**Watch all the video I shot of the Foo Fighters in Vancouver here**
Last night I saw the Foo Fighters live for the first time in 11 years. It’s the third time I have ever seen the band perform. The first time I ever saw Foo Fighters was at Edgefest at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver in 1998. I seem to recall at one point they brought an ice cream cart on stage and tossed popsicles and ice cream at the audience and at the end destroyed their drum kit. The last time I saw them was in 2000 at Our Lady Peace’s Summersault held at BC Place Stadium. I’m sure it was a solid show, but I honestly don’t remember anything from that particular concert.
Seeing them last night solidified how awesome Dave Grohl is and I’m not saying that just because he walked into the crowd and started dancing with a girl 2 rows in front of me. The guy just gives it everything he’s got. His charisma on stage is off the charts. If you were stuck in a room with Dave Grohl chances are you’d end up having a good time.
The Foo Fighters performed a basically locked-in setlist they play at every show. The only difference from a previous setlist I had printed out was Dave performed an acoustic version of ‘Wheels’ instead of ‘Long Road to Ruin’ during the encore. When a band does the same set over and over again you almost wonder when they might get tired or it and sorta mail it in on stage, but there was none of that at this show. It was non-stop rocking out. And considering it’s pretty much the same set every show it was a well oiled machine. The only noticeable rough spot to my ears was Dave’s voice during his solo acoustic rendition of ‘Best of You’. Can’t really fault him for it considering he’s singing and yelling for 3 hours multiple times a week.
One thing I never really realized about Foo Fighters is just how many singles the band has had over the years. You look at their 23 song set list and most of it is something that’s had extensive airplay on the radio at some point, and there were singles left out of their set.
Opening for the Foos were Mariachi El Bronx and Cage the Elephant. I missed Mariachi El Bronx because A)I mistakenly thought doors opened at 7 when they opened at 6pm. and B) I was outside trying to sell a co-worker’s tickets because he couldn’t go. On a side note, I can’t believe this show wasn’t sold out. The lower bowl was near capacity, but the upper deck had a few empty patches.
Cage the Elephant put on a solid set 11-song set. A highlight of their performance was when lead singer Matt Shultz staged dived into the crowd and then proceeded to have the audience hold him up so he could stand on the crowd.
This was a pure rock show. In a way it was a Dave Grohl guitar clinic. his little “guitar battle” with lead guitarist Chris Shiflett was fun to watch. If you ever have an opportunity to see Foo Fighters. Go.
Here is video of the final song of the concert, ‘Everlong’:
