Location: Washington, DC
Time: 7:00pm (doors 5:30pm)
Tickets: 37.50 - 47.50 (+fees)
Openers: Social Distortion and The Joy Formidable
Headliner: Foo Fighters
The Joy Formidable
Set List
Admittedly, I only know one song by The Joy Formidable ("Whirring") but I was still looking forward to seeing more of the 3 person band from Whales. Don't let Ritzy Bryan's small stature fool you for a second. She ripped through guitar riffs and vocals like a humming bird through a wind storm. She and band mates Rhydian Dafydd (bass) and Matt Thomas (drums) thoroughly warmed the crowd. A brief moment of discord caused a few faces of displeasure as the threesome played without harmony or rhythm. Unlike your typical all out crazy jam, this appeared to be an attempt to play together and separately at the same time. Eventually, the unorganized mess came together into a more recognizable melody of chaos. Thomas flipped his drum sticks through the air to Dafydd who ended the set with a not so bombastic crash of the symbols. Little harder next time!
Check out their debut album The Big Roar released early this year.
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Social Distortion
Set List
Saw Social D a few months ago in Richmond, VA and knew they'd be a favorite tonight except for one problem. The crowd for this show wasn't here for Social D. The young faces watched dutifully but barely moved. Social D deserves the respect of most bands in the rock and roll industry who've gained success within the last 20 years. Maybe it was the sold out venue (which had filled to about 50% capacity by this time) or maybe it was the obvious disconnect between them and the audience, but front man Mike Ness appeared nervous and lacking his usual bad ass wit. The age of the crowd could easily be determined by those that danced through songs like "Bad Luck" and “Story of My Life”. I bonded with a guy across the rail as we both rocked out to the well know “Ring of Fire” cover.
Check out the newest album from Social Distortion, Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes.
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Foo Fighters
Set List
Drop the lights, key the intro and get ready for three hours
of energized rock-n-roll! Real 100% rock and/or roll. Foo Fighters front man,
Dave Grohl, commented during the show that his reason for liking openers The
Joy Formidable and Social Distortion included the use of real instruments. He
recommended to anyone interested in becoming a musician to turn off the computer
and buy a guitar. He engaged the crowd throughout the evening with gestures for
more screaming (as if it were possible) and, using only his face, lead the
arena in a 360° wave. Hilarious!
Excited to be home and playing to a sold out Verizon Center
of more than 19,000 people, Grohl and company played hard and long. The show
opened with “Bridge Burning” and “Rope” and moved to well known favorites.
During “My Hero” Grohl broke the barrier between singer and audience by running
through the middle on a low catwalk. He leaned into the crowd and played one
side against the other looking for more noise while we sung the chorus. The Foo energy (foonergy?) was incomparable and his attention
to the audience was more than reciprocated. “White Limo” included scenes from
the music video including Lemmy of Motorhead. If you haven’t heard this hard hitting
tune, it’s a definite keeper and funny as hell.
Other Foos: Chris Shiflett on lead guitar, Nate Mendel on
bass, Rami Jaffee on keyboards and Pat Smear on rhythm guitar. Smear’s intro
filled the arena with cheers almost as loud as Grohl’s own intro by drummer
Taylor Hawkins. Hawkins sung lead on “Cold Day in the Sun” which left me
confused and feeling like I was watching a different band. Hawkins’s voice
could barely be heard over the guitar but I did enjoy the bromance and mic sharing
moment at the end. I’ll check out a recorded version to give it a fair chance
but this was not a great moment in the otherwise fantastic evening.
In contrast, “Stacked Actors”, a big highlight of the night,
involved Grohl moving through the audience via walkway and dueling guitars with
Shiflett which ended with Grohl levitating through a mind blowing solo and
shaking the stage. Spoiler Alert: A Foo fan (foofan?) linked his video of this
moment on the set list page if you just can’t wait for a show in your area.
One moment I’d added to my list of can’t waits was “Monkey
Wrench” solely for the screaming at the end but when the build-up came, it didn’t
happen. Grohl brought the music back down and played a slow jam telling the
audience he’d screamed that part for 20 years. I remained hopeful as the music
slowly built back up but the tempo slowed again to an almost halt. From the
quiet Grohl finally let it loose and screamed an acapella rendition which
picked up with the band half way through. A bit awkward in the transition from
nothing to screaming but it was enough to satiate my need to hear it. Don’t
ever stop screaming, Dave, or let us do it for you!
When I heard the newest releases from Wasting Light on the radio, I wasn’t excited about buying the album
in full; however, after hearing live versions of “Walk”, “These Days”, and a
beautiful acoustic rendition of “Wheels” (previously my least favorite), I’m
adding this album to my holiday wish list. There’s nothing like seeing it live
to remind you of the subtle beauty sometimes lost in radio translation.
The three hour night came to a close with a six song encore
which included the afore mentioned “Wheels” as well as “Best of you” and “Dear
Rosemary” with Bob Mould of Husker Du on stage. Grohl performed the first two
encore songs acoustically and talked with the crowd about how much his old
haunts (Springfield Mall) had changed. He said he’s glad things have changed
and doesn’t want to live in the past of the last 20 years. I’m glad too, Dave.
The here and now is what we have and I’m enjoying it far too much to dwell on things
I can’t change. Grohl also admitted to
being nervous when playing to such a large crowd but this crowd felt like he
was playing to people just like him. “We are all Foo Fighters!” he told us. Was there ever any doubt? The evening closed with “Everlong” and another run down
the middle for one more shot at a high five or the perfect photo.
I left this show energized and wondering why I’d waited so
long to see them live (16 years by Grohl’s count). Oh, and Dave, don’t think we
will soon forget your promise to bring a four hour show to the 9:30 Club in the
(hopefully) not too distant future. We’ll be waiting.
More pics from the show. (warning: a photographer I am not)
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