Foo Fighters Rock Columbus! : Back & Forth & Back For More
Foo Fighters Rock Columbus! : Back & Forth & Back For More by Casey Bowers
Foo Fighters @ Natiowide Arena on Sept. 22, 2011
**Disclaimer**
Any credibility I have as an unbiased music blogger/critic/whatever will forever be sullied with this one but in the name of Rock n’ Roll, I lay down my sword of criticism, dust off my horn of thunderous praise and worship at the altar of almighty Foo Fighters. Everything I type after this sentence should be recognized and accepted or dismissed as a rabid rock band fan’s completely biased rave review of one one of his favorite shows to date.
Two, maybe three songs in, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, and Chris Shiflett are blowing minds and blasting ear drums with a paradoxical combination of surgical precision and unbridled intensity. According to law, this is something only “The Greatest Rock n’ Roll Band in the World” could pull off.
With that in mind, I lean over to my buddy Blair and say “Well, that settles it.”
I’m officially ruined from quirky indie punk upstarts, slacker folk troubadors, and basically all future live shows for some time.
This proclamation of musical domination was reached not even half-way through King Dave and co.’s set. That may seem premature, but judging by web activity, it’s a widely shared belief.
So what made this concert - this 3 hour and change live arena ROCK event - so EPIC?
Between the superhuman playing, singing/screaming, running and head banging, Grohl’s energy level was waaay off the charts and was only matched by his disarming genuineness and genial demeanor.
Taylor channeled Rich, Bonham, Peart, and Grohl himself to unlock Super Drum God Mode and even shone singing his power-pop goodie, “Cold Day in the Sun”; Nate was the perfect study of complete groove control (especially on “These Days”, his best bass line to date); and Chris and Pat‘ s furious shredding and striking (not strumming) provided the smoothness and jagged edges desired and required of Guitars 1 & 2.
Axe battles, traded praise and barbs, jaw-dropping displays of physical prowess, audience command - this show had everything with just the right amount of sincerity and humor dropped in.
That last one is really important and kind of insane if you think about it.
Dave Grohl, based on musical contributions thus far alone has every right to be the archetype sanctimonious and self-important rock star teetering between world savior and colossal douche - but thankfully, he’s not. He’s not Bono and he doesn’t try to be.
As another music freak perfectly pointed out, Dave Grohl takes Rock n’ Roll seriously but not himself. It’s also evident that Grohl knows the important difference between persona and personality, just the same as he knows joking with the crowd and playfully baiting them will buy the band just enough time to wipe the sweat from their brows and/or gear.
And there was plenty of sweat flying from both the stage and out in the crowd (even after they turned the A/C back on). At 3+ (Three!!!) hours with 6 song encore (Six!!!!!!), this was a Marathon of Rock that can’t be fully described or explained.
The sheer magnitude of amplified awesomeness was uncalculacable while the majestic and brutal sounds that both left and filled a gaping hole in my head, left me equally satisfied and lusting for more.
This best live music experience ever was only enhanced by my social media WIN of having my upper bowl tickets upgraded to General Admission floor tickets thanks to Foo Fighters Facebook “Get Me Out Of The Nosebleeds” contest. With every certainty I can say my verdict on this show would have been the same either way but man, was it amazingly cool to be (at times) six feet away from King Dave and see that he was having as great of a time launching into “White Limo” as he was vamping on “Stacked Actors” or effortlessly charging through “This is a Call.” And damn, if he didn’t, it never showed and I loved every second of it just the same.
Take note, cool indie bands. If you wanna stick around (sorry) this is what you should aspire to.
- Casey Bowers
Setlist:
Bridge Burning
Rope
The Pretender
My Hero
Learn to Fly
White Limo
Arlandria
Breakout
Cold Day in the Sun
Stacked Actors
Walk
Monkey Wrench
Let It Die
These Days
Skin and Bones
This is a Call
In the Flesh
(Pink Floyd cover)
All My Life
Encore:
Long Road to Ruin
(Acoustic)
Best of You
(Acoustic)
Times Like These
Dear Rosemary
Breakdown
(Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers cover)
Everlong
(Source: examiner.com)
