My Night With The Foo
Monday, Monday! Oh how I wish there was a day between Saturday and Sunday.
Over the past weekend (Friday) I went to Des Moines to see one of my favorite bands, Foo Fighters. This marked the third time I've seen Dave Grohl and company and the first time they had been in Des Moines in 22 years.
I was so excited I couldn't sleep. The show was opened up by the British outfit The Struts. They reminded me of the Rolling Stones. Hopefully they have a long and successful career.
After a brief intermission it was time for the Foos! As the show started with Dave playing the first verse of "Run" from their latest album Concrete and Gold, I noticed something wasn't right. Dave's voice wasn't 100%! Dave was fighting some sort of throat issue, but the show went on. The bad voice was the joke all night. The best line all night was, "I'm the guy who broke his leg and continued playing a show! I'm not gonna let a little throat issue keep us from playing in Des Moines for the first time in 22 years!"
The longer Dave sang, the better his voice got. The Foo Fighters played for 3 hours with drummer Taylor Hawkins singing along with Dave to cover him. One of the highlights of the show was a solo performance by Taylor of the Queen and David Bowie song "Under Pressure." Taylor sang both Freddie Mercury and David Bowie's parts flawlessly.
The stage show was pretty awesome too. There wasn't really much to it. Some lights, and a huge video wall at the back of the stage and a levitating drum kit. That was about it. No pyro. No frills, just a good time by all. I'm still getting goose bumps thinking about it. I may have to try to make the show in Chicago at my Graceland, Wrigley Field, in July.
Check out the Des Moines Registers review and photos of the show here.