Gig review: Foo Fighters in Auckland (+pics)

Dave Grohl cemented his status as the nicest guy in rock with the most complete rock show Vector Arena has seen. Reviewer Chris Schulz was there.

Foo Fighters
Where: Vector Arena, Auckland
When: Monday, May 5

Dave Grohl is getting a standing ovation. The sold out crowd at Auckland's Vector Arena is on its feet, saluting the Foo Fighters front man with the kind of ear-piercing, foot-stomping applause usually reserved for Gods.

Grohl is accepting the adulation, standing on a platform in the middle of the stadium with his hands held high, staring at the sky and thanking the heavens. He looks like the cat that just got the cream.

It's not even 9pm, and the scraggly-haired front man has been on stage for just 30 seconds. He is yet to play a note.

That kind of worship is a rare thing, but if anyone deserves it, it's Grohl. The nicest guy in rock went on to earn that applause - he called it the loudest gig of the tour - with a near-faultless two-hour show that had, well, pretty much everything you could ask for.

It had moshpit-bouncing anthems. It had lighter-waving singalongs. It had - get this - a stage descend from the ceiling in the middle of the arena for a six-song acoustic set. That's another first for Vector.

But, best of all, it had a sense of humour.

That came from Grohl's interludes, whether he was mocking the roar of the crowd, taking the piss out of the band's triangle player, telling the story of the Beaconsfield miners, or poking fun at traditional rock cliches.

No, Dave, we don't want to be "challenged" with a set of unknown songs, but thanks for the offer.

It also came from the backstage banter during the encore, when the band's members bartered with the crowd over how many songs there were left to play.

Heck, next time the Foo Fighters are here they should book The Classic comedy bar for a stand-up show.

Before you forget, there were also also plenty of grunty, honest rock songs on offer.

The show began energetically, as Grohl, bassist Nate Mendel, guitarist Chris Shiflett and drummer Tayler Hawkins were joined by on-again, off-again guitarist Pat Smear, a violinist and percussionist for quickfire hits Let It Die, The Pretender and Times Like These.

They kept up the pace with plenty of hits, whether it was earlier singles like Breakout and This Is A Call, to massive renditions of latest single Cheer Up, Boys (Your Makeup is Running), All My Life and the set-closing anthem Best of You that resulted in yet another standing ovation - despite Grohl's voice finally cracking under the strain.

Grohl was enigmatic throughout, a fireball of energy headbanging over his guitar, running down walkways either side of the stage, and rousing the crowd with extravagant hand gestures and facial expressions.

When that wasn't enough, he'd venture down a longer walkway into the crowd to a circular stage in the middle of the arena, where the band gathered for a mid-set, six-track acoustic show reminiscent of their Skin and Bones album.

Anyone who used it as a drinks break missed out on some of the best tracks of the night, whether it was a spine-tingling rendition of Grohl's first ever song Marigold - released as a Nirvana B-side - to a stunning solo version of Everlong.

Then there was set highlight My Hero, which had lighters and cellphones held high as 12,000 voices united with Grohl to sing the lyric, "There goes my hero, watch him as he goes."

For the first and only time that night, the crowd was singing at Grohl, not with him.

*What did you think of the show? Post your comments below.

- © Fairfax NZ News