Foo Fighters at DCU deliver hooks with a punch
The Foo Fighters celebrated winning two Grammies last week with a blistering two-hour show Monday night before about 12,000 fans at the DCU Center in Worcester.
Dave Grohl and his band have never quite captured the critical hosannas of his former band, Nirvana, but the quartet has continued to churn out dependably melodic hard rock with lots of punk energy amid its pop hooks.
The current "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace" won the Grammy for Best Rock Album, and the single, "The Pretender," won for Best Hard Rock Performance. That vibrant song opened Monday's kinetic show, with the core band enhanced by an extra guitarist and cello.
The surging paean, "Times Like These," kept the momentum going with Grohl, 39, striding out on a catwalk as he wailed away on his guitar. "Learn to Fly" might be the quintessential Foo Fighters song, potent hard rock with a squall of noisy guitars, yet also undeniably melodic music with a great lyrical hook (Looking for a satellite").
The frenetic pace of "Cheer Up Boys" pointed to the value of drummer Taylor Hawkins, as his tumbling drum rolls pushed the band to ever-faster tempos.
But in their self-professed goal of providing a two-hour concert - bang for the buck" - as Grohl put it, Foo Fighters were guilty of padding the night. "Stacked Actors" was the worst example, as the song's energy and the interplay between slashing guitars and lyrical melody was drained by a jam session between Grohl and guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett. It went on too long without really going anywhere.
A six-song segment was done on a secondary stage at the far end of the arena floor, most of it with the added four musicians from the latest album. Grohl's haunting vocal on "Skin and Bones" was given depth by Jessy Greene's violin. Grohl's own chiming acoustic guitar made "Miracle" a simple gem. The added members really gave the older hit "My Hero" definite extra punch, and Hawkins' strong, confident vocal on "Cold Day in the Sun" suggests he should be sharing more of the vocal load.
"But Honestly," from the latest CD, finished the mini-set on the second stage, growing from acoustic tenderness to roaring rock, with Grohl flailing away at his guitar atop the piano. The frenzied tempo of "Monkeywrench" cranked matters up to inhuman levels, and a surging blitz through "All My Life" ended the regular set. For the first encore, The Foos downshifted to just Grohl's acoustic guitar, with Greene's violin, for a delectable version of "Immortalized." What Grohl lacks in vocal prowess he makes up for in honest passion, and his charismatic verve carried the night.