The Foo Fighters – Live at the Key Arena, Seattle
The Bar has now been set!
Back in March I wanted to try and catch the Foo Fighters show here in Vancouver. I missed out on getting tickets and was choked. Shortly after that tickets went on sale for a show in Seattle. I was on it like a fly to foo and last night I was able to see a band I’ve waited a long time to see.
To start the night off, we got there just as the first band went on and what a surprise. To my amazement it was another band I also enjoy, Seattle’s Minus The Bear. After a short but well delivered set there was the standard quick change-over and Supergrass came on. These boys from Oxford came to rock as well and hammered out some straight-up Rock”n” Roll to ramp up to what will for a long time be the best show I’ve seen.
The Foo Fighters have now secured a spot in my top three bands. Led Zeppelin, The Police and Now the Foos. Although I will say this. I never got to see Zeppelin live, I saw the first two Police reunion shows and as far as live shows go, The Foos are now at the top of my list.
New bands, Up and coming bands, old bands that need something new to think about, take note of the next part. Better yet, go see the Foo’s show when it hits your town. The show last night blew my mind, here’s why.
The Foo Fighters came out blazing, playing hit after rock hit. The band was incredible as expected and Dave was all over the stage and up and down his “ego” ramp which spanned the length of the floor. After about 45 mins, (which lately seems about the half way point of any show) Dave Grohl takes a break to say “Hello”. He asks how everyone is, and in his genuine comedic persona makes everyone glad that they’re there (as if we weren’t already). As he talks about the show he states that they are “just getting started”. Yes, that’s correct. Where most bands are launching into their last four or five songs the Foo Fighters are just getting started. As Dave put it, “There’s no hour and half bullshit going on here tonight”.
So with that in mind the band plays a few more rock numbers and slows things down. This is when, out of the blue a second circular stage complete with needed musical gear lowers from the rafters of the Key Arena and settles snugly at the end of the “ego ramp”. The “shitty seats” as Dave put it, just became the good seats for next 45 minutes worth of semi-acoustic Foo Fighter hits. Now I say semi-acoustic only because Dave played an acoustic guitar. The fact is, the whole “Skin & Bones” band was on this stage. All the Foos plus a keyboardist, violinist, and percussionist.
After playing the acoustic portion of the show and making their way back to the main stage and kicking some more ass the main part of the show came to a close with “Aurora”. After a short break the stage video screens light up with a handy-cam shot of the nights set list from somewhere backstage, then pans up to Dave’s crazy mug in all the glory that is night vision. He entices the crowd by eluding to how many songs they should do for an encore by holding one, two, then getting to five fingers. The band comes back on and finishes off with more songs and stories by Dave. They didn’t come back, play three songs as fast as they could and leave the stage like so many bands do but actually enjoyed their encore, embracing it as another chance to interact with their fans. They finished the night off with one of my favorites, “Best of You”. My hat goes off to any guy that can sing for three hours then step up and finish the night off with a song that requires you to scream your fucking lungs out.
The Foo Fighters are in my top three for three reasons. They write from the gut, they play from the heart and Dave Grohl sings with every ounce of his being. He is a true musician and a true performer, end of story.