 Foo Fighters ignore sensitive side, rock Key Arena
Sure, the Foo Fighters spent half of their new album “In Your Honor” showcasing their sensitive side with a collection of pretty, mostly acoustic ballads that fill up the second disc. But that clearly wasn't the agenda Wednesday night as they shared the KeyArena stage with tour co-headliner Weezer.
It was time to rawk! And rock the quartet did, galvanizing a big crowd with an invigorating hour and 45 minute set that featured most of the band's hits (sorry, no “Big Me”) and some pretty funny moments thanks to carefree band leader Dave Grohl.
A crescent-shaped video screen ascended slowly to reveal the band – also drummer Taylor Hawkins, guitarist Chris Shiflet and bassist Nate Mendel – as it kicked off with the new album's anthemic title track. Grohl delivered “In Your Honor” with growly earnestness, intermittently letting loose with jarring shrieks that helped establish a rowdy vibe early on.
The band followed with “All My Life,” the frantic lead single from 2002's “One by One” album, and the soaring “My Hero,” which Grohl introduced by asking the crowd, “You guys ready to hear a song I wrote when I lived here?”
It was one of many times the former Nirvana drummer acknowledged his ties to the area. “Now look, I don't want to get all nostalgic and talk about the good old days,” he said after “Best of You.” “But let me tell ya,” he added, with a loud belch, “I don't know what it is about this place that makes me miss it.”
Grohl also dedicated “Up in Arms” to anyone living near 178th Avenue, where he lived before moving back to his home state of Virginia, and jokingly waxed nostalgic about Aurora Avenue and being able to find cheap long johns at Fred Meyer.
“Hero,” “Learn to Fly” and “Times Like These” showcased the band's penchant for churning out catchy, soaring pop. But a grittier number, “Stacked Actors,” provided one of the show's big highlights.
“A long time ago I wrote this song about a total bitch I knew,” went Grohl's introduction to the Courtney Love-inspired tune. The song's grungy loud-soft-loud structure and the grimy riff that serves as its primary hook stood in stark contrast to the slick, arena rock the Foos dished out on their latest effort.
And the song turned into a sweaty, foot stomping jam that featured Grohl racing to the other side of the arena for a little call and response guitar action with Shiflet. “That one changes up every night,” he said after he and his band mates had brought the number home. “You never know what you're gonna get.”
“Cold Day in the Sun” was the only track that made the cut from the unplugged half of the new album. “We don't really do any of the acoustic stuff because it kind of looks dumb (with) lasers,” Grohl said as he introduced the song.
It was actually a beefier take on the album version, with Hawkins taking over on lead vocals and Grohl banging skins. It's always fun to see Grohl behind the drum kit, considering his legacy with Nirvana and how his drumming has taken recent recent Queens of the Stone Age, Garbage and Nine Inch Nails albums to the next level.
Grohl began the last pre-encore song, a stripped down version of “Everlong,” by his lonesome. His delivery was poignant and subdued in contrast to the dreamy, soaring vibe of the version on the Foos' second album “The Colour and the Shape.” Grohl's bandmates crept back on stage in time to add a bit of intensity to the song's finale. It was the best delivery of the evening. And it was hard to imagine the encore being anything but anticlimactic. Still, “Aurora” – a song the band rarely plays -- and grungey closer “Monkeywrench” satisfied.
The Foos' set was a blast. So hopefully he was kidding when he said, “See you in about three years.” But probably not, considering the band's recording pattern to date.
Victoria, BC upstarts Hot Hot Heat got the crowd warmed up with a jangly half hour the band capped off with its debut hit “Goodnight, Goodnight.” Weezer was up next.
This critic's enthusiasm for Weezer does not extend much further than catchy mid-‘90s hits “Say It Ain't So” and “Undone (The Sweater Song),” though he doesn't necessarily flip the channel when rockers “Hash Pipe” and “We Are All On Drugs” (seeing a theme here?) come on the radio. Unfortunately, getting to the songs that rock requires sitting through several quirky but bland emo numbers.
The band recruited a kid named Johnny from the audience to play acoustic guitar on “Undone” – the sort of gimmick popularized by Green Day – and the kid held his own for the most part, with a little coaching from Brian Bell.
Weezer took a bow after that number. Then the band's slouchy, bespectacled leader, Rivers Cuomo, surprised fans by resurfacing on a small platform at the opposite end of the arena from the stage (the same spot where Grohl would later do his “Stacked Actors” bit.)
He kicked off the encore with a solo acoustic delivery of “Island in the Sun.” Then he and his band mates revved things up with “Hash Pipe” before closing with early hit “Buddy Holly.”
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