Phenominal Foo Frenzy
Touted as the ‘nicest man in rock’, it is only fitting that Dave Grohl lives up to his promises. It was little under a year ago that the Foo Fighter front man promised a Wembley crowd that they would be back to play the famous venue and, true to his word, Grohl returned, this time with more promises, that this would be a night to truly remember.
Strolling on stage as if it was any other day, each member of the Foo Fighters appear to be treating the gig like any other, as if it’s just another run of the mill local Academy. But this isn’t just any gig, this is Wembley and the stage alone proves the bands appreciation of this. Taking up a large portion of the pitch Grohl and co. take position on a revolving circular platform that boasts a walk way stretching almost to the other end of the pitch as the band launch into an energy charged blast of ‘The Pretender’. Gently singing as his sways, Grohl voice washes soothingly over the crowd as everyone stands rigid, bracing themselves for the explosion of guitars and drums that propels the song and the band into life. With Taylor Hawkins delivering a hammering drum beat, ‘The Pretender’ triumphantly unites all as fists pound the air, bodies surge as one and chants of “who are you?” are ferociously yelled backed to Grohl before he charges into the exhilarating ‘Times Like These’ complete with throat aching screams. Barely pausing for breath, the Foo train steams on ploughing through hits from the blood curdling growls of ‘No Way Back’ to the anthemic ‘Learn To Fly’ and a rousing extended version of ‘This Is A Call’. Only a few songs in and its clear that Grohl’s itching to get into the crowd and with the giant walk way beckoning he goes for a walk about. Strumming his guitar on route, the track seemingly takes on a life of its own, allowing the Foo front man to pause now and again to grin at the crowd before returning back to the main stage in time for them to take the lead with the aggressively raw ‘Breakout’ that electrifies all.
But an extended walk way isn’t the only surprise Foo Fighters have up their sleeves tonight as ‘Stacked Actors’ exposes the full effect of the rotating stage for the first time, allowing Hawkins a complete 360 view of the venue as he pounds his way through an exhausting drum solo. From this, its time for the Foos to calm things down slightly, allowing those sat behind the stage in on the party as the stage rotates to each section. With Grohl grabbing the chance to chat to all sides in between songs, the circular stage spins showcasing the band’s acoustic numbers from the infectious jabs of ‘Skin And Bones’ to a breathtaking rendition of ‘My Hero’ that welcomes a mass sing along to truly insure the spine tingles.
With the acoustic section taken care of, Grohl strolls once more down the walk way, stopping half way as the stadium is shrouded in darkness bar one spotlight on him. Tenderly whispering the opening bars of ‘Everlong’, Grohl’s voice is soon joined by 86,000 backing singers as the entire stadium becomes swept up in the intimacy of the song and the unity Grohl has created, leading him to joke at the end that he only ever wants to do the song from now on with that much help. From the gentle tranquillity of ‘Everlong’ Grohl returns to the stage to unleash an anger fuelled blast of ‘Monkey Wrench’ resulting in the crowd erupting into a frantic surge of mosh pits that only intensifies as ‘All My Life’ vehemently thrashes its way in.
Having earlier promised that tonight’s show would be one everyone would be talking about for 20 years, great things were expected for the encore and as always the nicest man in rock delivered as Hawkins and himself took to the stage with Led Zepplin’s Jimmy Paige and John Paul Jones. With Grohl behind the drums, Hawkins adopts the vocal duties as he clearly lives out boy hood dreams with a ragingly raw rendition of ‘Rock And Roll’ before Grohl regains his vocal duties with ‘Ramblin On’, hitting the screechingly high Robert Plant notes with pure adrenaline fuelled ease. Overcome with emotion, two child like Foo Fighters hug their heroes, obviously dumbfounded at what they had just done along with an amazed Wembley crowd.
With all their tricks reveal Grohl takes it upon himself to round the evening off. Failing to hold back the tears, the long haired front man relays how this was “the greatest day of my fucking life”, thanking the fans who have stuck with the band for 13 years, stating that there was only one song they could possibly end with, ‘Best of You’. Through emotion drenched vocals, Grohl belts out a heartfelt rendition of the song, engulfed by the crowd who sing every word along with him. Pausing before the final verse, Grohl literally collapses under the emotional magnitude of the occasion, holding his head in his hands with tears prickling his eyes as the crowd cheer their appreciation for him. With his voice cracking under the emotion, a teary eyed Grohl finishes the song with the help of his 86,000 backing singers before fireworks explode in the sky, leaving Grohl to wipe away the tears.
Living up to their promises, the Foo Fighters transformed Wembley into their very own playground complete with a runway, revolving stage and special guests that fulfilled their boyhood dreams leaving them on the verge of tears and fulfilling Grohl’s statement that this would be the gig you talked about in 20 years.