Foo Fighters Show The Folks at Virgin Fest What's What

Let's all be real here. The Foo Fighters were the big money prize for me at Virgin Festival. Nothing short of getting shot in the kidney could've kept me from seeing the Foo Fighters, and seeing them as up close as humanly possible. I managed to get about a dozen rows from the barricade before the mass of people got too much to handle, but it was a prime spot nonetheless (to the guy that was next to me in the "Maryland Fucking Terrapins" T-Shirt; rock on, dude.)

The Foos took the stage a fashionable 5-10 minutes late, mostly due to roadies taking one last check of the stage (compared to other bands later in the fest, the Foos were actually quite punctual). The set was more or less a slightly abbreviated version of what they've been doing on the recent tour, with an acoustic set sandwiched between huge rock and roll openings and closers. The band played their first five tracks, an epic collection of their hits from this decade nonstop, with Taylor Hawkins counting off the next track as the final chords rang out. Needless to say the energy was ridiculously high, and despite a voice that was still recovering from the strains of a long tour, Dave Grohl kept up with the fans, even challenging the crowd to tell him when to call it a night.

The acoustic set, a new tradition picked up from 2006's Afoostic tour, was a bit shorter than usual, including new mainstays "Skin and Bones" and the Nirvana B-Side "Marigold", but left out stuff from the "Not So Loud" disc of In Your Honor and other favorites. If there's any bummer from the evening, it's the lack of "Big Me". Listen to the Skin and Bones live version below and you'll see what I mean.

Foo Fighters - Big Me (Live) [iTunes]

Dave Grohl showed why he's the most likable guy in rock and roll as he introduced the band, between the (apparently abbreviated, I'm told) stage banter between he and Taylor Hawkins and the introduction of the rest of the band, right down to threatening to take away touring percussionist Drew "playing all the stuff you did in 3rd grade" Hester's cell phone if he didn't give the crowd "a fucking triangle solo". Hester obliged. But everyone knew Dave Grohl was a classy guy. The true surprise came from Oliver Taylor Hawkins, between the incomprehensibly epic drum solo during "Stacked Actors", during which the rest of the band went to get a drink, singing lead vocals on my personal favorite "Cold Day In The Sun" and the aforementioned stage banter, all I can say is Oliver Taylor Hawkins (the crowd started chanting Oliver when we found out that was his real name) FTMF'NW*.



*For The Mother F'N Win



The surprises came in the closing tracks. For as long as I've known, the Foos have used "Everlong" to close out a show. Not so much here. "Everlong" closed out, and up came the lights and sounds for "Monkey Wrench", a track I didn't think got played much anymore. The evening of brilliant, balls-out rock and roll came an end as Dave Grohl asked the crowd, "You're not done yet? Don't you people have work tomorrow? No? How about church? Yeah, don't lie now...", then proceeding to scream the opener to "Best Of You" to thunderous cheers.

I've only mentioned a handful of great moments from this 105-minute set. Everything you could want from a rock and roll show, the Foo Fighters gave generously. I've waited nearly a year and a half to see the Foos live, and now that I have, I just hope its not another year and a half before they come around again.

A set list and pictures are below. Props to JCardinal18 for the pics.

The Foo Fighters @ Virgin Festival August 9th, 2008
The Pretender
Times Like These
No Way Back
Cheer Up Boys, Your Makeup Is Running
Young Man's Blues (Who cover)
Long Road To Ruin
Breakout
Stacked Actors [massive drum solo by Taylor Hawkins]

=acoustic set=
Skin and Bones
Marigold [Nirvana B-Side]
My Hero
=end acoustic=

Cold Day In The Sun [as sung by Hawkins]
Everlong
Monkey Wrench
All My Life
Best Of You




==TJ==