Grohl and Foo Fighters tear it up at the State

By Gautam Baksi

Daily Arts Writer

It was rock 'n' roll music at its best: A little smoke, some crowd surfing and a lot of banging drums and heavy strums of distorted guitars. Don't forget to add shirtless fans rushing the stage (only to be oh-so-quickly tackled by stage security) and some extended guitar solos on top of speakers. Who says rock n' roll is dead?

Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighter buddies graced the State Theater stage shortly before 9 p.m. to the ferocious beats of "Break Out" off their latest release, There Is Nothing Left to Lose. As drummer Taylor Hawkins pounded his double bass, Grohl jumped onto a second drum set and the band began one of their strongest songs of the night. With a simple stage set packed with bright lights pointing at the crowd, The Foo Fighters played for almost two hours of continuous music highlighting songs off all three of their CD releases.

Sporting a baggy white, full sleeve T-shirt, Grohl primarily acted as guitarist and kept energy levels going with hits like "My Hero" and "Monkey Wrench." Squeezed between their hard driving, punk-influenced songs, the band played many ballads off their '97 release, Colour and the Shape. Transitions between loud rock and softer "Big Me"-type ballads were somewhat sharp; it was obvious the band's repertoire of songs lacked middle-level intensity. However, shortly after fans would stand still for Grohl's emotional outpourings, they would be furiously jumping in place as Grohl ran around the stage teaching a group of head-bangers how to get whiplash.

Early in the night, Grohl climbed on top a stage extension into the audience, towering ten feet above screaming fans. Hawkins threw over a dozen drumsticks at Grohl who clumsily dropped all of them before finally catching one to do some resourceful slide-guitar work. The interlude ended with the crowd taunting Grohl to stage-dive onto the floor. Although tempted, Grohl declined, acknowledging, "The last time I stage-dived was at an Iggy Pop show at the Palladium in Los Angeles." Even with the repeated urging of fans, Grohl said he'd only do it again when he felt ready. Jokingly, he added, "Just because 5,000 fans want me to do something doesn't mean I will! Okay?"

Constantly mixing humor, goofy stage antics and solid performances of his songs, Dave Grohl acted the part of a humble rock star. Although he praised his fellow guitarists (Chris Shiflett on rhythm and Nate Mendel on bass) extensively, it was obvious that as the former drummer for Nirvana, Grohl's favorite fellow Foo was Taylor Hawkins.

After a drumming duel in the middle of his set, Grohl even conceded who was the better drummer: "Taylor Hawkins is a fucking god!"

As an encore, the band played, "Ain't It the Life," a rarity on this tour which included mostly heavier gigs with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Although the crowd didn't appreciate the mellow groove much, the band seemed very content to be able to play a favorite.

The night was brought to a close with "M.I.A.," also off their last release, and then segued into the ever-popular "Everlong" which finally concluded the exciting night.

Courtesy of Foo Roswell Records

The Foo Fighters practice hard and play harder.