Rockin' The Suburbs!

The Foo Fighters occupy a strange place in the world. Without one mans fateful decision, willing or not, to descend into drug addiction and ultimately suicide, Dave Grohl would probably still be the drummer in Nirvana, touring the world occasionally in stadiums and arenas, as The Kurt And Chris Show would take the former grunge heroes into a world of REM-style obscurity as they evolved into a mature, meaningful artistry. Despite the abrasive and compelling Nirvana template, MTV Unplugged clearly signposted that the band were going to go somewhere uncharted and eventually leave behind the rock-metal sensibility to become.. shockingly... elder statesmen of rock of great artistic worth, following the same path as Neil Young and REM.

Of course, Nirvana are forever frozen, like Joy Division, in a moment, a cusp, never moving beyond that one state. Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters would probably exist if Nirvana had continued – albeit as the part-time side project that would rarely be seen and largely not sell that many copies. Now though, the Foo Fighters are the nearest thing one can find to Nirvana in many ways : of the extended Pink Floyd style band on stage, half are not 'official' Foo Fighters but touring musicians – most notably Pat Smear of The Germs and Nirvana on third guitar.



Actually, Pat Smear has the easiest job in the world : for at least one whole verse and chorus of the second song, he bounces on stage without even striking a note. And it's not the only song he does this for.

Arena rock though... it rocks. With 11,833 tickets sold (or thereabouts), the Foos are clearly a big deal. The band are a kind of sanitised metal, an edgy rock, too heavy and light to occupy either genre. In fact, Grohl, being equal parts Black Sabbath and The Beatles, clearly wants to rock like a bastard, but can't help himself by writing melodic, deeply infectious hooks and rising choruses. Despite himself, Grohl is a great pop songwriter. The show reminds me of nothing so much of what I think REO Speedwagon, or Lynrd Sknyrd, or Boston would've been like on a particularly rocking night in 1977. Or, come to think of it, Stillwater at the height of their “Almost Famous” tour : classic old-school rock brought unwillingly into the here and now, yet unable to quite let go of the past.



The selections played tonight manage avoid the trap many bands of a certain vintage fall into, when they are no longer relevant or dynamic or inventive, but instead merely providing the musical accompaniment to 12,000 people singing very old songs. By starting with several new songs, and interspersing the set with a healthy chunk of the new album (and a couple from the preceding “In Your Honour”), The Foos avoid the easy lure of nostalgia with a consistent, and compelling, proud body of work. Unlike any previous show of theirs I have seen, the set also provides a comprehensive overview of their career with “This Is A Call” and “Breakdown” and “Everlong” and pretty much every song you want them to play aside from “Next Year”

The big surprise (though it shouldn't be) is that two members of Nirvana – Dave and Pat – perform the old Nirvana b-side “Marigold”.



The set divides at a certain point to a lengthy, half-hour acoustic interlude – in a Take That style, the band take to a stage that descends from the ceiling and perform 'In the Round'. Much like Def Leppards 1988 'In the Round/In Your Face' tour.

You can take the man out of metal, but you can't take the metal out of the man. Dave Grohl is Wolverine, and the Metal is in his bones.


As it is in the bones of the 7 year old behind us. This kid stands on his seat, throwns devil horns, sings every word, and plays air guitar at all the right points. He shakes his metal hair, and it's brilliant. I wish I was that cool as a kid. And some people think the parents of today aren't bringing children properly? I wish my Dad had taken ME to see Iron Maiden in 1984.

After a mammoth two hours of sheer full-on rocktastic pop metal, the band draw the set to a close with their finest song : “The Best Of You” - being given the rare honour of also being covered by Prince. As they have all night, the band are a tight, cohesive stadium rock experience that hark back to, and remind me of, both classic rock of the Seventies, yet something utterly contemporary and modern. As Grohl bids us good night (stopping JUST short of squealing out “We Love You Burminghum!”), we descend to the car park, where we, and everyone else, rock the suburbs. No one else knows what its like to be middle class male and white.

ROCK ON!

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