A concert. Is where teenagers go to get drunk, throw up middle fingers, body surf, do mexican waves and have a fucking awesome time. The last day of the Australian Foo Fighters In Your Honor tour, here in Melbourne was no exception. With a packed Rod Laver Arena, the Foo Fighters rocked it up on the last day of their In Your Honor tour here in Australia.
The opening show was Nation Blue, a seriously loud 3 piece band who must have really rocked the first night because tonight one of them came in crutches. As Dave put it, they really put new meaning to ‘break a leg’. Although appreciably musical, at times I had this strange feeling in me to get up and and tell them to “get off the stage ya cunts”. But yes, good show lads. At least I didn’t have that thought running in my head with the rest of the concert.
But really, we have to appreciate a band who goes out of their way to bust a knee to please a crowd. The guitarist who kept flinging his guitar around however, should probably stick to keeping it in his hands and actually playing something instead of having it out of his reach.
Then we had the British lads the Kaiser Chiefs. With a name like that I was half expecting them to greet us in German. But otherwise naw. They seemed like nice Brit chaps. Potential posterboys for the GLBT movement. But I’m being harsh over choice of clothes. The Chiefs put on a good show, belting out quite a performance which is admirable. If they came by again I’d be sure to attend. The Foo Fighters handpicked these fellows because they genuinely like their music. So Dave says. The Kaiser Chiefs had a choice to go with two groups to Melbourne, U2, or the Foo Fighters. Aren’t we glad they came with the Foo Fighters, as Dave started mimicking U2’s frontman Bono as drummer Taylor started up the drums to the sound of Sunday Bloody Sunday. “This is not a song about a rebellion”, to the amusement of those who got it.
The Foo Fighters started out this concert strong and kept plugging at it all the way through. With songs new and old, it was a flashback for old fans and a baptism for newer ones. A 10 year anniversary of the formation of the band, they really threw in a song from practically ever CD produced. In Your honor, Big Me, All My Life, My Hero, they played just about every song to singalong. It felt, pretty much like a Foo Fighter sing-a-long the whole while.
They showed just how adept they are at what they do, as Dave ran to the otherside of the arena and started shred away on his guitar, only to have guitarist Chris shred his guitar as well, mimicking him and adding more. A guitar duel, was on the way. But just as quickly as it started, it ended with Dave running down the side of the moshpit back on-stage to showcase drummer Taylor’s ability. To drum, that is. And quite an impressive show he put on. Several minutes worth of drum solo and then Dave Grohl comes out talking about how great his bandmates are, from Chris, Nate and to Taylor. He went on to say that Taylor could do a drum roll one handed. And he did just that, as the Foo frontman went on to suggest how he’s able to do that by a little pump action, or practice with shaking hands with Mr.Benjamin. But their ability did not stop there as Chris and Dave switched places for the song Cold Day In The Sun. Admittedly Chris looked strange actually, with his red singlet, shorts and white socks as he strummed the guitar and sang that song. Being behind the drums all the time does that to you, I guess.
They rocked on for about an hour or so, and suddenly went backstage, much to the puzzlement of the crowd, which started cheering and clapping in hopes it draws them back out for an encore. Eventually they did, obviously tired from much screaming, Dave was holding on to some beer in a plastic cup. He really knows how to play with the crowd, getting into a little shouting match with the arena over whether to give up his beer to the moshpit.
That said, he engages with the crowd rather often, cracking a joke or two now and then. Which really should be par for the course with any concert. “I thought we were friends?” said a quizzical Dave Grohl as the packed arena crowd said yes to music but no to Dave talking. Eventually he did talk about his thanks. Which we do have to be thankful for, especially the people that brought them here for us.
There was an inkling of playing a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven, but sadly no luck. “Nobody fucking remembers the lyrics man” says Grohl as he searches for a Zeppelin song to cover, but eventually ends up playing his own tune, Big Me.
The musical tour-de-force ended a bit earlier than hoped, with sample favorites from all albums but not much else. We can’t expect them to play ALL their songs, but it was cool, how the last song they did, was a solo Dave on the guitar, slowly singing Everlong, which reached a euphoric high when the band joined in near the end and come out leaving the crowd in awe, as with every other song they did.
As much as one and a half hours worth of Foo Fighters doesn’t seem enough, I believe we came out with what will undoubtly be an unforgettable experience. As Dave said, he’s just an ambassador out to spread the good word. Of Rock n’ Roll. Rock on, good man.
