Foo Fighters Rock And Rollick
Foo Fighters, Friday, CUB Ballroom in Pullman
There are qualities to Foo Fighters vocalist-guitarist Dave Grohl that makes it entirely enjoyable to be in his presence. Maybe it’s his happy-go-lucky personality. Or maybe it’s his down-to-earth charm.
Those are a couple of them.
But what truly made his concert with the Foo Fighters Friday at the CUB Ballroom in Pullman a winner was his total sincerity and his enthusiastic insistence to connect with the audience.
The Foo Fighters could have left the stage after stumbling through a dozen numbers, and, because of their demeanor, they still would have sent the 1,000 fans home in a state of bliss. Yet, not once did they falter.
The Foo Fighters raged, rocked and rollicked the sold-out hall. With raw, punchy songs acting as an arsenal of explosives, the Foo Fighters detonated endless blasts of music, sending bodies careening through the swollen mosh pit.
All of this, plus a unparalleled level of passion and energy, which should be missing from a band that’s been on the road for a year, added to the Foo Fighters’ magnetism.
Grohl and his cohorts played their hits - the pop-infected “Big Me” and the Beach Boys-ish “This is a Call” - songs they’re probably tired of playing night after night. Yet, they did it with a smile and grace. And the crowd was thrilled.
So when it came time for the band to play the songs it seemed more enamored to, such as its B-sides, new material and an Angry Samoans cover, the crowd listened attentively and voiced its enthusiasm.
Among the Foo Fighters’ most affecting songs was a somber ballad called “How I Miss You,” a B-side of the European single for “I’ll Stick Around.”
Grohl has a great thing going with the Foo Fighters. Judging from the amount of fun he and the rest of his band - guitarist Pat Smear, drummer William Goldsmith and bassist Nate Mendel - had on stage, it’s obvious that his days as a drummer in that “N” band are well behind him.
Opening bands Jawbreaker and Ween gave electrifying performances as well. Jawbreaker, a three-piece punk/pop/noise outfit, played as if it had something to prove. The band provided a string cathartic moments in its 30-minute set.
Even though the San Francisco band steered clear of playing songs from its major label debut, Jawbreaker still managed to grab the audience’s interest.
, DataTimes