September 2005, BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Fla.
There’s someone out there who hates Dave Grohl. His earnest love for old-school punk, playing down his ability on the drum set, his lament about how the way music used to be. Is his act real? Doesn’t he seem to be too cool?
For the record, I am not one of those doubters — I’m all in on Dave Grohl. Never mind (pun intended) we’re the same age, and with that share a same sense of history and influences. When he talks about how the Bad Brains changed his life when he was a teenager, I know exactly how that feels because the Bad Brains changed my life as a teenager. We both grew up during the ’80s, and hey, I was a drummer in my younger years too. The key difference was he joined Nirvana and I became a sports clerk at a newspaper run by Moonies.
So …
What Grohl has accomplished musically over the years is impressive (and his recent role as music documentary filmmaker is well worth watching). But Foo Fighters is his crowning achievement, a responsibility he takes seriously — all you have to do is see the band live to understand this.
I like Weezer, Rivers Cuomo writes great songs and you don’t realize how guitar-infused the band is until you see them live. What makes Weezer exciting is it can do pure pop (“Buddy Holly”), ballads (“Island in the Sun”) and essential alternative (“El Scorcho”), but still sound cohesive The prospect of seeing both bands together was enticing and curious — who would go first? Would they both play the same amount?
I went with my wife Kristen (one of many shows we attended together), and I think we both agree on a couple of things:
- Weezer was great. “El Scorcho” was one of those live bucket list songs of mine, so seeing that was all I needed.
- The encore was a surprise — Cuomo appeared suddenly in the crowd and played “Island in the Sun” acoustically, before ending the show with “Undone — The Sweater Song,” “Hash Pipe” and “Surf Wax America”.
- A solid effort, but … Foo Fighters blew them off the stage, and it wasn’t even close.
- There was a good reason the Foos went last, because there was no following them. At this point, in 2005, the band compiled a ton of well-known songs, each played with a full effort joined by the clarity of perfect sound. “All My Life,” “My Hero,” “Best of You,” “Learn to Fly” — and that was just the start of the show. “Everlong,” “This Is a Call,” “DOA,” “Breakout”. “Monkey Wrench,” with its fluid, screaming chorus, brought the show to a satisfying and exalted end.
I think people get tired of the Foos because many of their songs and albums take the same tact — but in the realm of what is known as alternative rock (where Red Hot Chili Peppers and White Stripes hold top spots), no band is more successful than the Foo Fighters. They do “alternative rock” (or just plain rock, can we agree?) about as good as anyone.
And in a live setting, they aim to prove it. They did on this day.
