Foo Fighters would be forgiven if they mailed it in on Wednesday night at a sold-out Fiserv Forum. They were nearing the end of a one-and-a-half year long tour in support of latest album Concrete and Gold. Dave Grohl looked tired and haggard, and as would become apparent as the night wore on, his vocal chords had had enough. But the thing is, they did not mail it in. They delivered a capital-R Rock Show to an adoring crowd.
After working through four new tracks -- which the crowd still ate up every second of -- Grohl insisted they were going to “play a song from every fuckin’ album they’ve ever done.” This was a little white lie, as their self-titled debut was ignored, but that really didn’t matter. Foo Fighters brought along a sturdy collection of alt-rock hits spanning three decades. Whenever you got into Foo Fighters, they had a song for you: “My Hero,” “Learn to Fly,” “Times Like These,” and “Best of You” were all present.
Unbeknownst to me, Foo FIghters like to jam on their songs. It was a neat trick as first -- the song would slow down or instruments would drop out as if the song was over, Grohl would talk to the crowd for a bit before the song would come roaring back -- but they did it on nearly every single song. “Everlong” lends itself to an extended version; I really don’t need to hear six minutes of “The Pretender.”
But the crowd didn’t seem to mind any of this. Dave Grohl implored them to sing along many times, and they obliged. There was gratuitous guitar solos and righteous fist-pumping. A short, spitfire of a woman in front of me was having what looked like a religious experience. Drummer Taylor Hawkins’ drum riser rose up 30 feet in the air so he could perform a solo. At the center of the GA pit, this all swirled around me and I thought it was all…fine? The show kind of bordered on classic-rock cliche and excess (maybe some of it was done with a wink and a nod) -- the 2 ½ hour set could have easily lost an hour and still been excellent. Yet, judging by everyone around me and in the stands, the problem was not with Foo Fighters but with me.
What I did like was how the band genuinely enjoyed playing live and with each other. Several times I caught the aforementioned Hawkins and guitarist Pat Smear grinning from ear to ear, and it was kind of infectious. The band introductions were a highlight for me, as each member got a solo and a cover song. Grohl and Hawkins switched places for a wonderful take on Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure; keyboardist Rami Jaffee took on the Small Faces’ “Stay With Me” and guitarist Chris Shiflett did Alice Cooper’s “Under My Wheels.” The best was saved for last, with a Pat Smear-led, charged-up version of The Ramones’ classic “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
They did a both soulful and reverent cover of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown” during the encore, which was more apt than you might think. Both artists have a bevy of rock singles that will stand the test of time. Their albums are solid if unspectacular with a couple of exceptions. Live setlists are comprised of exclusively greatest hits. But most importantly, both Petty and Grohl and Co. aim to give their fans a great time at their shows. 14,999 fans -- minus this one eternally grumpy 37-year-old* -- would say Foo Fighters did just that.
* 36 years and 362 days as of this writing, if you're being pedantic. You know who you are.
