Last week I experienced the ultimate concert experience. Floor tickets to Foo Fighters at the world famous Forum. Now, I’d seen Dave Grohl and company open for The Police the year before at Dodger Stadium, and for the hour they were on stage, they ripped through a greatest hits set that would have been legendary had they not been followed by, you know, The Police. Dave Grohl rushed through the crowd, stood on speaker stacks in the middle of the field, and fired up the crowd — exactly what an opening band is supposed to do. But now I was experiencing them as a headliner. Foo Fighters at the Fuckin’ Forum!

The opening band was circus act Serj Tankian, the cartoony lead singer of System of a Down. He “la la la’d” through most of his solo album, and it was a fun little intro not to be taken too seriously, although Serj’s lyrics want you to think otherwise. His messages are politically driven but delivered in goofy, theatrical sermons, and ultimately you’re left wondering how he keeps his top hat on through all of it.

After a brief intermission, the lights went down, and the crowd on the floor herded towards the stage. A thunderous roar welcomed the Foos as they busted the show open with two songs off their new album. “Let It Die” is basically a reason for Dave Grohl to fire up his voice with his trademark concert scream, and “The Pretender” gave the audience something to sing to off the bat. From the start, Dave Grohl proved that he is the best frontman in the business. Running to each corner of the stage, Grohl would strike a pose and a spotlight would light up the crowd for him, giving everyone a chance to show some love. He made an announcement in the beginning stating, in his best Jack Black voice, “This is not the bargain show. This is the show where everyone who has to work tomorrow is fucked!” He wasn’t kidding.

The middle section of the show played out like a fan’s wet dream, with pitch perfect renditions of “Times Like These,” “Breakout,” “Learn to Fly” and “This Is A Call.” A genius design concept was the addition of a runway down the center of the Forum floor. This gave Grohl a chance to stroll through the middle of the crowd and tear off guitar solos, surrounded by thousands of adoring fans.

Now, the runway wasn’t just to stroke Dave’s ego. It also led to a secret second stage that dropped from the ceiling, allowing the band to perform an acoustic set to the back rows, or as Grohl joked, “All the people with dial-up.” Each member took a spot on the circular stage, including a pianist, a percussionist, and a hot cellist. They slowed things down with “Skin and Bones” and “Marigold,” and provided perfect sing-along opportunities by playing “My Hero,” and an astonishing version of “But Honestly” off the new album. “But Honestly” starts off acoustically, but crescendos into a full blown rock out, glued together when Pat Smear switched to an electric guitar. After that, the band ran off, leaving Dave alone to perform the first half of “Everlong” before magically re-appearing back on the first stage to deliver the song’s killer ending.

This is the exact moment the show went from amazing to “Holy shit, this is the best concert I have ever seen!” Dave Grohl has a knack for writing hooks that sing like anthems to ex-girlfriends, and the combo of “Monkey Wrench” and “All My Life” sent the crowd into rock bliss. Clearly, broken hearts are common. The show ended with a frenzy of shredding guitar and vocal chords, and I would have been happy going home there. But oh no. We weren’t done. The band returned for the encore, and Taylor Hawkins took to the mic. Just as I’m wondering, “Who’s manning the drums?” I see a lanky looking dude take to the drum kit. Taylor started to talk about a special guest playing with them, but we already knew who it was. Stewart FUCKING Copeland from The Police! They rocked through a fast-tempo cover of “Next To You,” and I think the 16 year olds in the audience were confused. It was an unexpected surprise that seemed like an afterthought, only because the rest of the show was so damn good. They closed with “Best Of You,” and I stumbled back to my car, my face effectively rocked off. After two and a half hours and not a dull moment, I can safely proclaim Foo Fighters as the best concert rock band of our generation.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 10:36 am and is filed under Editorial, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.