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  

James, 'Live in 2024', OVO Hydro, Glasgow. Friday 7th June, 2024

I was never into James in my youth. They were a Manchester pop band, and I was into rock, two mutually exclusive musical spheres. I was aware of their pop hits but never owned any of their albums. They just weren't my thing.

Then, after reuniting online with my uni class, Paul Sheehan raved to me about how good James was live, enough for me to take a fresh listen. I was blown away by Tim's voice and how catchy the choruses were, and I discovered that they had continued to create great new music. They stayed on my playlists. When this concert was announced, I had to get tickets. 

Razorlight was an indie act I had never got into back in the noughties. Tonight, they did themselves proud. If they'd been an unknown band, I'd have said they have a few good songs, perhaps not enough to encourage me to dive into their catalogue. The standout moment came during Golden Touch when the crowd took over the chorus. That took me by surprise; the loud crowd knew all the lyrics.  

The staging for James seemed quite sparse, comprising a series of raised platforms with steps down into the pit in front of the audience. At the back, a giant central screen was flanked by walls of lights, with big screens on either side of the stage. Notably, the band had two drumkits and lots of microphone stands. I wondered how many singers they had. 

The crowd on the floor level packed the hall from front to back. I'd never seen it so busy. Upstairs, there were a few gaps, and I wondered if security at one of the entrances had made a booboo and wrongly handed out the standing wristbands to everyone. My only evidence for this was when I noticed that the four people sitting beside us were all wearing them.

Before James came on, a muffled announcement requested that we put away our cameras. From my elevated position, I could see a few of the multitude of screen lights in the standing area going dark, but not many. Still, the seed was planted, so I decided this was one show I wouldn't try to film. Just as well, given the number of latecomers and people needing out during the performance. Aisle seats are great for a quick exit but not so good for the number of times you need to get up to let people out. One bald man in a previous James tour T-shirt went out three times during the show. Maybe he'd seen them so often he didn't mind missing a few songs. I did snap a few photos, though.

Without much fanfare, the James collective strolled up the ramp onto the stage, with lead singer Tim at the tail, and took up their positions, opening with She's a Star. Four more backing singers from a Manchester choir joined them from time to time, making thirteen performers on stage. That's value for money. Many of the band members are multi-instrumentalists, and they all showed off their talents and had a great time. What was great was how they all looked like they were having fun.  

Tim likes to get close to his audience, singing from various platforms on the front barrier. Sometimes, he sings while walking amongst the crowd, and sometimes, he sings while crowd surfing (that was an amazing sight—talk about carrying a tune). He is not amused by the cameras, though, as people need two hands to support him, and he warned us he wouldn't come into the crowd if he saw them. 

His dancing is amazing. He's so loose and limber he moves with all the carefreeness of a garage forecourt inflatable (and still makes it look cool). He shines so brightly under the lights that my camera often couldn't bring him into focus (which I'm sure he'd be pleased with). 

The screen graphics were deceptively clever, utilising 3D technology to make it appear the flower was coming out of the screen and, later, that the butterflies were flying. During Mobile God, the one song Tim said we should film, the people on the screen flickered with fluctuating cyber overlays. I suspect some AI trickery was at work there, as it was all conducted in real-time.  

I loved the harmonies on Beautiful Beaches, and Sit Down was simply sublime. My only disappointment was that they didn't play Is This Love from the new album. They played it elsewhere on the tour, so I guess I was just unlucky tonight.  

A super night. 

Afterwards, as we left the venue, the smell of hash was incredible despite the hoolie blowing. I guess James fans can only last so long without their next hit. 

Setlist

She's a Star

Tomorrow

Our World

Rogue (Live Debut)

Life's a Fucking Miracle

Born of Frustration

Waltzing Along

Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)

Shadow of a Giant

Five-O

Better With You

Just Like Fred Astaire

Sit Down

Mobile God

Sometimes (Lester Piggott)

Encore:

Way Over Your Head

Beautiful Beaches

Come Home

Laid

Ticket Price: 2 OVO Live Presale Ticket £65.00 x2 = £130.00 

Order Processing Fees £21, Handling Fee £2.00 

Total £153.00 

Oh oh, he's spotted the camera

Guess which song this was. 

Now that is a bow