The Foo Fighters have a new album out, “ Concrete and Gold,” and they have been touring all over the world to promote the new album as well as playing all their timeless classics. After a brief hiatus, the band was ready to get back on the road and do what they do best, play live music. I got a chance to see to see the Foo Fighters in Birmingham, Alabama in their southeast leg of the tour.
This was the first show after their string of cancelled shows after a family emergency that still has not been revealed. The Foo Fighters rarely cancel shows, even when Dave broke his leg, so this must have been a very significant thing to have happened for them to cancel. Needless to say, they were stoked to return to playing music and they had an extra jump in their step in Birmingham.
They opened the show with their new rocking song “Run” which immediately got the crowd engaged and had everyone rocking. They busted into a few older songs to ignite the longtime Foo Fighters fans. They also extended songs into jam sessions which were as fun for the crowd as it probably was for the band. They truly looked excited to be back.
Later in the show, Dave Grohl noticed a guy with a sign in the very front, who he pulled on stage to play guitar on “Big Me.” Dave explained how he was reluctant to pull the fan up because of previous incidents but the fan nailed the song and knew what he was doing.
The band introductions were per usual with each of them showcasing their skills on a certain song of their pick which the band would eventually try to join in on if they knew it. The last song before the encore was “Best of You” and that song had everyone singing and humming the melody of the song during the slower breakdown. It was quite the experience to be in the crowd and singing with everyone.
An encore was expected, but not a 3-song encore. It turns out the lead singing of the old punk band Squirrel Bait was in attendance, who Dave Grohl happened to be a huge fan of. Grohl brought him out there to perform and intimate cover of the Squirrel Bait song “Sun God.” They ended the encore with the timeless “Everlong.” That last song had everyone singing along and dancing around to end the night. It was a great time. The Foo Fighters played for about 3 hours with a 25-song set list full of variety. Once again, another great Foo Fighters concert in the books.
