Dateline – MINNEAPOLIS
Foo Fighters
Target Field
28 July 2024
Dave Grohl is the last great American rock star, and his sweet Foo Fighters are likely the last great American rock band. With the splintering, streaming, and Tik Tok-ing of the music industry, it’s hard to imagine a rock band in the 21st century having the street cred and attaining the critical mass required to be as big and badass as the Foos.
Foo Fighters aren’t hitting Detroit on their Everything or Nothing at All tour, so my wife Monica and I traveled to the “Minne Apple” to catch these guys. After thirty years, and especially given the recent death of beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins, you just never know. The Foos should be on any rock fan’s live-music bucket list, and they were certainly on ours.
All day we had lovely hot weather in which to scooter around the streets of Minneapolis, including visits to their lovely art museum and the legendary Electric Fetus record store. But always there was the specter of a storm front in the evening, and my wife and I compulsively kept checking the weather forecast.
It was a sunny festival atmosphere for openers L7 and The Pretenders, but sure enough it started raining just before Foo Fighters were supposed to come on. Earlier in the tour, a show at Citi Field in New York had to be canceled when lightning materialized during their set. Thankfully this was just a short delay, and despite the occasional heavy shower and distant electrical activity, the show went on. And they made their intention known early, with a ballistic version of “All My Life.” Despite my disdain for things that “rock,” this shit fucking rocks!
They ripped through a shitload of tunes, including hits (“Learn to Fly,” “Everlong”), new stuff (“Rescued,” “Nothing At All”), and OG deep cuts (“Breakout,” “Skin & Bones”). By the way, I’m adding another head to my Mt. Rushmore of stage banter. Robyn Hitchcock, Tom Waits, Shirley Manson, Colin Hay, Eddie Vedder, and now Dave Grohl.
The commitment that Grohl makes to the rock idiom is incredibly genuine and genuinely incredible. He screams and throws rock horns with abandon, while prowling the stage, teasing and tantalizing the crowd. While I’m up in section 213 trying to figure out how many levels of irony we’re working on here, Dave is busy being fucking awesome. And for the record, I have never enjoyed being called a motherfucker quite this much.
I do wish I could have been closer to them. Baseball stadiums are a shitty place for a concert, but I’ve made my peace with it. Big video screens magnify the action, and today’s speaker arrays make the sound as good in the nose-bleeds as it is up front. But honest to Christ, the bratwurst that we had at Target Field barely qualified as food (thank god for French’s mustard).
Now allow me to take you on a video journey through the glory that is a Foo Fighters rock-n-roll show. Buckle up, motherfuckers!
“The Pretender,” off 2007’s Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, is a classic example of “this is my favorite song” – until the next song starts. They routinely stop in the middle of songs for dramatic effect, and they got me on this one. “It’s not over yet, motherfuckers!”
“Breakout” is a new favorite of mine that I’d forgotten about. I dig that “break out” usually implies getting free of something, but in this tune it’s about an allergic reaction to someone. Hell no, I don’t want to look like that either, Dave. “One of these days I’m going to chase your motherfuckin’ old-school ass down!”
After a furious first half, the band brought it down a notch for a ballad-style version of “My Hero,” that Dave dedicated to Bob Mould of the influential St. Paul punk band Hüsker Dü (which made me wonder if Bob had died – thankfully he had not). In true rock-show tradition, the energy softens and the “lighters” come out.
It was windy as shit upstairs, and it seemed like we might have to learn to fly. This song always takes me right back to autumn of ’99, on the cusp of a new century, wondering if the new revolution would be any better than the old one.
Back to the notion of levels of irony, Dave and keyboardist Rami Jaffee came out for an acoustic interlude, noodling on “Stairway to Heaven.” Dave was like, “Can you imagine if we came out here and actually did play fuckin’ “Stairway to Heaven… with an accordion?” Yeah they did! All 9:19 of this must be seen to believe the shredding on acoustic and accordion.
The lead track on Foo’s 1995 debut, “This is a Call” also evokes a particular moment in time. Reeling from the suicide of his Nirvana bandmate, Kurt Cobain, Dave sacked up and helped a bereaved generation heal. I swear he wrote some shit as place-holder lyrics and never bothered to change them. Incidentally, Minicyn is actually pretty and good.
The set took a tender turn when Dave brought his daughter Violet Grohl out to sing “Show Me How” with him. Violet appears on the recorded version, on 2023’s But Here We Are. Dave’s mother passed in 2022, and they seem to be singing this as a lament for her. This is the sweetly melancholy side of Foo; it touched me, as I’ve lost both my parents in recent years.
“Monkey Wrench,” from their classic The Colour and the Shape, is Monica’s favorite. She screamed with delight and pogoed like it was 1997. Worth all the hundreds of thousands of pennies we spent on this trip.
They started “Best of You” with Dave alone in his spotlight, strumming and belting it out. Seeing this lone tiny figure a half-mile away, fist thrust in the air, singing “Were you born to resist or be abused?” was the iconic moment of the night for me. Maybe I can hang in, and not let the shit get the best of me.
The familiar pumping rhythm of “Everlong” signaled the end of this soggy evening. It’s reportedly David Letterman’s all-time favorite song, and quite possibly the greatest rock song of this century. The rain had picked up again, and we were soaked but still fired up, thrilled that they’d gotten the whole show in. Grohlie knew. “That’s right. This one everyone can dance to!”
Dave trudged off stage, a Fighter spent but triumphant, after giving us everything he had. He loves this band. He gave focus and big love to each of his “sweet Foo Fighters” – bassist Nate Mendel, guitarist Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett on lead guitar, Rami on keys, and the estimable new drummer Josh Freese – throughout the evening. Together, they’re an American treasure, and they really want us to have a good time, no matter how fucked up other shit seems. I love these guys.
For a thrilling hard rock concert experience, turn down the lights, burn some… incense, and put on this Foo Fighters live-show experience YouTube playlist. Just like being in Minneapolis, but you don’t need a poncho.
Keep up with the remaining tour dates, and buy most of the merch that was available at the venue on foofighters.com
