris Prize winners Fucked Up took to the stage. Especially considering it was the second verse of the first song (if that!) which saw lead singer Damian Abraham aka Pink Eyes take off his shirt, exposing all to a rather unattractive figure. Some were horrified, but I definitely feel that most attendants “got it” and went along for the ride. Speaking of which, Damian used the rain as an opportunity to belly slide across the stage. Never ceasing to sing, even for a moment. Awesome.
It wasn’t long before he made his way into the crowd, crushing beer cups on his head and posing for photos with people in the crowd, all while in the middle of tracks like “The Other Shoe” (with the infectious chant ‘dying on the inside’) and “I Hate Summer”, both of which he had the crowd chanting along to. He didn’t just run around the mosh pit area, mind you, Damian jumped up into the side seats, ran up the back and up with the fans in the back standing area. That’s one energetic man, screaming and singing entertaining punk rock songs to a crowd who seemed to have little idea what they were in for. Anyone who can’t see the value in that shouldn’t be heading along to live shows, really.
The crowd finally started filling up for Tenacious D – after all, “Tribute” was pretty much the biggest song in Australia for about 3 months the year it came out, and they sure don’t tour here as often as they probably could. Opening with “Kielbasa” it only took one song for Kyle to quit the band, and they embarked on the usual rhetoric they’re known for. There were some awesome interpretive metal dances thrown in, along with new songs “Roadie” (as the camera crew showed us the roadies backstage) and their environmental masterpiece: “The Earth is Turning to Shit”. Methinks we may be hearing a new album from them in 2012. I assume it will relate to the pending apocalypse… just throwing it out there.
“Tribute” got the whole crowd singing, as did “Fuck Her Gently” and “Dio”, but it was the including of “Beelzeboss” that separated their Sydney show from the rest, after giving in to the demands of the crowd. Nice guys, really. Though Tenacious D may be seen by many as a bit of a token comedy band, in actual fact they’re entirely competent musicians, with a fantastic backing band, and more than anything else: excellent showmen. They boys would be back later with the Foo Fighters (I was hoping they’re reenact “Low”, but no luck there…) and Jack promised they’d be back to Australia soon with “all the toys”, as tonight was a stripped back encounter, but with the crowd filling to capacity I don’t think any of them minded. As Jack himself said “We shall supply the lightning, and the Foos shall supply the thunder”. Brutal.
As the clock hit 7.50 on the dot, the cheers of the crowd could be heard from space as Dave launched onto the stage into the always epic opener that is “All My Life”, and the rain seemed to stop, as though the heavens were to say “this one’s for you, Dave”. For so many, he is the king of modern rock music, dareisay a God – and certainly a hero to many. The Wavves track “I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl” is a pretty good indication as to the sentiments of many in the music industry. He’s the epitome of why so many of us got into the music business, pulling out great music, becoming a leader of the genre, and, most importantly, just being a down to earth nice guy. I think this has something to do with the whole 15 year old thing I mentioned earlier.
The setlist, which you can see below, was pretty much the standard fare of the entire tour of Australia, with the exception of the second Melbourne show. “Rope”, “My Hero”, “Learn to Fly”, “White Limo” and “Arlandria” made up the first portion of the set, with the majority of the set focusing on the back catalogue. This is a band who knows how to please in a two and a half hour set.
Surprisingly, for a stadium show, there were less bells and whistles than what we’ve seen at the Acer Arena in the past. There were no lasers and there was no stage falling down from the heavens, but there was an AC/DC inspired rising platform in the middle of the arena that Dave used to jam during the reintroduced back-and-forth jam off during “Stacked Actors”. “Monkey Wrench” was another old favourite performed in epic proportions, with a massive interlude of lights thrown in as we chanted the famous lyrics. “These Days”, off the new record, saw us potentially included in the new music video”, while their Pink Floyd cover “In The Flesh” (which non The Wall fans probably wouldn’t ave known) and “Best of You” closed the set.
They returned after Dave got the crowd pumped up from backstage, using a night vision camera, before sculling a beer and then running back to the middle of the arena for acoustic versions of “Wheels” and “Times Like These” – though this track switched into full band mode before it was all over. “Generator” made a fair few teary as it’s been a while since this track has been a part of their sets, and for myself reminded me of getting into the band in the first place some 13 years ago. The night ended right on curfew with Jack and Kyle of Tenacious D joining the band on stage for Queen’s “Tie Your Mother Down” and then the always crowd pleasing “Everlong” (original electric version) set us all on our ways, again making some of us a little emotional.
This was hands down the best stadium show Australia has seen this year. And why wouldn’t it be? Dave Grohl is a king of modern rock music, there is absolutely no denying it – but it’s the Foo Fighters as a unit that hold the crowd as the proud ambassadors of the rock and roll. And as the crowd chanted Dave, Dave, Dave earlier in the set, he cheekily commented: “please stop applauding, I hate the attention, I hate being famous”, and I do believe there’s a bit of truth in this. All he wants is to play music and have people enjoy it, and though he promised to return next time with some smaller shows “down at that smaller venue you saw us at 10 years ago…”, something tells me that this band is only going to keep getting more attention and keep getting more famous. And if there’s any band who can wear that weight on their shoulders, it’s the Foo Fighters.
