Foo Fighters - Rock and Roll Returns
The Foo Fighters at Madison Square Garden, June 20th, 2021
If you’re old enough to be reading this, you don’t need a recap of why the last 15 months have been tough - nor do you need an explanation for why the first full-capacity, fully-vaccinated, full-scale concert in North America since March 2020 is significant. Murmuring conversation and a feeble collection of anti-vax protestors outside the venue conjured the thought that this event at this point could be ill-advised; I overheard an unusually pessimistic NYPD officer wonder aloud if the show would be akin to George W. Bush’s infamously premature “Mission Accomplished” speech.
Upon entering the venue any lingering concerns quickly melted away into anticipation; even the traditionally stoic security and ushers seemingly couldn’t contain their excitement. Shouts of “Welcome back!” and “We missed you!” filled the air as a crowd of people cautiously remembering how to operate in a crowd of people found their way to their seats.
The Foo Fighters epitomize needing no introduction. Armed with a deep and infectiously uplifting discography, the Foos seem uniquely qualified to deliver in these unprecedented circumstances - no opening band would be warranted to preamble their kick-off. No stranger to iconic moments in recent rock history, Dave Grohl took the stage alone and was expectedly emotional by the delighted crowd that was all too ready to greet him. After a few moments absorbing the moment while leaning on a microphone stand, Grohl led the crowd through an acapella intro of a fitting “Times Like These”. Riding the building anticipation and excitement perfectly, when the rest of the band kicked in Madison Square Garden might as well have been hit by a bolt of lightning.
After feeding the raucous crowd with pleasers like “The Pretender” and “Learn to Fly”, the Foos pseudo-debuted several songs from their most recent album, Medicine at Midnight. With the exception of some live television performances and an intimate warm-up gig from earlier in the week, songs like “No Son of Mine”, “Shame Shame”, and “The Sky is a Neighborhood” hadn’t been properly introduced to a live audience before - not that you would have known from the ardent crowd’s enthusiastic singing along.
Taylor Hawkins fronts the band while Dave Grohl plays drums on “Somebody to Love”
Around the show’s midpoint and with some of the collective adrenaline starting to understandably wane (let’s be honest, as excited as everyone was it’s hard to stand and scream for over an hour non-stop), Grohl and Taylor Hawkins switched places for an unexpected cover of Queen’s “Somebody to Love”. As exciting as it is to see one of the world’s most iconic drummers behind the kit in a band that he’s known for famously not playing drums, it was equally invigorating to watch Taylor and his exceptional vocal talent take over for a song. Not surprising of course, Taylor’s vocal skill is prominent in his side project Chevy Metal (not to mention his beyond admirable performance when he stepped into Robert Plant’s shoes during a legendary jam with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones). It was a highlight to see him own the stage in tropical shorts and a tank-top reading “the tempo is whatever I say it is”. Upon returning to their respective instruments the band called attention to the attendance of Taylor’s son Shane, who in true teenager fashion seemed hilariously unimpressed by the cool moment.
Those acquainted with the Foos are aware of their semi-regular tradition of performing impromptu covers with an enthusiastic audience member plucked from the crowd, but nobody was prepared when Grohl welcomed his “Favorite David” to join the band onstage. Legendary stand up comedian Dave Chappelle surprised the crowd with a heart warming rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep”. Chapelle may not have the vocal chops of those he shared the stage with (backup singer Samantha Sidley’s soaring voice may have been the most impressive performance of the night), but his apparent comfort singing in front of 20,000 people was rousing.
Comedic legend Dave Chappelle joins the Foos onstage to perform “Creep”.
After wrapping the main set with a handful of hits including “All My Life”, “Aurora”, “This is a Call”, and “Best of You”, the Foos hardly waited to retake the stage for the encore. A tender moment dedicating the show to their recently passed stage manager, Andy Pollard was lovingly followed by the band proclaiming they would be renaming themselves the Dee Gees and promising the imminent release of a disco album accompanied by a jam of the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing”. The Foos ended the show on a high note, whipping the crowd into a final frenzy for the iconic “Everlong”.
Praising the performance of a Foo Fighters show might not be novel journalism (let’s be real, who’s surprised one of the best rock bands in the world continues to knock it out of the park?), but given what we’ve collectively endured the last 15 months - it was a delight to spend three hours being inspired by genuinely enthused, all-time great artists thriving at the top of their game.
Dave Grohl - Guitar & Vocals
Pat Smear - Guitar
Chris Shiflett - Guitar
Nate Mendel - Bass
Taylor Hawkins - Drums
Rami Jaffee - Keyboards
Full setlist available here.
