How Was The Show - Foo Fighters, Weezer at Xcel Energy Center

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Foo Fighters and Weezer at Xcel Energy Center on 10/2/05

Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters. Foo Fighters headlined a triple bill at Xcel Center Sunday night. - Photo by Dan Schultz

Weezer

Rivers Cuomo was more talkative and relaxed Sunday night than when Weezer played First Avenue earlier this year just prior to the release of their CD, Make Believe. He told the Xcel Center audience he'd gotten plenty of rest the night before and was ready to rock. It showed. Weezer’s set included most of their singles and a cover of the Foo Fighters', "Big Me." For a song each, Cuomo turned lead vocal duties over to each of the other 3 band members and played drums himself on "Photograph" -- which morphed into Blur's "Song 2" ("woo hoo!") -- while drummer Pat Wilson took his turn fronting the band.

Weezer also employed two stunts Sunday that are quickly becoming cliché - playing a song on a small stage near the back of the arena (Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl visited this stage once later on as well), and having an audience member play guitar for a song – (see reviews of the recent Green Day show at the Target Center.) The fan guitarist did well, however. And unlike at the Green Day show, no instruments were smashed.

Foo Fighters

Foo Fighter’s headlining the Xcel Center had “big rock” written all over it from the start. The band was set up behind a black curtain that rose to the top of the arena as they led off with "In Your Honor,” title song of their recent double album. The stage was set with a backline of amps of a variety of shapes and styles, made to look as if they’d been stacked haphazardly. The video monitor alternated between grainy black & white slow motion live video, taped footage of previous shows, and a light show.

Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters - Photo by Dan Schultz

Frontman Dave Grohl led the band into the popular rockers "All My Life," "My Hero," and "Best Of You." All killer, no filler as the saying goes. And though Grohl announced he preferred to keep rocking (and not talking) he nonetheless took time (repeatedly) to tell the Minnesota audience they were the best of the tour, swearing it was actually true. (I believed him.) He recalled playing both the 7th Street Entry and First Avenue as well as recording an album with his previous band (uh, Nirvana) in Cannon Falls. He said it was during that recording session that he first experienced his first Minnesota winter and rode a snowmobile for the first time.

An extended version of "Stacked Actors" saw Grohl racing around the arena and playing briefly from the small stage near the back. In fact, Grohl put a lot of miles on during tonight’s show, running across the stage and up and down the speakers, while bassist Nate Mendel and guitarist Chris Shiflett held down their respective sides of the stage. As always, drummer Taylor Hawkins was rock solid on the drums.

The show ended with "Everlong," mostly as a solo Grohl performance, with the rest of the band joining in for the final chorus.

Encores included "A Cold Day in The Sun" from the acoustic-leaning second CD of In Your Honor. “A Cold Day In The Sun” was the only song played from that portion of the album, and though that may have been for the best in an arena show where most were in the mood to rock it would be interesting to see a whole show consisting of that material in a more intimate setting. And by the way, the highlight of the song may not have been Hawkins on lead vocals and guitar, but rather Dave Grohl on drums. The band finished off with “Monkey Wrench.”