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Foo Fighters
7 out of 10 - Enjoyable.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles, CA
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Unfortunately, today’s music world lacks the good ole rock icons of the late 70’s and 80’s. The Foo Fighters are not a hair band per se, but they are a real rock band with guitar players flanked with four speaker cabinets and the head turned to “11”. As the band embarks on a 2003 world tour in support of the Grammy winning “One by One”, the unavoidable Los Angeles played host to the fifth stop on the tour with radio staples Transplants and The Special Goodness in tow making the listening almost as easy as a furious five at nine on KROQ. Who put this tour together, the program director at KROQ?
I was there for The Special Goodness and pondered what it must be like playing in a huge room like the Universal Amphitheater to what appeared to be about 100 people. Weezer lost me on the big comeback in 2000. After seeing them play in a club for the first time in over 2 1/2 years was good, but the hype and renewed super-stardom that ensued after was a little disappointing. Dave Grohl must have a soft spot in his heart for drummers turned frontmen because they didn’t seem to be that worthy of sharing the stage with the Foo’s.
Then, Transplants busted out for a quick thirty playing songs of the self titled epitaph debut which has propelled the former Rancid roadie-turned-singer into s Pjspotlight with the bands 22nd century Clash-esque sounds which went all the way into a cover of White Riot. With all the radio play they receive and the hype of the members in the band, I did expect a wee bit more than the fall down antics of a sober Tim Armstrong. Rob Ashton, for being so new in this game seemed a little too arrogant for a newcomer and I think a little humbleness would have made the show a little more enjoyable for myself.
Promptly at 9:45, the lights went dim and the PA oozed the opening guitar licks of “One by One” from behind a white curtain adorning lyrics from the album and the trademark red heart the Foo’s have used as of late. It was Grohl solo for just long enough for the crowd to rush back in to their seats and witness the curtain drop while the band busted into the song with an all out fervor. The set with dotted with songs from all of the bands four proper releases and included The One from the Orange County soundtrack. By today’s standards, this is a great rock band but they lack the unpredictableness of some of the bands of the past. It seemed too perfect, no angst, just a nice friendly set of KROQ forty minutes non-stop but for ninety minutes non-stop.
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| Barney Rebel |
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