A couple Fridays ago, I went out with my brother and some of his friends to celebrate his birthday with the Foo Fighters show at the Verizon Center. As it happens, it was also the day VH1 Classic and "That Metal Show" had dubbed National Metal Day, choosing 11-11-11 in tribute to Spinal Tap despite the fact that that's already, y'know, the day that we honor our nation's military veteran's and all that. The Foo Fighters aren't really metal by any definition, but being as they're probably the hardest rock band currently playing arenas besides I guess Metallica, it seemed like an appropriate day to see them. And with opening acts The Joy Formidable and Social Distortion, the bill represented the bands who have made some of my favorite rock albums of 2011, certainly the three best major label ones.

Unfortunately, I had a whole ridiculous family ordeal involving my wife and son being locked out of the apartment and their key being out of the state, so I had to make an unplanned stop on the way to the show, and missed The Joy Formidable's set that I'd been really looking forward to. But I did get to see Social Distortion, which was pretty fun. The last time I saw a concert at the Verizon Center, Ted Leo opening for Pearl Jam kind of underlined the crucial difference between seasoned arena rockers and bands with a long history of playing clubs, so I was a little concerned that Social D would kind of get swallowed up by the size of the venue like Ted Leo did. They carried it pretty well, though, they do have a pretty big sound and don't play especially fast despite their punk roots. They didn't play a lot of familiar singles aside from "Story of My Life" and "Ring of Fire," but I appreciated that they did my favorite song off the new album, "Gimme The Sweet and Lowdown."

Still, the Foo Fighters are very much pros at this kind of large scale rock show, in a way that even seasoned vets like Social D will never be. It wasn't the biggest rock concert I'd seen this year; over the summer I'd caught one of the final dates of the U2 360° Tour, which is now in the history books as the largest grossing tour of all time. But the Foo Fighters put on a more archetypical arena rock show than U2, with an emphasis on huge riffs, shredding solos, blitzkrieg drum fills, and hoarse screaming. Outside of Metallica, nobody plays as heavy and as loud on as large a scale as the Foo Fighters anymore, and that in and of itself makes them a worthwhile show. But it helps that they've got enough radio hits to fill two and a half hours with nearly wall-to-wall fist pumping singalong anthems, and a balance of goofy showmanship and serious musicianship that few bands can match.

It was really fun to see Dave Grohl play so close to where he grew up in Virginia, especially that particular night because, as he noted, it was the first time he'd "sold out the big fuckin' arena in my hometown." Throughout the night, he ranted about visiting the Springfield Mall, fondly recalled winning a Grammy for an album he recorded in his basement in Alexandria, promised an intimate show at the 9:30 Club next time the band are in town, and passionately sang the bittersweet new ode to his old stomping grounds, "Arlandria."

The first time I saw the Foo Fighters live, at the 2008 Virgin Mobile Festival, I enjoyed the wall-to-wall hits festival set, while telling myself that if I'd prefer to someday see the band headline their own gig and hopefully dig a little deeper into their catalog -- they're a consummate singles band, but I could pretty easily fill a mix CD with great album tracks. But for better or worse, they're know at the stage of their career, in terms of both success and longevity, that every show is pretty much the hits plus the new album. And I mean that literally: early every Foo Fighters song played at the Verizon Center show can be found on either this year's Wasting Light or the Greatest Hits collection the band released in 2009. The only two exceptions were "Stacked Actors," an awesomely heavy minor hit from 1999's There Is Nothing Left To Lose, and "Cold Day In The Sun," a vocal showcase for drummer Taylor Hawkins from 2005's In Your Honor (maybe that promised 9:30 Club show will pack in some deep cuts).

On record, the Foo Fighters are masters of the concise four-minute rock song; there are occasional solos, but the focus is on riffs and vocal hooks. At one point, Grohl jokingly introduced his bandmate Chris Shiflett as "the lead guitarist...that only plays lead guitar on three songs." But at a Foo Fighters concert, there is quite a bit more jamming and showboating, with the overwhelming majority of songs either featuring an extended outro, or a lengthy mid-song breakdown. Occasionally it paid off, but after a while it started to feel like every song was being unnecessarily padded -- if any song does not need a slow-burning instrumental bridge, it's "Monkey Wrench." When the band played "Let It Die" simply and straightforwardly, with no digressions or interpolations, it was kind of a relief.

Despite the tendency toward overkill, the show was ultimately a satisfying spectacle, from the first roaring opening riffs of "Bridge Burning" to the final chorus of the band's one consensus classic, "Everlong." In between, highlights included an acoustic mini-set with a great rendition of "Best of You," and a cameo from Washington, D.C. resident Bob Mould, who guested on Wasting Light's "Dear Rosemary" as well as a cover of Tom Petty's "Breakdown." The band has swelled to three guitarists and a keyboard player, but Hawkins is still the band's secret weapon and Grohl's perfect foil, the only man that the drummer from Nirvana seems happy to have sitting behind the kit (although Hawkins seems to completely misunderstand how the chorus of "My Hero" should sound).

Late in the night, Grohl went on a rant about how no matter how great a night he was having, people who write about the show will open by talking about what he did 20 years ago, before concluding "fuck 20 years ago." And while the recent anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind has brought about a new wave of nostalgia for the record that will always cast a tall shadow over Grohl's career, I honestly would never have even thought of it during the show if he hadn't brought it up. Aside from the visibility it gave Grohl, Nirvana's success is the reason a band that sounds like the Foo Fighters can sell out arenas today, but by the same token, the cult of personality around a tortured, tragic figure like Kurt Cobain is the same reason people will never look at a happy-go-lucky riff writer like Dave Grohl as a great rock star. But a great rock star he is, just one cut from a different cloth than his old bandmate.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 9:13 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.