Foo Fighters, "Everything or Nothing At All" UK Tour, Hampden Park, Glasgow. Monday 17th, June, 2024

When the tickets for this rock'n'roll show went on sale, I didn't know whether I could get the day off. With no golden circle, I didn't want to risk buying standing tickets and ending up at the back of the pitch, so I panicked and paid for the best seats I could get, which turned out to be in the South Stand, opposite the stage. 

In my haste, I hadn't even realised they were VIP tickets, which sounds fancy but isn't. The reality was that we got a clear plastic bag printed with the FF logo, which contained an exclusive art print and a fabric wristband with the tour name. There was no early entrance, no exclusive bars, and no special assistance to take us to our seats. 

We could have benefitted from a personal guide as we ended up sitting in the right row, on the right seat number, but in the wrong section. We sat there for both support acts and only discovered our mistake when the actual people with the correct tickets arrived. Cue a shameful shuffle out from the row, then a traipse down the stairs to the front to ask another steward where we should have sat. Which turned out to be more central. To be honest, we should have realised earlier because we were the only people sitting there holding VIP bags.

We missed the start of Honeyblood's set as I had parked in Shawlands, miles from the Stadium. The all-girl, indie guitar rock act from Edinburgh were okay. Pleasant to watch and listen to, and it was good to hear a Scottish accent.

The second support act, Courtney Barnett, didn't get me fired up. At first, I thought the Aussie was heavily influenced by Bob Dylan's rambling, not-quite-singing style. Then, she transitioned into shouty mode. Later, she proved she could sing, but her songs didn't win me over. Not that that mattered because we were only here for the Foos. And they did not disappoint. 

Dave Grohl has the kind of magnetic personality that draws your attention even when he's a tiny blip at the other end of the pitch. His warmth, personality, and charm fill the entire stadium, and boy, does he know how to rock. It pours from his sweat, screams from his roar, and shows in his passion. For the three hours they're on stage, we all become part of his Foo family.

I did miss Taylor Hawkins. He was such a huge element of the Foo's live shows. His drumming was joyful and subtle, and he used amazing technique. He was even known to take over the lead vocals on occasion, with Dave swapping onto the drumkit. Josh Freese might be a great skin basher, sitting in Taylor's seat by necessity, but he hasn't filled the hole. Without Josh, though, there would have been no show. 

With such a long set, there were inevitably lulls. Some of the more obscure numbers and newer songs will need to work hard to stay in the sets for subsequent tours, but it was nice to hear them play Skin and Bones. I still don't get the appeal of The Teacher from the recent album. It's way too long and downbeat—not exactly typical fare for an encore.      

I took a few pics and some vids, straining my camera's zoom to the max. I kinda wished I'd had telephoto-zoom contact lenses myself to see the stage better. Thankfully, the large screens on either side displayed what was going on. The staging itself wasn't overly ornate. I'm not sure why they have so many television-size screens racked behind them. In such a huge venue, I could hardly see what images they displayed. I also couldn't tell if the disc logo that appeared mid-set was just on the screen or an actual prop. Probably the latter.

For once, the weather stayed dry, but once the sun went down, it was freezing in the Stand. A right chilly wind blew around us, so much so my hands were frozen and my thighs chittered. Clapping was a great way to warm your hands. I actually missed that sweaty heat you get from standing in the crowd.

However, despite a few reservations, this was still another amazing experience. Long live the Foos!

Setlist:

All My Life
No Son of Mine (with snippets of "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath and "Enter Sandman" by Metallica)
Rescued
The Pretender
Walk
Times Like These (Dave and Rami only into full band)
White Limo
La Dee Da
This Is a Call
Guitar Solo / Sabotage / Keyboard Solo / Flower of Scotland / Blitzkrieg Bop / Whip It / March of the Pigs
My Hero (acoustic into full band)
The Sky Is a Neighborhood
Learn to Fly
Arlandria
These Days
Skin and Bones (tour debut; acoustic with Rami on accordion)
Under You (Dave solo acoustic)
Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners (acoustic into full band)
Nothing at All (with a snippet of "Blackbird" by The Beatles)
Unconditional
Monkey Wrench (with added audience “Here We Fucking Go” and “No Scotland No Party")
Show Me How (with Violet Grohl) (tour debut)
Aurora (dedicated to Taylor Hawkins)
Best of You

Encore:
The Teacher
Everlong

Ticket Price: 

Artist Presale - Best Seat Experience £175.00 x2 = £350.00
Per Item Fees £11.80 (Service Charge Artist Presale - Best Seat Experience) x2 = £23.60
Order Processing Fees Handling Fee (£2.75) £2.75

Total £376.35

Links to my YouTube videos:

Photos:

Honeyblood

Courtney Barnett

Coincidental contrails of a passing plane  

Foo Fighters, Summer Sessions, Bellahouston Park, Glasgow 17th Aug 2019

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