Foo Fighters Polish Their Rock Crowns With Two-Night Forum Stint

 Dave Grohl is not human. Nevermind the history with Nirvana, his 17 years with multiplatinum rock monsters Foo Fighters, his membership in one of the coolest supergroups in the history of music (Them Crooked Vultures)  or his moonlighting gig as drummer-for-hire for all kinds of classic albums. The man is well past 40 years old, yet somehow found a way to make it look utterly casual when he filled in on drums for a 40 minute opening gig by Cage The Elephant (after a tremendous set from Mariachi El Bronx, the costumed alter-egos of Los Angeles hardcore gods The Bronx), before blasting out a nearly three-hour performance with his own Foos that was as high-energy, fifth-gear charged as one could dream. He. Is. A. Machine.

Backed by Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins, Pat Smear & Chris Shiflett and touring player Rami Jaffe Grohl led his band - his sky-blue Gibson in tow -  through two nights and nearly six hours of music between them at the legendary Forum in Inglewood, California on Thursday & Friday night, the unabashed fist-pumping champion rock energy of the 70s mixed with a marathon run through the staggering number of hits for a double-shot of unbridled awesome.

 After a blasting opening with already-classic new songs “Bridge Burning” and “Rope” along with “The Pretender,” Grohl issued a warning: “It’s gonna be a long fucking night," he warned."We don’t play those fuckin’ two hour shows your favorite band plays… Let’s try and get it to three tonight.”

The magic is in the fact that every song is played like an encore, with extended jams, major moments and huge buildups that every single member of the audience seemed to know. Grohl grew up on this shit, and he knows the heart of what makes a rock show - from the personalized t-shirts for each city to the epic light-riser opening and stage path that cuts through the middle of the crowd.

A month into their U.S. tour, the band is far tighter and more electric than when we saw them debut the Wasting Light material in a tiny Santa Barbara club earlier this Spring, peppering their faithful material renditions with extended outros, liberal stop-starts and stage-spanning sprinting. Leaping through highlights of their entire catalogue and back again, from “Monkey Wrench” to “Learn To Fly,” through “Best of You” and to “All My Life,” the Foo men brought an airtight game that was more a showcase of how real rock bands should operate than a fun jaunt through some fan favorites.

However, a very healthy sampling of their latest was present, and unlike the general distaste most bands' new material is met with in live performance, their latest Butch Vig-helmed offering is a tremendous achievement that stands among their best work. Check out our review for all the reasons why.