Dave Grohl can scream! And other lessons from the Foo Fighters’ tour-ending Fresno show
Some things to know about a Foo Fighters concert.
First off, it’s gonna be long night.
That’s something frontman Dave Grohl made clear early in Thursday night’s concert at Fresno’s Save Mart Center; the last of the band’s 2021 tour.
“We’re going to be here all night, you know that right?” he asked, though he may have added an expletive or two.
When the Foo Fighters played the arena in 2017 they did a 27-song set that lasted three hours and 15 minutes and ran until midnight. Thursday night’s show wasn’t quite that epic, but it did clock in at more than two and a half hours and included a career-spanning 20-song set list that included the hits (closing out with “Everlong,” obviously) and some old-school cuts (‘Breakout”) plus a cover or two (a jam-band version of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown”) and the title track from their new album “Medicine at Midnight.”
Two, there’s going to be screaming.
Like a lot.
That’s both from the crowd and also from Grohl, whose screaming vocals are a signature of the Foo Fighters sound and something he does between songs to test whether an audience is paying attention.
“You know I am genetically predisposed to do this all night long,” he said.
Which he did.
But for all the screaming and loud heavy rock (and the Foo Fighters are a HEAVY band) the sound was as well mixed and layered as any concert I’ve been to. The drums sounded especially good, which makes sense seeing as the band has two amazing drummers (Grohl and Taylor Hawkins, who got a near standing ovation before he stepped out to sing Queen’s “Somebody to Love”).
In a way, the concert felt like a masterclass in being a rock band with hidden pieces of rock-and-roll history built right into the show — a quick Chuck Berry lick tucked inside “The Pretender” or the hints of Motörhead in “No Son of Mine.”
Grohl hand-picked Kills Birds to open
Los Angeles rock band Kill Birds opened the show with a bombastic set of what I’d call modern grunge.
The blog site the Fresnan says not to sleep on this band, and he’s right. They recorded their latest album at Grohl’s Studio 606 through the same console on which Nirvana’s “Nevermind” was recorded.
Grohl personally picked the them to open the tour. You can see why he liked them.
The songs are angular and a bit weird and singer Nina Ljetis is an old-school mic-swinging frontwoman with a killer stage presence and a voice that moves easily into riot grrrl yell. They are worth seeing and/or seeing again.
Random observations
- Grohl admitted that he spent the COVID year walking around his house in his sweatpants drinking White Claw; black cherry in particular. He didn’t really mind it. The band did record an album, too.
- If there was any current worry about COVID or its new variant, people didn’t seem to show it. Most of the crowd was maskless and seemed more than happy to be part of the screaming crowd. Of course, the band did set stricter than normal protocols and screening tents were set up around the venue for people to show proof of vaccine or a negative COVID test. Rapid tests were available on site before the show for $80.
- There was something nostalgically rock and roll about seeing Ghrol and guitarist Pat Smear taking a smoke break while Rami Jaffee did his keyboard solo. On that note, Smear is a bit understated compared to the rest of the band, but he is a great guitarist and delight to watch.
- You know the Foo Fighters are a huge band because they have their own movie and only the biggest bands get movies (Metallica’s “Through the Never” anyone?). The trailer was shown before the start of the show. “Studio 666” opens in February.
Foo Fighters Set list Dec. 9, 2021
Times like These
The Pretender
Learn to Fly
No Son of Mine
The Sky is a Neighborhood
Shame Shame
Breakout
My Hero
These Days
Medicine at Midnight
Breakdown — Tom Petty cover
Walk
Somebody to Love — Queen cover (Hawkins on vocals, Grohl on drums)
All My Life
La Dee Da
This is a Call
Aurora
Best of You
Monkey Wrench
Everlong
This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 7:25 AM with the headline "Dave Grohl can scream! And other lessons from the Foo Fighters’ tour-ending Fresno show."