It’s been a long 17 years since Foo Fighters last made an appearance in the Welsh capital, and with the anticipation and bustle amongst those flocking to the city’s centre for their triumphant return having grown beyond belief, it was time for the band to reward their Welsh fans for their patience.
Despite their age, the Foos aren’t fond of a slow entry, bursting on stage, and almost immediately bursting into the first of the night’s classics ‘All My Life’. A song which quickly had the crowd roused and ready with minimal effort.
Prolific frontman, and all-round hero to most, Dave Grohl, greeted the Welsh crowd like your favourite family member would, and poised the most important question of the night: “Do you like Rock’N’Roll?” Screams followed, but Grohl was eager to put this to the test.
Rolling into their track ‘No Son of Mine’, Grohl wanted to test the crowd’s devotion to rock and roll, mixing in classics like Black Sabbath‘s ‘Paranoid’ and Metallica‘s ‘Enter Sandman’ to quiz the sixty-something thousand people who all stood before him. By his reaction, it seemed as though the Welsh crowd had soon passed his first lesson.
The night continued at a consistent pace, with cult-classics such as ‘Times Like These’, and ‘The Pretender’ all providing the big anthemic singalongs you’d hope for at a gig this size, but there were a few deep cuts thrown in for good measure too, such as ‘Walk’, and ‘Generator’.
By this point, band introductions were due, and for those who had not previously had the chance to meet, soon became acquainted with Rami Jaffee, Chris Shiflett, Nate Mendel, Josh Freese, and of course, Pat Smear. All through the medium of covers, including Beastie Boys‘ ‘Sabotage’, and Nine Inch Nails‘ ‘Whip It’.
Introductions completed, the show could continue, with a section of tracks spanning the width of the band’s discography, with ‘My Hero’ and ‘Learn To Fly’ getting the warmest of receptions, and ‘Arlandria’ really helping to thaw out the hardcore fans.
With the help of what Grohl described as a “thrust”, both himself and Rami wandered their way down the walkway to the precipice of the crowd, greeting those in the immediate vicinity, and delivering a wonderfully acoustic moment of ‘Skin and Bones’, despite Rami’s accordion issues.
Rami then departed, leaving Grohl alone to speak to his ever-devout audience, devoting the next songs ‘Big Me’ and ‘Under You’ to those in the stadium. A poignant moment, and certainly an intimate one too, no matter where in the stadium you found yourself.
Normal scheduling was soon resumed as Grohl encouraged everyone to dance to ‘Monkey Wrench’, to which many obliged, and soon came the arrival of ‘Aurora’, introduced to the crowd as the late Taylor Hawkins’ favourite Foo Fighters song, resulting in an emotional singalong in memory of the drummer.
Following a faux-closer in the form of ‘Best of You’, emotions ran high once again as the band returned on stage to deliver a performance of ‘The Teacher’, which managed to bring many of those around to tears. Those tears soon turned into cheers as the band welcomed to the stage Shane Hawkins, the son of Taylor Hawkins, who had chosen to play ‘This Is A Call’ on the drums alongside the rest of the band
The final song of the night, ‘Everlong’, formed the band’s goodbyes to the crowd, a victorious ending to the band’s glorious visit to the Welsh capital. With many hoping it won’t be another 17 years before Grohl and co find themselves here again
