The Foo Fighters have been around a long time. The last time I saw them live was in 1999 at the Barrowlands. That night was amazing, the image of a T-Shirt flying through the air, landing on Dave Grohl's head covering his entire face, indelibly burned in my memory. He took it in good humour then and he retains that spirit now, the frontman willing to have a laugh but still in control.
We were warned beforehand that the venue, Bellahouston Park, was a mud pit due to the heavy August rains and the grass being churned up by the fan attending the Cure gig the previous night. Wellies were the footwear recommended by the promoters. With more rain expected, I ended up looking like I'd dressed more for a Highland hike than a rock concert, wearing my hiking boots, denims and a waterproof jacket.
Carefully squelching across the grass to entrance A, we joined the slowest queue as usual. While waiting, my wife revealed she had brought two Alpen Light bars with her in her bag and I warned her they would be confiscated. She then insisted I take them so I hid the contraband in my jeans pockets hoping the door staff would stop short of frisking my newly-enhanced crotch bulge. There was a female on our queue and she didn't cop a feel so everything was good.
Inside, the mud was worse but in daylight, this was an easy traverse. Having arrived early before any of the acts performed, we were able to grab a spot on the barrier behind what we thought was the VIP area. I was a bit miffed that the promoters had not mentioned this special area when I bought the tickets, thinking the VIPs only had their own toilets and food area. It turned out the space was for anyone but I didn't find this out till the next day. We had a good view anyway.
First up was Hot Milk. They are a bouncy, KerrangTV- friendly, nu-metal band from Manchester, who spent a lot of the set telling us to put our hands in the air, to jump up and down and who shouted 'Glasgow' a lot. The strong wind blew away their dry ice. I wasn't blown away by them.
Next up were The Van.T's. This girl group (plus boy drummer) are from Glasgow and produce a sound with lots of distorted guitars. A few of the tunes got me tapping my feet but the heavy shower during their set meant I was mostly trying to avoid getting soaked. The grey clouds cleared by the end of their set though.
Then we got the monster that is Frank Carter with his Rattlesnakes. Frank has the swagger and confidence of a young John Lydon, stepping like a loon, jumping off the stage to walk across the crowd. Then he realised there wasn't stairs to get back up onto the main stage and had to climb up. He took it in good humour though, mocking himself. Their set brought the gig to life in a deliberate attempt to upstage the Foos. They didn't manage but they were great.
Slaves, on the other hand, were not my thing. A duo, from the 'garden of England', they are an acquired taste, much like oral thrush. The lead singer/ drummer, naked apart from his shorts, resembles a young Danny Dyer if he'd snorted the ashes of Keith Flint then gone on a cocaine and booze binge. He regularly showered himself with lager and performed like he was doing drum aerobics during the set, which was noisy, energetic and shouty. A bit of a turnoff.
The Foos are majestic. They know how to bring it and not disappoint. They played a set lasting 2hrs 40mins with songs from all eras of their career plus a couple of covers, Taylor Hawkins taking over lead vocals during Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie.
Their rousing tribute to the Scottish Young brothers, Let There Be Rock (AC/DC) was immense. Sometimes they stretch the songs a little too long but they enjoyed themselves. I particularly liked when Dave Grohl introduced each bandmate and they all played something to show off, the keyboard player tinkling the Flower of Scotland which triggered the crowd into full anthem mode. Dave scolded him for upstaging the others, telling him he was sacked.
On this tour, the Foos have brought backing singers with them, including Dave's thirteen-year-old daughter, Violet. She declined her father's invitation to duet with him, miming that her voice was not good enough. Dave enjoyed teasing her though.
There was a little trouble in the crowd during their set with a few latecomers shoving their way forward but G4S were quick to warn them to calm down. The good thing was, because the troublemakers were worse for alcohol, they didn't have the stamina to last the gig so by the final hour the pushing had stopped.
Afterwards, as we trekked across the marsh to the exit, the moon was full but not bright enough to illuminate our footing. The squelchiness, however, was not enough to dampen our happiness over what had been a great day.
Long Live the Foos.
Setlist
Stacked Actors
The Pretender
Learn to Fly
Run
The Sky Is a Neighborhood
Times Like These
Drum Solo
Sunday Rain
My Hero
These Days
La Dee Da
Walk
The Boys Are Back in Town / Good Times / Flower of Scotland / Ziggy Stardust / Scar Tissue (Band introductions)
Under Pressure (Queen cover)
All My Life
I'll Stick Around
Wheels
Monkey Wrench
Hey, Johnny Park!
Dirty Water
This Is a Call
Best of You
Let There Be Rock (AC/DC cover)
Everlong
