At Bay Area show, Foo Fighters frontman describes seeing his late bandmate in animal form
SFGATE’s Gabe Lehman and a bunch of ‘old people’ — as Dave Grohl called them — rocked out with the Foo Fighters
The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl has lost not one, but two, of his closest bandmates during his legendary nearly 40-year career. So it’s not surprising that aging and the passage of time is on his mind.
But that focus only enhanced the Foo Fighters’ rollicking three-hour show at the Toyota Pavilion in Concord on Tuesday, which Grohl said was preceded by a visit from one of those fallen bandmates.
During their 2024 tour, the Foo Fighters have played major venues like Boston’s Fenway Park and New York City’s Citi Field. So it felt odd that they were booked at the comparatively modest Toyota Pavilion. Fans got to see the Foo Fighters rock a 12,500-seat amphitheater, when they’re used to playing stadiums three times that size.
The flip side was that Toyota Pavilion struggled with the crush of people coming to see the 1990s rock legends. Fans had to endure a mileslong traffic jam leading to the venue and a parking fiasco that saw people abandoning their cars on the shoulder of the highway offramp.
During “Breakout,” the band cut the sound and let the crowd sing the lyrics. Grohl looked touched by the audience’s commitment and poised to express his gratitude.
Not so. Instead, Grohl teased the crowd for being “old people” and rolled his eyes. Advancing age hasn’t turned Grohl too sentimental.
With all of his frontman charisma, it’s hard to believe Grohl got his start backing up the ever-muted Kurt Cobain with Nirvana.
The only time the lead singer took a step back was during the band introductions, when each band member played solos from a different classic rock tune.
