 Foo Fighters, Weezer Co-Headline National Tour
On tour across the States right now is one of the biggest alt-rock billings that you're likely to find for some time. It may feel like a flashback to the late '90s, but the Foo Fighters and Weezer have teamed up for a nation-wide co-headlining arena tour, and have brought along some semi-promising newer acts such as the Hot Hot Heat and the Kaiser Chiefs along to open for them. But even for such an impressive lineup, the Oct. 15 show at Worcester's DCU center was something special.
Trendy new-wave revival rockers Hot Hot Heat opened the night with a set that was almost exactly what everyone expected from them going in. They weren't great; they weren't terrible; they weren't on stage very long. With barely half an hour of stage time, there wasn't a lot of time for showmanship - not that a crowd that was clearly eager for the later acts would have been enthused by it anyway. All in all, the opening set came across as a brief plug for their latest album Elevator with the obligatory playing of new singles "Middle of Nowhere" and "Goodnight, Goodnight" in addition to their 2003 breakthrough hit "Bandages."
Oddly enough, the inter-set break was nearly as long as the entire first set, which seemed to set off a good bit of anxious milling as Weezer fans jostled to get to down out of the seated tiers and as close to the front of the general admission pit as possible. After a solid 25 minutes of intermission, the lights dropped and Disney's "When you wish upon a star" - apparently a nod to the fact that Weezer's latest album is titled Make Believe - began to play over the PA system.
The lights came back up and the band immediately launched into "My Name Is Jonas" the lead track off Weezer's 1994 self-titled debut, which was received with an enthusiastic cheer from the crowd. By the third song of the set, "Don't Let Go," it became apparent that this wasn't going to be just another show. While I've been a fan of the band for years, I was painfully aware of their reputation for being less than dynamic on stage and delivering rote renditions of the album tracks without much engagement with the audience.
For some reason though, perhaps because it was the last night before a week-long break in the tour, everyone was in rare form. Improvisation showed up repeatedly in the guitar solos as well as the vocals, and the usually stoic frontman Rivers Cuomo strutted around the stage like a genuine rock star. Additionally, every member of the band, even drummer Pat Wilson, sang lead for at least one song. Particular memorable were guitarist Brian Bell's rendition of "Why Bother?" and Wilson's cover of Blur's "Song #2," during which all three of his band mates simultaneously took over his responsibilities at the drum-kit.
The set then appeared to come to an early close, but shortly after the band filed off the stage Rivers appeared atop a stack of sheet metal at the very back of the pit with an acoustic guitar in hand. After performing a solo version of "Island in the Sun" he began to walk back towards the stage, during which time the band pulled a random audience member onto stage to assist with acoustic guitar on "Undone - the Sweater Song." The set then came to its real conclusion with "Buddy Holly" followed by an energetic "Hashpipe."
The two headlining acts seemed to have very few serious fans in common, however; as one set came to a close, the crowd in the pit turned over almost entirely as Weezer fans drifted out and Foo Fighter fans took their places.
When the Foo Fighters hit the stage two major differences from the last set were immediately apparent. First, whoever was handling the volume controls decided that things needed to be a lot louder - the vocals and drums of opening song "DOA" literally shook the retaining barriers. Second, the Foo Fighters were really all about frontman David Grohl (who is perhaps better known as the former drummer for Nirvana), and every bit of lighting and other visual flare made this clear. Still, this didn't necessarily detract from the performance, as Grohl is certainly an impressive musician gifted with a remarkable stage presence.
The Foo Fighters' live show might come as a surprise to fans only familiar with their recorded work - in a live setting they channel a great deal of Grohl's grunge roots which seem to be missing from their albums. This was particularly apparent on their unusually draw out version of "Stacked Actors" during which Grohl leapt from the stage and walked to the same stack of sheet metal that Rivers' had used to early, to play part of the song for the crowd at the back of the arena. Unlike Cuomo, Grohl clearly has no confusion over his rock-star status. He played the role to the hilt and gave the crowd exactly what it wanted.
The set included a number of songs from their latest album In Your Honor, but sprinkled in the necessary classics such as "All My Life," "My Hero" and of course "Learn to Fly" before closing out the night with "Everlong," which was devoted to none other than Mrs. Grohl, who was in the audience.
The show as a whole left me with a ringing in my ears but a smile on my face. It's reassuring to know some of the bands from our middle school days still have what it takes to blow the doors off some of the biggest venues around. |
