Two Foo Fighters band members share their Sydney date night after big Aussie gig
Two members of the Foo Fighters enjoyed an Aussie “date night” with a few “special” requests to celebrate what was likely their biggest concert in the country.
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It’s not the “Australian” dining experience one might expect visiting American rock stars to indulge in while on tour on a night off.
Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese and guitarist Pat Smear went undercover to sample the fare at the American restaurant chain Outback Steakhouse in Sydney on Sunday.
Freese and Smear went on a “date night” to celebrate the band’s biggest-ever show in the country at Accor Stadium on Saturday.
“We figured between being in Australia and having played what was maybe the biggest Foo Fighters show down under the night before, we should really treat ourselves. Like go ALL OUT. Only the finest!” Freese shared in an hilarious Instagram post.
The pair had some “special” requests for their slap-up dining celebration which resulted in them also dabbling in some art during their dinner.
“Pat wanted to order a side of pasta but they said the best they could do is a pasta off the kids’ menu. So they brought him a kids’ menu,” Freese posted.
“I asked our server if she could also bring some crayons to the table so we can color while waiting for our food. I got ‘kids’ menu/crayon envy’ so she brought me my own.
“We were nice and polite but I think she thought we were complete psychopaths.”
The “Australian-themed” Outback Steakhouse chain opened in Florida in 1987 and landed in Australia in 2001; there are now eight restaurants in NSW and Queensland.
Freese has been thoroughly embracing Australian culture during the band’s tour, which finishes up in Brisbane on Tuesday.
The drummer sported a “not here to f... spiders” singlet during their sizzling stadium gig in Sydney.
FOO FIGHTERS ROCK ‘BIGGEST AUSSIE SHOW’ IN SYDNEY
After the heatwave came the sizzle of stadium rock in Sydney as Foo Fighters celebrated the biggest stadium concert they have played in their 28 years of touring Australia.
“Welcome to the biggest show Foo Fighters have ever played in Australia!” frontman Dave Grohl declared to more than 70,000 fans at Accor Stadium before launching into their signature opener All My Life.
He busted out one of his favourite rock poses within the first minute, taking to the lip of the small catwalk to let loose with an extreme head banging session, his hair flying everywhere.
It’s a classic rock move and his exuberance in its execution over the past four decades, first with Nirvana and the Foos, makes you wonder how he hasn’t suffered crippling whiplash over the decades.
Were you there? Tell us what you thought in the comments below.
But Grohl and his band mates have long delivered on the rock show ethos of go hard or go home.
He is a seasoned showman, a conductor of the big crowd who knows exactly when to push their call and response buttons, when to stand still and let the roars and applause surge louder and louder.
By the show’s fourth song The Pretender, Grohl had them perfectly tuned as they took up the “who are you?” chant before he could launch into it.
“Do you mind if I f…ing sing it with you?” he asked grinning, before reprising the chant.
And the singing continued for the next two and a half hours as the band took fans on a romp through their stadium anthems including Times Like These, Generator, Breakout, Learn To Fly and Monkey Wrench.
“You guys are good at this shit,” as the crowd volume swelled during the chorus of My Hero.
Grohl gave his screamometer a break with a particular Australian moment when the Foos performed Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners, inspired by the survival of Tasmanian miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell who spent 321 hours trapped deep underground in 2006.
“This is our most Australian song,” he said before playing the acoustic instrumental track
The concert’s big emotional moment came when Grohl dedicated Aurora to Taylor Hawkins telling the audience it was the late drummer’s favourite Foo Fighters track.
The massive stadium gig was just one of three major music events at Sydney Olympic Park with rapper 50 Cent playing next door at Qudos Bank Arena and the Epik race at the Sydney Showgrounds.
The band play their last Australian show on this tour at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on December 12.
SET LIST REVEALED
1. All My Life
2. No Son of Mine
3. Rescued
4. The Pretender
5. Walk
6. Times Like These
7. Generator
8. Under You
9. Breakout
10. Band intro solos (Sabotage / Blitzkrieg Bop / Whip It / March of the Pigs
11. My Hero
12. The Sky Is a Neighborhood
13. Learn to Fly
14. Arlandria
15. These Days
16. Statues
17. Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners
18. Nothing at All (with The Beatles’ “Blackbird” riff)
19. Monkey Wrench
20. Aurora (dedicated to Taylor Hawkins)
21. This Is a Call
22. Best of You
Encore:
23. The Teacher
24. Everlong
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