I got to downtown St. Paul last night shortly before 6 p.m., turning off of the freeway onto Rice Street, a drive I'm all to familiar with, having family in the area. By the time I parked in a ramp across the street and got in line outside the Xcel Energy Center, the doors soon opened. I had time to walk around, buy a souvenir T-shirt (I just had to buy one to commemorate the "Broken Leg Tour," in reference to frontman Dave Grohl's broken leg onstage in Sweden during a show in June), get a bite to eat and find my seat.
Shortly after 7 pm, the opening act, British duo Royal Blood, began the show. I knew a couple of their songs from one of my music channels. I wasn't a big fan, but I have to say that they really got the crowd interested and involved more and more as the show went on. I made a mental note to study up on this band a little later.
After a 40 minute set from Royal Blood and a surprisingly quick set change, the Foo Fighters took the stage with a strong rendition of my favorite Foos song "Everlong." The band had the sold-out show's crowd on their feet from the first note through the very last.
One of the first things people noticed was the fancy "throne" that motored its way slowly down the elongated stage for frontman Grohl to sing and play guitar from. The throne sat in the front of the crowd as the band played classics "Everlong," "Monkey Wrench" and "Learn to Fly" before it glided back to the rest of the band for the song "Something From Nothing," the first song from the band's latest album Sonic Highways.
The band played a few more songs from the new album and many of the band's classics from their 20-year catalog. At one point during the middle of the show, Grohl and keyboardist Rami Jaffee took to the front of the stage to perform acoustic renditions of "Skin and Bones" and "My Hero," with Grohl being helped on crutches to walk towards the front of the stage with a couple of touring crew members' assistance.
There were plenty of strong performances by bassist Nate Mendel, guitarists Chris Shifflett and Pat Smear, drummer Taylor Hawkins (who also sang lead vocals on "Cold Day in the Sun," a couple of classic rock covers and even a shout-out to the Minnesota Vikings), Jaffee and Grohl. Dave even acknowledged Cannon Falls, Minnesota, referencing a cold February when Nirvana recorded an album (at Pachyderm Studios).
Although not my favorite song, the Foos wrapped up their three hours of music with "Best of You," a song that Dave always gets a great crowd reaction from. The band was very appreciative of everyone who came out to the show, and walked toward the middle of the stage to bow and show their respect.
I made my way to my car and sat through a traffic delay waiting to get out of the parking ramp smiling as I looked at the photos I had taken, memories of a fantastic show! These guys really give it their all on stage! Hopefully this is the first of many more Foo encounters for me!
Next show's coming up soon - until then, have a great week, everyone!
Foo Fighters set list:
1. Everlong
2. Monkey Wrench
3. Learn to Fly
4. Something from Nothing
5. The Pretender
6. Big Me (Dave solo performance)
7. Congregation
8. Walk
9. Times Like These
10. I'm The One (Van Halen instrumental snippet)
11. Cold Day in the Sun
12. Skin and Bones (acoustic)
13. My Hero (acoustic)
14. Outside
15. Breakout
16. All My Life
17. Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie cover)
18. White Limo
19. Arlandria
20. These Days
21. This is a Call
22. Ain't Talkin 'Bout Love (Van Halen cover)
23. Panama (Van Halen cover)
24. Miss You (Rolling Stones cover)
25. Best of You
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