The undisputed kings of rock & roll graced the north with their presence this week. That’s right folks we’re talking about the Foo Fighters, who rocked Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on the first day of the Sonic Highways Tour.
With the world tour being in support of the Foo’s eighth studio album, Sonic Highways, Sunderland was first on the bill to be amazed by one of planet Earth’s most legendary rock bands. Accompanied by young indy rockers The Strypes and UK chart toppers Kaiser Cheifs, the Foo Fighters left the people of Sunderland with sore throats and teary eyes after a biblical 26 song set list, featuring many of their own iconic anthems as well as some covers from legends such as Queen, AC/DC and The Police.
As far as support goes everything was very surprising. Let’s get the elephant out of the room and say it was not the Iggy Pop and Royal Blood bill that we were first graced with, and many let out a sigh of disbelief when the Chiefs were announced. Now we are gonna go out on a limb and say it, both support acts were actually, awesome. Maybe it was because of the copious amounts of alcohol that were consumed before hand, but we were definitely glad we didn’t stay in the pub!
The Strypes started us off with a very promising collection of tunes. Some pre gig research allowed us to recognise certain numbers like ‘Scumbag City’ and ‘Blue Collar Jane’ and take our word for it, these kids really rocked. Can you imagine being in a band, aged 17-19, with your mates and being asked by the fucking Foo Fighters to come and play a show! Hat’s off to them they played a cracking show and looked like they enjoyed every minute of it!
Next up we had the Kaiser Chiefs, who’ve been pretty much a distant memory in the minds of us rock buffs. Apparently they had a new album last year, who’d have guessed? But honestly jokes aside the Chiefs really knew how to work an anxious crowd of Mackems. It’s actually quite surprising how many Kaiser Chief songs you know the words to when you think about it. ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’, ‘I Predict A Riot’ and of course that timeless classic ‘Ruby’ just to name a few. Also rocking out with some of the older generation when they covered The Who’s, ‘Pinball Wizard‘ was really quite amazing, being in the same boat as somebody 30-40 years older and having a fucking sick time really makes you realise why you love being a rock & roll fan.
Now finally, the main event, oh sweet Jesus. Anyone who has ever been to a Foo Fighters show before know that these guys do not fuck around. They opened with ‘Everlong’, so you get the type of show you’re going to get! From the off the energy was just electric. Knowing every word to every single song was just the icing on the cake. ‘Monkey Wrench’, ‘Learn To Fly’, ‘The Pretender’, the classics just kept on coming, but there was more than enough new stuff to keep the set fresh. Last years release Sonic Highways brought forward some amazing rock numbers that were destined to be blasted at full whack in front of thousands of screaming fans. The slick riffs of ‘Something From Nothing’ and the flawless melodies of ‘Congregation’ had us all in pieces as we screamed every lyric, stripping the fleshy lining from our throats in the process. As rock buffs, obscure songs always go down an absolute treat, and the Foos delivered with the first live performance of ‘But Honestly’ since November 4th 2009. We even got the pleasure of rocking out to ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ with the insanely talented drummer Taylor Hawkins helping out on vocals before taking the lead mic for his In Your Honor number, ‘Cold Day In The Sun’.
This review could genuinely carry on for a lifetime but we have to bring this baby to a close folks. The whole experience was absolutely overwhelming, it’s shows like these that stick with you for life. We tend to be all about that rough and tumble here on Mosh but we’re gonna get a little soft here. The Foo Fighters are very much the godfathers of 21st Century rock and roll. They love all of us just as much as we love them, and you don’t really experience that until you’re stood there gawking at that magnificent group of humans, screaming to the heavens. The UK tour is far from over, with dates all over the country and their appearance at Glastonbury Festival still to come. If you haven’t been to a Foo Fighters show before, seriously just go. You really have no idea what you’re missing out on.
