Foo Fighters @ EntertainmentCentre, Adelaide (24/04/08)

Sun 27th Apr, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Check out all the photos HERE

Holy smoke!

The hottest ticket in town was without a shadow of a doubt was for the Foo Fighters. It felt like an eternity since tickets went on sale but finally Adelaide had the chance to experience the full on Foo Fighters stadium rock show. This show had everything and more and I’d say that there wouldn’t have been a disappointed soul by the end of the show.

Opening proceedings was singer songwriter Kaki King who was an interesting choice to be added to the bill. Kaki has an impressive back catalogue of music and has worked with a lot of amazing collaborators. Twenty minutes was hardly going to do her justice but the way she combined fret-tapping with slap bass, using the guitar for percussion styled beats was great to watch. It was good to see that she put a few impatient Foo Fighters fans back in the place by reminding them that it was her time at the very – œnon-rock’ time of seven-thirty.

Up next was Sydney outfit The Mess Hall who seemed to spare no expense when it came to creating their very elaborate backdrop comprising of a white bed sheet with the band name spray painted on. This was a huge opportunity for these lads to win over some new fans wowing them hits both old and new including Pills, Metal And Hair and Just Keep Walking.

Finally, the wait was over and at eight-thirty the lights dimmed to an almighty roar. A massive stage was revealed with four large screens behind the stage, an array of lights and the catwalk down the middle would soon show more. Dave Grohl took to the stage and straight down the catwalk to sum up the ten thousand strong Adelaide crowd before launching in to Let It Die. There were reports that Grohl was down in the dumps earlier in the day but the way he threw himself in to the opener you’d hardly know.

The intensity increased with their massive hit single from last year with The Pretender sending fans in to over drive. There was something quite magical in the air – the band knew it and so did the fans. Times Like These, Breakout and Learn To Fly followed closely.

Grohl mentioned early in the peace that tonight was going to be a long one as – œwe don’t suck anymore’ as they would delve in to their rich back catalogue of hits not forgetting the more recent releases. There was also a reference to the Thebarton Theatre show from the last tour where – œwe played that eency little place but now we’re playing this fucking big place.’ The first set wound up with This Is A Call and Stacked Actors.

What was to follow was quite remarkable was the smaller acoustic stage which slowly dropped down from the roof. All eight touring members walked down the catwalk to this stage which was in the middle of the general admission section treating fans to a range of scaled back acoustic gems including Skin & Bones, the Nirvana rarity Marigold, My Hero, Cold Day In The Sun sung by Taylor Hawkins and But Honestly.

Kaki King re-emerged to join Grohl for Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners. The band introductions were great and not too many will forget the – œTriangle Guy’. The highlight of the acoustic set was Everlong performed solo by Grohl before walking back to the stage to finish it off with his fellow band mates.

The hits kept coming with Monkey Wrench and All My Life to finish off the set. Then, from backstage Grohl and later with Hawkins could be seen on the big screen enjoying a drink and smoke backstage. Grohl was shown with the set list encourage fans to yell and scream for more – will it be one, two or three?

The Fooies remerged for the encore starting off with Big Me and these days is a rarity in their live set. Jessy Green joined Grohl making this one stunning duet worth of a single release. It was at this point Grohl promised that the band would be back sooner rather than later before rocking in to Long Road To Ruin and finishing with Best Of You.

Stadium rock shows don’t get any better than this and it would be difficult to see how this extravaganza would be topped this year… unless the Foo Fighters came back to rock our town once more.

For those who forgot what the set entailed, here it is:
Let It Die
The Pretender
Times Like These
Breakout
Learn To Fly
Cheer Up Boys
This Is A Call
Stacked Actors

Acoustic Set
Skin & Bones
Marigold
My Hero
Cold Day In The Sun
But Honestly
Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners
Everlong

Monkey Wrench
All My Life

Encore
Big Me
Long Road To Ruin
Best Of You

Check out all the photos HERE