Foo Fighters Geelong review: Dave Grohl rocks Kardinia Park in Australia’s first stadium concert since 2020
“Do you love rock ‘n’ roll?” asked Dave Grohl, and for the first time on Australian soil in almost two years, a gathering of about 30,000 music fans screamed back at him in the affirmative.
On Friday night in Geelong, a drought of stadium gigs was broken in the most emphatic fashion by Grohl and his band Foo Fighters, who turned in a superlative performance that will set the bar high for all other international acts to follow.
Arranged and announced at short notice a fortnight ago, once the singer-songwriter realised that Australia was reopening its borders on February 25, the concert was a thrilling reminder of what shows of this size can offer.
On walking into a teeming Kardinia Park (aka GMHBA Stadium), it was impossible to not be moved by the sheer spectacle even before the first note was played. My, how we’ve missed this.
I’m so emotional. The Foo Fighters in GEELONG. At GMHBA Stadium. My home. What a night. What an experience. Welcome back live music 🤟ðŸ»ðŸ§¡ pic.twitter.com/j3APY87XTp
— em 💋 (@emilyxwade) March 4, 2022
In the lead-up, hundreds of skilled people worked to ensure that it all ran seamlessly on the night – then tens of thousands of fans turned up, ready to sing and dance together, vaccinated and unmasked, after two highly disrupted years apart.
The American six-piece aired material from its 10 studio albums, including last year’s Medicine at Midnight, all the way back to its 1995 self-titled debut, which Grohl wrote, performed and recorded following the sudden and tragic end of his previous band, Nirvana.
For two-and-a-half hours, the group showed why it is one of the world’s few stadium-sized rock bands. Thanks to the frontman’s charisma and his infectious love for playing music, even the newer, lesser songs are sold with vigour, and often accompanied by expletive-filled quips and short speeches.
Two-and-a-half hours is a hell of a long time for any act to retain an audience’s interest, though. Occasional appearances by three women backing singers helped add dynamics to several songs, most notably recent single Shame Shame, which benefited greatly from the extra voices.
Cunningly, Foo Fighters found a way to keep energy levels high by offering accomplished covers of staples by The Bee Gees and Queen.
The latter saw drummer Taylor Hawkins step out for a highly credible vocal take on Freddie Mercury during Somebody To Love, while Grohl briefly went behind the kit to show off the skills that first earned him global fame in the early 1990s.
After two years without big gigs, this was emotional. And for it to happen 1900m from home.
— Stu (@stucalnz) March 4, 2022
Thank you @foofighters for bringing the rock back.#geelong#foofighterspic.twitter.com/0UOL6K429T
It rained steadily throughout the concert, with a heavy shower falling about halfway through, but it wasn’t enough to dampen a mood of undeniable ebullience that could be felt from the floor to the top of the grandstands. It would have been a great show no matter what, but the two-year gap between stadium gigs elevated it another rung or two.
Presented by Frontier Touring as part of the Victorian government’s new statewide music program Always Live, for many local music industry workers there was a bittersweet edge to the show for another reason.
From the stage, Grohl dedicated final song Everlong to Michael Gudinski, the widely admired Mushroom Group founder who died a year ago, and whose smiling face – and distinctive raised index finger – was at centre stage for the whole show, in an image affixed to Hawkins’s bass drum.
There is a darkly engaging pull to Everlong even 25 years after its release. It remains everyone’s favourite Foo Fighters song, and it is the sort of undeniably genius composition that any songwriter on earth would be pleased to call their own. That it has lost none of its potency over the years is perhaps Grohl’s greatest artistic achievement.
Before he and his bandmates played it, though, the frontman gave a grin to the crowd of Australians gathered before him. “Thank you all for coming to the rock ‘n’ roll show,” he said earnestly. “You should do this more often. I hope you do.”
The joy of hearing a packed stadium in full voice. @foofighters killing it at @kardinia_park#foofighters#monkeywrench#Geelongpic.twitter.com/ohLtVRCy2q
— James Wigney (@JamesWigney) March 4, 2022
Foo Fighters will return to Australia for a national tour in November.
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