On November 22nd, about 7 months before the Foo Fighters US tour would begin, I waited in line for 2 hours outside the Susquehanna Bank Center in the cold, windy weather to get my hands on Foo Fighters tickets. It was part of the Foo Fighters' Beat the Bots campaign, a box office only pre-sale in an effort to stop online scalper bots from purchasing large amount of tickets at a time and reselling them. Although it was freezing, it was a lot of fun and it was cool to experience an old school approach to buying tickets. With most tickets now being sold online, I can proudly say I stood in line for tickets.
A little more than 3 weeks after falling off the stage during a concert in Gothenburg, Sweden and breaking his leg, Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters arrived across the Delaware river from Philadelphia at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ. After cancelling the remainder of their UK tour, including 2 shows from Wembley Stadium and the Glastonbury Festival, Grohl wrote an open letter to the fans apologizing about his broken leg. However, the Foos did not let Grohl's broken leg stop them from continuing their North American tour as planned. Two days after playing their 20th Anniversary show in Grohl's hometown of Washington DC on July 4th, the second stop on the tour was Camden, NJ.
Opening for the Foo Fighters was highly sought out rock duo from the UK, Royal Blood. They ripped through their self-titled first album, playing all but one song. Their heavy, dark sound is the result of singer/bassist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher. Kerr sung his heart out and thumped on the bass while Thatcher pounded away on the drum kit, harder than anyone I've seen. Kerr also had no need for a whammy bar as he would punch his guitar to gain the same effect. The music speaks for itself on the album but to see it live was a whole different story. A perfect opening act who got the crowd going and received quite an ovation after their 10 song set.
As Royal Blood left the stage, a black curtain fell with the Foo Fighters logo and would stay there until the first lyrics of Everlong. As the curtain was pulled away, it revealed not only the band but Dave Grohl sitting atop his rock and roll throne complete with lights, a giant Foo Fighters logo and smoke pouring out from the bottom. Although Grohl's leg was elevated, it didn't stop him from head banging, shedding, jamming out, and even using his cast to rock a guitar solo. Before playing Big Me, Grohl gave a slideshow presentation of the events of his broken leg including a video of him falling off stage, an x-ray of his leg before and after surgery, and his quick sketch of his throne. Later on, Grohl invited a young girl and her family in the front row to watch the remainder of the show from the side of the stage next to Mrs. Grohl after seeing the little girl's sign that stated her name was Zeppelin and that she wanted closer seats. Dave Grohl, keeping his reputation as "the nicest guy in rock", came through again with the approval from the cheering crowd.
I really enjoyed the deep cuts of Cold Day in the Sun, one of the acoustic tracks from In Your Honor, Aurora, off my favorite album There Is Nothing Left to Lose, and This Is a Call from the first album. Over the years, the Foo Fighters have embraced various cover songs and have even come up with their own cover band name, The Holy Shits. Although The Holy Shits didn't make an appearance, the Foo Fighters played their fair share of covers including Van Halen, Queen, Alice Cooper, The Faces, and my favorite AC/DC.
This concert showed that the Foo Fighters are not just a rock band but entertainers. Grohl talks a little more than some may want him to and they could have played more songs if he didn't but he does so to entertain. His character and hilarious comments captivate the audience and keeps them engaged. It was a great concert but it was not as good as when I saw them in 2012 with The Joy Formidable and Social Distortion. The show in 2012 had less covers and more hard rocking Foo Fighters songs. Plus Bob Mould came out to play with the band. Despite the fact that the Susquehanna Bank Center gets a bad rap for sound quality, the venue wasn't as bad as I remember it being when I saw Iron Maiden in 2012.
Setlist:
Royal Blood:
1. Come On Over
2. You Can Be So Cruel
3. Figure It Out
4. Better Strangers
5. Little Monster
6. Blood Hands
7. One Trick Pony
8. Ten Tonne Skeleton
9. Loose Change
10. Out of the Black
Foo Fighters:
1. Everlong
2. Monkey Wrench
3. Learn to Fly
4. Something from Nothing
5. The Pretender
6. Big Me
7. Congregation
8. Walk
9. I'm the One (Van Halen cover) (Snippet played during band introduction)
10. Another One Bites the Dust (Queen cover) (Snippet played during band introduction)
11. School's Out (Alice Cooper cover) (Snippet played during band introduction)
12. Cold Day in the Sun
13. My Hero (Acoustic)
14. Times Like These (Acoustic)
15. Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie cover)
16. All My Life
17. These Days
18. Outside
19. Breakout
20. Arlandria
21. This Is a Call
22. Aurora
23. Stay with Me (The Faces cover)
24. Let There Be Rock (AC/DC cover)
25. Best of You
1. Come On Over
2. You Can Be So Cruel
3. Figure It Out
4. Better Strangers
5. Little Monster
6. Blood Hands
7. One Trick Pony
8. Ten Tonne Skeleton
9. Loose Change
10. Out of the Black
Foo Fighters:
1. Everlong
2. Monkey Wrench
3. Learn to Fly
4. Something from Nothing
5. The Pretender
6. Big Me
7. Congregation
8. Walk
9. I'm the One (Van Halen cover) (Snippet played during band introduction)
10. Another One Bites the Dust (Queen cover) (Snippet played during band introduction)
11. School's Out (Alice Cooper cover) (Snippet played during band introduction)
12. Cold Day in the Sun
13. My Hero (Acoustic)
14. Times Like These (Acoustic)
15. Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie cover)
16. All My Life
17. These Days
18. Outside
19. Breakout
20. Arlandria
21. This Is a Call
22. Aurora
23. Stay with Me (The Faces cover)
24. Let There Be Rock (AC/DC cover)
25. Best of You
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