Foo Fighters
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD
Thursday, November 5th
“Brisbane, what’s up motherfuckers?!”
That’s how Dave Grohl greets Brisbane – then trips over his lead, throwing that familiar cheeky grin back at us, a wad of gum tucked just to the side, and a few shakes of his long mane. While these effusions may get raspier and wobblier by night’s end, it’s safe to say they’ll be no less fervent.
The first leg of Foo Fighters’ eight-show, five-state Australian Take Cover tour has arrived off the back of a steamy, soggy and stormy couple of weeks across the south-east corner of Queensland. And it’s been a hot one today again, too. With the mercury climbing to a scorching 35 C at midday, the air is practically dripping under the bright lights as fresh stars appear in the darkening sky overhead; the thought of risking a literal belting of heavy rain – and even hail – on the hallowed Suncorp Stadium grounds seems to have not been worth considering by this hefty, near sold-out, all-ages crowd.
Heating things up even more are our first stage warmers, Mini Skirt from Byron Bay. These post-punk gentlemen are great fun. Even for a small handful of punters before them, they absolutely bring the party with those rough-as-guts vocals and deadpan lyrics.
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The audience swells a bit more again for Brisbane’s Full Flower Moon Band, who are already on a steady climb to being another big Bris-Vegas band, which they absolutely deserve. The visceral energy that singer Kate “Babyshakes” Dillon pours into her performance is totally enthralling.
Then the smoke thickens, the stage turns a moody blue, and the crowd erupts as the first notes of “All My Life” ring out to herald a long-awaited entrance. It’s worth pausing here before the show really gets underway and take stock of the band fronting this stadium tonight, framed beneath the searing light show and between reverb-heavy stackers. Simply put – few groups have had such a kaleidoscopic journey as Foo Fighters. Since Nirvana ended for good in the mid-1990s, surely it was not on many punters’ bingo cards that the affable, goofball drummer for one of popular culture’s most inimitable and iconic bands of all time would go on to front arguably an even bigger act that continues to sell out arenas in any country they land.
Grohl and his band certainly aren’t shy of Australia; the six-piece are repeat offenders when it comes to playing shows out our way – they’ve done so a whopping 82 times – but they’ve still got a few “firsts” they’ll knock over with this leg. Their first time out here since 2023; the first since releasing their latest Your Favorite Toy, their 12th studio album borne earlier this year. And yes, here’s a haphazard one: the first since the tea was spilt on Grohl’s highly public, if not highly surprising, outing as a famous man with a mistress. That’s a lot of firsts. But it’s not the first time they’ve played Australia without beloved FF drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died in 2022. For some here tonight who couldn’t make the last outing in 2023, it will be, and that’s a tough pill to swallow. Former Nine Inch Nails and Angels and Airwaves drummer Ilan Rubin is, of course, as incredible and capable as they come, but you can’t help but wonder what cracks you start to hear in a band when a core member is suddenly no longer with us.
If there were any cracks, you certainly wouldn’t be able to spot them tonight. They stack the first half of the set heavy with fan staples and deep cuts. “The Pretender” is huge with Grohl’s trademark screams, “Times Like These” is a fun switch to something upbeat along with “Learn To Fly”, before the singing duties get handed over to the crowd in a truly special “My Hero.”
The band make their way out to the runway stage to “take a break from all that screaming, rock n roll bullshit” and play some acoustic takes on some classics like “Wheels”, “Big Me” and “Window”. At this point, it feels like there is a small lull in the energy; paring things back after an onslaught of typical FF songs makes complete and utter sense, but perhaps for a band who makes this much noise, the sudden shift is a bit of a jolt.
But they’re soon back on the main stage with more goodies – “Monkey Wrench”, “Breakout”, “Best Of You” – some of them simply thick with nostalgia and indulgent with solos and extended jams galore.
From Nirvana to a stint with buddies Queens of the Stone Age, a core member of the then-new era of supergroups, Them Crooked Vultures, a carousel of bandmates and personal upheavals, campaigns and even some time with the puppets on Sesame Street, It’s kinda cool just to see Grohl in action still, and know that he and his bands repeatedly carved out important places in music history.
It’s also deeply reassuring to see that no matter what grim, destabilising or economically crippling things are going on in the world, people will choose memories over monetary deficits, and still turn out for shows big (like this one) and small whenever they can.
And despite it being a weeknight, there is even a very heart-warming contingent of kids (teens, pre-teens and younger still) singing their absolute hearts out to closer “Everlong”, so best of luck to them staying awake at school the day after, which is a very uncool, non-rock pleasantry to offer. If there are any gripes from their teachers, send them Dave Grohl’s way.
