On Monday night, Mariachi El Bronx and Cage the Elephant prepped the stage for Foo Fighters at San Diego State’s Viejas Arena. Mariachi El Bronx opened the show, followed by an entire hour of Cage the Elephant.
In the band’s new documentary “Foo Fighters: Back and Forth,” frontman Dave Grohl said: “Honestly, had I taken this career thing seriously I would have named it something else, because it’s the worse f-ing band name in the world.”
To be frank, the group should have simply named themselves “The Dave Grohl Band,” as he’s clearly the main attraction.
The Foo Fighters opened with “Bridge Burning.” Grohl sprinted around the stage, excited to see the fans. There was a section of the audience sitting, and the rock star sternly pointed at the roof, demanding fans to stand for the show. The band continued with “Rope” and “The Pretender” without any breaks in between.
After the lengthy opening, Grohl greeted the crowd by yelling as loud as he could into the microphone. The crowd responded in kind. This went on for several minutes and once he was satisfied, he gave a more proper greeting.
“So apparently kids these days think it’s OK to sit down at a rock show,” Grohl said. “No, no, no don’t stand up … Justin Bieber will be here shortly.
“Uncle Dave is going to teach you guys a thing or two tonight,” he said.
The band’s set consisted primarily of hit singles and material from its newest record, “Wasting Light.” Overall the show was a solid performance. However, Grohl had the tendency to unnecessarily prolong songs such as “Breakout” and “Stacked Actors” by tacking extensive jam sessions on the ends.
Several times when the audience thought a song was finished, the band would explode back into the chorus. It was exciting for several songs, but near the end of the show, it was more exciting for a song to be done.
The Foo Fighters finished the main show by playing “All My Life” before exiting the dark arena. As fans cheered for an encore, Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins appeared in night vision on the jumbotron, standing backstage. There was no audio but fans could easily lip-read what the two were saying: “We’ll play two more songs.” Fans screamed with joy in response.
“What’s that” Hawkins asked. “You don’t want three?” This went on until they agreed to perform five more songs.
Grohl returned to the stage, acoustic guitar in hand, as he jokingly said, “I better start playing before Taylor promises another 20 more songs.” Grohl began the encore with “Best of You” and “Times Like These” before finally finishing, fittingly, with “Everlong.”
