“Man, I start talking and we hit a curfew and the police show up,” Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl told the crowd a couple songs into the band’s set. “We’ve got a lot of fucking songs!” as the emphasized word ‘Fuck’ appropriately echoed into the pines of South Lake Tahoe as sunset colored the skies.
Spoken of as one of the greatest live rock bands currently playing, Foo Fighters’s set ran over two hours of the group’s mix of songs that are immediately recognizable from more than 25 years of radio airplay with Grohl’s jokes and antics showing off the competency of the rest of the group.
The outdoor amphitheater was packed – with tickets selling out quickly upon the show being announced – and a palpable anticipation settled onto the floor as The Breeders performed an opening set. Fronted by Kim Deal formerly of Pixies, the group closed their set with a cover of her past band’s song “Gigantic” with Grohl coming out to play guitar and help on vocals. Anyone left sitting rose to their feet at Grohl’s entrance, which would mark the tone
for the latter band’s set.
Foo Fighters played 20 songs lasting more than two hours, before returning to the stage for an additional encore closing with “Everlong”. On a cool night, the band was noticeably drenched in sweat by the third song and maintained the level of energy throughout the night.
Notably missing was Taylor Hawkins, the group’s drummer since 1997. As Grohl introduced the band, he emphasized that Hawkins’ replacement, Josh Freese, allowed the band to continue touring, with Freese’s introduction receiving one of the loudest bursts of applause from the audience. The singer then made light of the new drummer’s track record of having been on the recording of Michael Bublé’s very un-rock song “Haven’t Met You Yet” by humming
the song and saying he didn’t actually know the words.
Hawkins was recognized again later in the set as Grohl said that the band used to occasionally play the song “Aurora”, though since it was one of Hawkins’ favorites to play, the band now play it at each show.
In all, despite several interjections for Grohl to speak to the crowd, the band played for nearly two and a half hours. Powering through a cathartic set and finishing just before the noise curfew, Foo Fighters’ set was true to a sweaty Dave Grohl’s promise, ‘We have a lot of fucking
songs!”
-Shaun Astor
- Foo Fighters
- Opener: The Breeders
- Harvey’s Outdoor Arena, Lake Tahoe
- August 10, 2023
