The Foo Fighters at the Wang, August 22, 2006
By MATT ASHARE | August 25, 2006
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Dave Grohl’s been playing loud, fast, and since long before he joined Nirvana, sometimes – particularly with his Foo Fighters – to the detriment of certain subtleties. His Foo Fighters recordings over have shown growing melodic sophistication and sense of dynamic tension that’s hasn’t always been apparent in concert, walls of roaring guitars and pounding drums dominate. Even Grohl admitted as much a week ago Tuesday at the Wang Theatre when, as an intro to “Next Year,” he recalled the laid back atmosphere of recording sessions for 1999’s pop-angled There Is Nothing Left To, where grilled ribs and pick-up basketball games (as well the lack of a major-label deal) freed the band to relax and explore their softer side. More of that was in order on last years In Your Honor (RCA), a two-disc, half-and-half set of the loud and the quiet. The Wang gig was part two of the current Foo Fighters tour, dedicated to the quieter side of the band.
The show may have started with just Grohl, seated as he fingerpicked the undulating melody of the bloodletting “Razor.” But, by song’s end he’d been joined by a band larger than the one he usually tours with – a rhythm section (Foo Fighters Taylor Hawkins and Nate Mendel) supplemented by a percussionist, two extra guitarists (including former Nirvana/Foo Fighter aide-de-camp Pat Smear, on leave from a Germs reunion), and two multi-instrumentalists, including a guy behind a bank of keyboards and Petra Haden on violin, mandolin, and one lead vocal. It may have been quieter, but it didn’t lack for fullness. And it expanded the Foos dynamic range, not just on tracks from In You Honor’s “other” disc, but from a full range of material covering, as Grohl put it, “eleven years and something like 75 or 80 songs.” That included popular hits like “Walking After You” and “My Hero,” as well as rarities like “Marigold” (a song Grohl wrote for Nirvana) and the b-side “Skin and Bone” that Grohl jokingly called “my ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’.”
Grohl was in good form throughout. He pointed out Smear’s flip-flops and jokingly admonished, “This isn’t a Widespread Panic show.” Later, he cracked himself up when he playfully pointed out that Mendel’s bass “solo” sounded like the Pink Panther theme. More than anything, he seemed to relish the chance to sit, talk, and play with old friends like Smear and Haden. “Rock and roll!!,” someone in the audience yelled late in the set, totally missing the point. Grohl stared with disbelief and, appreciating the irony when he noticed the guy’s AC/DC t-shirt, he invited him to take a bow. AC/DC man got his 15-seconds of semi-fame, and Grohl got a good laugh. That’s rock and roll for you.
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