Return of The Foos

Thursday, 25 January 2024

Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters performs at the Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch.

On Wednesday night American rock gods Foo Fighters played Christchurch, and fans packed the Apollo Projects Stadium to welcome them. JOHN PEARSON joined the Foos faithful for the band’s first performance in the city since 2015.

REVIEW: Dave Grohl ran out onto an empty stage - all tousled hair, exuberance and a big grin - brandishing his trademark pelham blue Gibson guitar, and flooding the arena with his charisma.

Dave Grohl and his trusty pelham blue Gibson guitar.

The remaining Foo Fighters followed, and the band launched straight into a blistering version of their classic All My Life. The seated parts of the stadium were already on their feet and roaring, and energy levels were set for the next two-and-a-half hours. This being the band’s first chance to connect with its Christchurch audience since 2015, both parties were determined to make the most of it.

Setting the pace

Dave Grohl: foot on monitor for maximum rock ‘n’ roll.

Foo Fighters are a band not short on energy, despite celebrating their 30-year anniversary this year. “We’re gonna be here all night,” Grohl promised as they kicked off their second number No Son Of Mine, hinting at the upcoming 24-song set. They’ve always been keen to give fans value for money, and with 11 studio albums under their belt there’s plenty of material to choose from.

Of course the big hitters such as The Pretender, Learn To Fly, Best Of You et al got an airing over the course of the evening, and naturally landed well with the crowd.

Group effort

Grohl has a reputation as being the nicest guy in the music industry, and he certainly sees Foo Fighters as a collective endeavour rather than The Dave Grohl Show. Early in the set we were treated to an eight-minute interlude in which each of the five other Foos were introduced, with the band jamming a snippet of music that inspires them.

Drummer Josh Freese and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters.

Guitarist Pat Smear gave us a burst of The Ramones’ Bliztkrieg Bop; Nate Mendel banged out the bass intro to Sabotage by The Beastie Boys, with Grohl joining him for that whiny vocal part; guitarist Chris Shiflett got into some shredding; and keyboardist Rami Jaffee brought some trippy psychedelic sonics to the party.

Last came drummer Josh Freese, who replaced Taylor Hawkins following his tragic death in March 2022. Freese has quite the alt-rock pedigree, including spells on the drum stool for Devo, (cue a snippet of Whip It), and Nine Inch Nails.

Much has been made in the press of Freese’s worthiness to replace Hawkins. But his playing across the night spoke for itself, his thunderous double-kick-drum-and-tom fills being used sparingly but to devastating effect.

Passing the torch

As he introduced Times Like These, Grohl commented on the number of young people in the audience. “You’ve got this young generation that likes rock ’n’ roll,” he said before dedicating the song to “the next generation”.

And he was right. Everywhere you looked in the Apollo Projects Stadium on Wednesday night there were families - sometimes parents with pre-schoolers on their shoulders - introducing the young ones to the good stuff, musically speaking.

And all around my seat young families were dancing with each other and smiling, proving that good music is timeless and has the power to span age gaps.

Grohl has a reputation as being the nicest guy in the music industry.

A stadium connection

Around 23,000 of the 24,000 tickets had been sold, and the stadium felt full. With audiences of that scale, it can sometimes be a struggle for an artist to connect individually in the way that they might in a smaller venue. And for a punter sitting high in the bleachers at the back of the stadium, it can be easy to feel isolated from the stage action.

But thankfully the power of Grohl’s charisma and his genuine affection for the band’s audience bridges that gap, and at no point in the long evening did I find myself feeling disconnected, (and I can’t say that for every stadium show I see).

The Foo Fighters crowd at Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch.

Grohl calling out a pair of blokes fighting during the show, telling them to stop and then offering to play them a love song, was classic Dave. And his liberal use of the word “motherf…ers” as a term of endearment for the audience is something that could easily sound contrived, yet doesn’t.

One audience member that Grohl had no words for was the bloke who got naked and climbed on his buddy’s shoulders during Dave’s solo acoustic rendition of the Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners. Well, you only encourage them by acknowledging them.

It’s been real

As he introduced closing track Everlong, Grohl confided that he hates goodbyes and prefers to use that song as a valedictory message. And as he promised that the band will come back if the audience do the same, a pact was made.

Just to make sure that every single member of the audience felt a sweaty Foo Fighters hug before they left, Grohl took the band down the thrust stage into the crowd for a bow, and then ran to the extremes of both stage wings to salute them.

Foo Fighters are always welcome back in Christchurch. And as we always say to old friends, “let’s not leave it so long next time”.