Evershort: How Foo Fighters Rocked New York Before the Rains

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Foo Fighters shows are marathons, and rightfully so. Last night’s concert at Citi Field in New York — the opening date of their “Everything or Nothing At All Tour” (get tickets here ) — was intended to be the typical three hour rock ‘n roll extraordinaire, but the weather had some other plans. Let’s start with the abrupt climax: around 75 minutes into the show, shortly following personnel introductions, lightning started popping up in the periphery of the stadium, and a storm looked imminent.

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As they began “Learn to Fly,” Grohl brought his band to a hush and relayed the situation. A big storm was about to pass through, and according to Grohl, it would take a while — but the Foo Fighters would not leave the stage until it was unsafe for us to be there. At that point, the wind had started to pick up and lightning popped more frequently, but the rain was nowhere to be found. Still, the band played “Learn to Fly” with a slight bit of apprehension. They knew the end was near, they just didn’t know when the plug was going to be pulled.

After “Learn to Fly,” the stakes were definitely raised — Foos were going to have to leave the stage, and they didn’t know if they were going to be able to come back. So, Grohl relayed the crowd, “Let’s do this before shit gets weird,” basically meaning before we all have to evacuate. They got through maybe 30 seconds of “Everlong,” a song they almost always save for the conclusion of their encore, until they abruptly stopped and Grohl told us all to seek shelter.

“You guys go get safe, everybody go get safe” Grohl shouted before the rain arrived like an armada. “If we can come back, we will. But listen, you know we fucking love you, you know we’ll be back for you guys, right? Go get safe, we’ll see you.” We all took shelter within the stadium, but once the storm started, the prospect of Foo Fighters returning to make their 11:00 p.m. curfew looked more unrealistic by the minute. At 10:33 p.m., the show officially concluded.

For the first 80 minutes, though, it was smiles abound. It may have been an abridged version of Foo Fighters’ tour opener, but it was still a Foo Fighters show — meaning it was jam-packed with electrifying rock, tense bridge breakdowns, and Dave Grohl being the charming entertainer we know and love.

Grohl, clearly coursing with adrenaline when he performs, channels all that energy into his chewing gum, literally chomping at the mic in between banter. “Do you love rock ‘n roll?,” Grohl asked the crowd during Medicine at Midnight track “No Son of Mine.” “Well I do too!,” he said cutely, before briefly covering Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” Over time, Grohl is genuinely getting sillier on stage. Three hours work for Foo Fighters, because it means Dave Grohl can more or less just riff like a comedian whenever he wants. Nothing about his demeanor suggests he’s ‘Mr. Serious Rockstar,’ and yet, he’s clearly shredding with every ounce of passion he has.

The boys simply love their job. Nate Mendel and Pat Smear are joys to watch, totally locked in and looking elated to be there. It’s also not a stretch to say that Josh Freese, the newest member of the group, is actually the best musician in Foo Fighters, full stop. He is a menace behind the drum kit, but he also looks so unbelievably comfortable. He’s only exerting half of his available energy on drum parts that were composed with a full breadth of power and emotion — sure, his solos are a blast, but his work on Taylor Hawkins + Grohl staples like “The Pretender” and recent cut “Rescued” is bewildering.

Perhaps there were some surprises left in the remaining 90 minutes of the show, it being the tour opener in New York City and all. But for the most part, the 13 songs they busted out are Foo Fighters familiars. The trio of throwbacks “Generator,” “La Dee Da,” and “Breakout” shined brightly in particular, the washy guitars and angsty malaise a warm reminder of Foo Fighters’ late ’90s peak. By the time we arrived at “My Hero,” everyone turned on their phone flashlights. At a baseball stadium, that will never not look awesome.

In retrospect, the pleasure of Foo Fighters doing “The Sky Is a Neighborhood” and “Learn to Fly” as a storm approaches is not lost on me. “Looking to the sky to save me” took on a pretty different meaning, especially given the nervy air of the performance (and also that pre-thunderstorm breeze).

Without a doubt, there are some disappointed attendees out there who would have loved to see the Foos continue on, either through the rain, past curfew, or both. I’m sure Dave Grohl would have loved to do the same thing. Not for one second did he look like he was happy to leave the stage and wait out the storm. Those guys live for that energy, and having it abruptly stripped is like sacrilege in the church of Foo Fighters. “Keep! It! Down!” they howl during “The Sky Is a Neighborhood,” a bittersweet sentiment for a loud, cathartic rock concert that was aching to continue.

Still, I’m glad we at least got some classic Foo Fighters energy, even if it was just for an hour and a half. I walked out of Citi Field to torrential downpour (“This would have never happened in California!,” I jokingly shouted to my friend as we sprinted through the flash flood to the nearby subway station). My clothes are still sopping wet. Still, all I can think about are how fucking great the Foo Fighters are.

Great church service, shorter than normal, would go again.

Foo Fighters Setlist July 17th @ Citi Field, Queens, NY:

01. All My Life
02. No Son of Mine
03. Rescued
04. The Pretender
05. Walk
06. Times Like These
07. Generator
08. La Dee Da
09. Breakout
10. Eruption / Thunderstruck / Sabotage / Keyboard Solo / March of the Pigs / Blitzkrieg Bop
(band introductions; “Pat Fucking Smear” crowd chant)
11. My Hero
12. The Sky Is a Neighborhood
13. Learn to Fly
(preceded by Dave giving a warning about the storm)
14. Everlong
(Intro only)

Evershort: How Foo Fighters Rocked New York Before the Rains
Paolo Ragusa