Foo Fighters at NME Awards Big Gig - Wembley Arena - 25/02/2011 (Live Review)
Monday, 28 February 2011
Written by Dave Ball
Wembley Arena was the venue for the conclusion to the weeks’ festivities based around the Shockwaves NME Awards, the headline act being the long awaited return of maybe the biggest rock band in the World right now, Foo Fighters.
First up though, we had three support acts squeezed into the space leading up to the night’s main event. First up are little known LA band ‘No Age’ who were very loud but a little lost in a 12,000 capacity venue that was less than a third full for their set.
Band of Horses drew a bigger crowd and the bearded Seattler’s set was much better received. Blending new and old material they gave a rockier performance than expected and drew a good reception from the ever swelling crowd ‘Is There A Ghost’ being a particular highlight.
Main support was from flavour of the month Cee Lo Green who did his best to win the crowd over by turning up kitted out in Ramones T shirt and backed by a leather clad, all female backing band. Unfortunately for him his brand of pop wasn’t what the masses were here for but in he does have a voice that insists on being noticed and he got a reasonable reaction, particularly for Gnarls Barkley tracks ‘Crazy’ and ‘Smiley Faces’.
As the crowd got bigger the feeling of anticipation heightened. Older fans are keen to hear new songs with first timers hoping for their favourite hits.
Bursting on stage in front of a huge, glowing ‘FF’ logo the stage set was typically understated allowing the music to be the show and boy, was this some show. Tearing into a new track as an opener can be risky but ‘Bridge Burning’ gave confirmation to their assertions the new album was back to their roots. A spiky track that stands up with some of their classics, Grohl’s vocals scream over the wall of noise created and there’s barely a pause before Wembley Arena begins to shake as the opening chords of ‘All My Life’ explode from the wall of amps.
Grohl is less talkative than usual but as entertaining as always, every sentence cheered vociferously "You realise this is our first official show in like, two years? It's good to say we're fucking back."
He did mention a curfew, which they later seemed to over run by a distance, saying because of time limits "we’re only gonna play the good songs" while still seeming slightly incredulous when announcing to a huge applause "I'm a fuckin' Godlike Genius!"
He wasn’t wrong about playing the good songs either. This was a setlist for the ages, crafted perfectly to suit any fans desire. Every album is covered, including their acoustic ‘Skin & Bones’ whose title track makes an appearance during the encore. All the live favourites like ‘Learn To Fly’, ‘Times Like These’ and ‘Pretender’ are featured and every word sung back at Grohl with the same energy and ferocity that he barks the lyrics out from the stage with. The new tracks fit in well, none of the four seeming out of place and all pointing to ‘Wasting Light’ being more along the lines of 97’s ‘The Colour And The Shape’ than the pop heavy ‘Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace’.
The main set is closed with an intense foursome of ‘Breakout’, ‘Monkey Wrench’ the often forgotten ‘Hey Johnny Park!’ and the classic ‘Everlong’. It’s a breathless main set and the fans need the 5 minutes leading up to the encore to take their breath as much as the band.
The encore explodes into life with the Foo’s covering The Who’s version of ‘Young Man Blues’ before the delicate ‘Skin & Bones’ gives a rare mellow moment. Finishing with their still fresh sounding first ever single ‘This Is A Call’ and then a singalong to end all singalongs for ‘Best Of You’ to round off the evenings entertainment with everyone leaving raving about what they’d just witnessed.
With all of the attention around Dave Grohl as an individual recently it’s easy to forget the contributions the rest of Foo Fighters make, particularly to live performances. Many describe Taylor Hawkins as only the second best drummer in the band but he’s still one of the very best out there. His energy and power behind the skins rattle the foundations of the old arena and he even takes his customary turn at singing on ‘Cold Day In The Sun’. Nate Mendel’s bass and the wall of noise created by Chris Shifflet and the returned Pat Smear’s guitars (along with Grohl’s own) create a level of volume that rarely can remain as tight as it does here.
That said I couldn’t finish the review without some tribute to Grohl. His evolution from background drum basher in Nirvana to a frontman who is nearing the conversation alongside the likes of Plant, Jagger and Daltrey as among the greatest rock frontmen of all time is near completion. Whether headlining festivals to 100,000 or at smaller venues like this he has a way of addressing his adoring masses in a way that makes every one of them feel he is speaking directly to them.
‘There goes my hero, he’s ordinary’ sang the congregation. This hero’s far from ordinary.
Stereoboard rating – 10/10.
Foo Fighters setlist:
'Bridge Burning' (New)
'All My Life'
'Times Like These'
'White Limo' (New)
'Learn To Fly'
'My Hero'
'Rope' (New)
'Generator'
'Pretender'
'Up In Arms'
'Long Road To Ruin'
'Cold Day In The Sun'
'Stacked Actors'
'These Days' (New)
'Breakout'
'Monkey Wrench'
'Hey Johnny Park!'
'Everlong'
Encore
'Young Man Blues' (The Who Cover)
'Skin And Bones'
'This Is A Call'
'Best Of You'
Foo Fighters' new album 'Wasting Light' is out on April 11.
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Band of Horses drew a bigger crowd and the bearded Seattler’s set was much better received. Blending new and old material they gave a rockier performance than expected and drew a good reception from the ever swelling crowd ‘Is There A Ghost’ being a particular highlight.
