Enter the Foo

If you look up the term “rock star” in the dictionary, there is a photo of Dave Grohl. If there isn’t, then there should be.

While Nirvana was a groundbreaking band, its short existence may have been the best thing to ever happen to Grohl. The young drummer with long hair that we all knew in the early 1990s is a musical genius. He wasn’t meant to sit behind someone else.

I that Travis Barker is probably one of the best musicians alive and is definitely (in my opinion) the best drummer currently performing. This is true. However, Grohl is in another flipping universe musically.

It took me until my mid-20s to actually become a Nirvana fan. However, I have been a Foo Fighters fan since their first album launched in 1995. Friday night, after 16 years of being a Foo follower, I finally saw them live. It was worth the wait.

The band played a nearly three-hour set, beginning at 9 p.m. and promising not to stop playing until we wanted to go home. About 2 hours and 40 minutes later, the music ended, and I still wasn’t ready to go home!

The Foo Fighters played every single song like it was the last song that they would ever play, drawing out the bridges and endings with energy and flourish, and showcasing every bit of talent that they had behind their instruments. Grohl ran around the stage at the age of 42 with more energy than some bands I have seen with frontmen still in their early 20s ... or even late teens.

They played every song that you could think of, including about half of their latest album: Wasting Light.

Rise Against opened for the Foo Fighters, playing for roughly 40 minutes or so. I love Rise Against, but I cannot even write about them tonight because the Foo Fighters were that mind-blowing to watch. Rise Against isn’t even on my radar right now. I hope that they come back as headliners, though, so that I can get a better dose of them ... with hopefully better sound equipment. (As far as lyrically political bands go, I haven't heard any as good as Rise Against since Rage Against the Machine.)

The Foo’s feel-good song of the night was “My Hero,” to which I leaned over to my brother and said, “Now, I feel like watching Varsity Blues.”

I could sit here and list every single song that the Foo Fighters played on Friday, but I’d reach my word limit. Basically, if they released it, they played it. The encore was six songs long and included two covers. One was Tom Petty’s “Breakdown,” and the other was Queen’s “Tie Your Mother Down.”

They ended the show with “Everlong” (as they should have). If you are from my generation and love rock/alternative music, this is most likely something you have listened to on repeat and is probably on your “Top 10 Favorite Songs from the 1990s” list.

I have been to more concerts than I can count. If I tried to name every band that I have ever seen live, I promise you that I would leave out a ton of them. The best show that I have ever seen was Angels & Airwaves in 2006 at The Rex on East Carson Street. Something about that band is magical. I cannot explain the complete feeling of euphoria I had listening to them live.

Foo Fighters were something different. As far as the best band to see live, this was it. Angels is still my favorite concert, but the Foo had the best-played concert. This band is in a different league when it comes to ability to entertain a live audience, and they sounded phenomenal. See them. If you see one band in your life, this is the band to see.

And I still want to watch Varsity Blues.