Live Review: Foo Fighters

The Warriors certainly won’t be playing there anytime soon, but last night the Foo Fighters brought their A-game to the Oracle Arena in front of a raucous crowd of nearly 20,000 fans.

In the midst of a massive worldwide tour, Dave Grohl and company rocked Oakland with a dazzling, well-balanced set list comprised of new material—from their April 2011 release, Wasting Light—older favorites, and some energetic covers of sing-along classics.

They kicked it off with “Bridge Burning,” a frenetic number off the latest album containing the trademark hard-rock guitar leads that made the Foo Fighters a household name. This gave way to “Rope,” one of the more popular newer songs.

The mid-week crowd was only getting warmed-up but clearly they wanted some of the group’s already-established rock anthems. After more than 15 years as a band, the Foo has their fair share and they weren’t afraid to let them loose, launching into a compelling rendition of the ’90s mega-hit, “My Hero,” followed by the ever-explosive “Learn to Fly.”

Always the charismatic frontman, Grohl kept the crowd laughing in between songs with comedic antics. He was assisted in interacting with the masses thanks to an elaborate stage setup that included a protrusion feeding directly into the general admission crowd. His presence was magnified by LED lighting at his feet, 12 gigantic screens hovering above and a phenomenally choreographed light show throughout.

Looking around the arena revealed an overwhelming array of smiling faces. Curiously, some of the only people not overcome with joy were Grohl’s bandmates, including guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett. At times, they seemed to be phoning in their performances, notably during tamer material from Wasting Light. But Dave eventually inserted some much-needed octane into the set, picking things up with a blistering solo trade-off during “Monkey Wrench,” one of the band’s most popular numbers.

The show kicked into interstellar overdrive when they hit the searing, opening notes of “In the Flesh?,” the lead track off of Pink Floyd’s venerated 1980 masterpiece, The Wall. They kept the energy flowing into the set-closer: a roaring rendition of their 2002 single, “All My Life.”

After a short and loud break—during which the crowd showered the band with gracious cacophony—Grohl triumphantly returned to the stage to play an extended, six-song encore. Armed with nothing but an acoustic guitar, he serenaded the audience with solo performances of “Long Road to Ruin” and “Best of You” before the rest of the band joined him for an engrossing take on the 2002 hit, “Times Like These.”  Fans were then treated to an unexpected visit from influential punk/hard-rock guitarist Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü.

Although he was unknown to many in the crowd, Mould’s edgy guitar tones were heavily influential on the Foo Fighters’ sound. He can be heard on several tracks off of their Wasting Light LP. But even for those that didn’t know him, everyone in the sold-out Oracle rose to their feet to sing and clap along to a faithful cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ anthemic classic, “Breakdown.”  During the jam, Grohl—in his signature black attire—informed the crowd that Mould had never played this song before, but he could still tear it apart.

“This is why I love you,” Grohl exclaimed, “you’re a bad-ass motherfucker!”  After setting the Oracle on fire with a raging, closing performance of their biggest hit, “Everlong,” it was clear to see that the elated crowd felt the same way about the Foo Fighters.

Photos from the show.

Comments

  1. The spelling of Grohl’s name has been corrected. Thanks for the comments.

  2. Hey Brad, it’s Dave Grohl. No ‘e.’

  3. Awesome show at the Oracle on Wednesday our evening started out really cool met awesome people in the parking during a pre show beer or two or six :)Sec 104 says Hey!! :)

    Cage The Elephant was insane would definitley pay to see them anywhere!! Was like watching an LA Punk Show really took me back!! Then of course The Foos greatest rock show ever I am still realing from all the entertainment that night thank you Dave an the boys for a fantastic show!!

  4. GROHL! There is no “e” in Mr. Grohl’s name.

  5. You might want to check the correct spelling of Dave Grohl’s name before you print it wrong numerous times throughout your review. And I’m pretty sure Bob Mould only played on “Dear Rosemary” not “several tracks” on Wasting Light. I’m also not so sure he was an “unknown” to most in the crowd. Even if they don’t know him from Husker Du or Sugar, I bet that the majority of that crowd has seen “Back and Forth” and were introduced to Bob during the film. So, it was an awesome treat to have him come out and play. Your assessment of the rest of the band and their “lack of joy” and “phoning in their performances” is a complete load of crap too. If you knew anything about this band you would know that Dave & Taylor are the outgoing, hyperactive “kids” of the group while Nate, Chris and Pat are much mellower personalities and always sit back, play their instruments with quiet passion and watch Dave run around like his hair’s are on fire. Did you take a bathroom break when Dave and Chris were battling back and forth with guitar riffs from opposite ends of the arena? I’m pretty sure Chris wasn’t “phoning” anything in. Your lack of knowledge at the very least with the spelling of Grohl’s last name makes it really hard to take you or your review of their show seriously. I was there and they were awesome but if you’re going to do a review and pretend to be a fan, do your research.

    1. Thank you for your robust critique of my critique. I apologize for the misspelling, since it seems to have troubled you so. You have a point there. Your other points, however, are not as apt. Mould played on Dear Rosemary AND Breakdown. And when I allude to several tracks off of Wasting Light I am talking about the studio album, on which Mould was a guest musician for ‘several tracks.’ I feel as though my review was mostly positive and I mention several times throughout that everyone was having a great time. Finally, and most importantly, I am not pretending to be a fan–I actually know WAY less about this band than you do, for sure. My job is not to be a fan but to be a journalist, which is quite a different set of responsibilities altogether. Thanks again for your input though, I always welcome it.

      1. Alright children lets stop fighting and enjoy the music,Dave said,”we’re not here to fight but to dance”you don’t want him to come down there do you?

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