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LONDON, Ont. - Foo Fighters promised a long and happily exhausting show at the John Labatt Centre last night.
By the 90-minute mark, the U.S. rock band had delivered all that and more. There were still encores and more mayhem to come.
With frontman Dave Grohl, probably the most beloved guy in rock, bassist Nate Mendel, drummer Taylor Hawkins and guitarist Chris Shiflett are Foo Fighters.
Last night, they doubled in number for an unplugged-style mini-set about an hour into the show.
That was just one peak for about 9,000 cheering fans with a few valleys -- drum solos, long guitar solos -- to numb this critic between Grohl's charisma and fine songs.
"You gotta work tomorrow?" Grohl asked early in the show, apparently oblivious to today being Good Friday. "You might want to call in sick . . . this might be the time to make that call. It's going to be a long night."
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Starting with two blasts --Let It Die and The Pretender -- from the Grammy-winning Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, the Foos went on to mix up new and old.
The 2008 tour set also has Foo songbook gems -- Times Like These, Breakout and Learn to Fly among them. Those arrived early when Grohl and his bandmates stormed through song after song with only a pause for Grohl screams of "here we go" and the fans sang along.
Grohl stayed close to the fans along the floor with a few timely strolls along a walkway that stretched along most of what would otherwise be the ice surface.
The band hit the stage with Grohl, in dark clothes, prowling the stage and checking out the cheering fans. A long droning and hypnotic introduction led into Let it Die and Grohl's first spectacular scream of the night.
Foo fans say the band lives or dies live depending on Grohl's voice. Early on last night, the Fighters' vocal weapon was powerful and looked set for about two hours of frenzied fun.
Grohl indulges in many an f-bomb during his stage talk, but he's so cheerful and friendly no one really could be offended.
"We're going to play 10 songs," he announced -- as a joke. The actual set list ran to about 20.
Six of them arrived in the acoustic set. It gave way to the Foos returning to the main stage and a deafening joyous Monkey Wrench. That was pure Foo electricity.
The acoustic band was a bit of deja vu for fans -- and that seemed to everybody -- who cheered earlier when Grohl asked if they had seen the Foos when they opened for Bob Dylan here in 2006.
"We got to play for 40 or 45 minutes," Grohl recalled to boos. (Fans booing Bob Dylan? It must be Foo fans who want more of their heroes.
"Yes sir, Sgt. Dylan, sir is about all you say. That's why we came back," Grohl said, turning the boos to cheers.
The acoustic set rocked as hard -- if not as loudly -- as the rest of the show. Skin and Bones, Marigold and My Hero had the eight Foos filling the arena and showed off some of Grohl's best melodies and the most delicate shadings of the night. Extra percussion, a
violinist and a keyboardist were part of the additions to the Foo four.
Bringing the band down the long walkway to the mini-stage brought the shows to hundreds of fans who were a long way from the main stage. The rest of us got to see plenty of Foos' backs during the interlude. It still sounded fine.
The fans loved -- and this critic nodded -- during a couple of interludes. One had Grohl playing blues licks on guitar for minutes on end. Not bad -- the man has a beautiful, sexy smile and the fans adore him like a cool older brother.
There were also huge cheers for Hawkins' drum solo, which proves that the Foos don't mind paying tribute to arena rock in all its glories.
As usual, this critic felt it only proves there will never be a good drum solo at the John Labatt Centre unless Neil Peart is there to handle the tubs.
Those quibbles hardly add up to Foo. Grohl scored a hit with the Foo Fighters debut, kicking off a 13-year winning streak that got its latest extension last fall with the release of the Foos' sixth studio disc, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.
So far, the Sony/BMG album has spawned the hits Long Road to Ruin and The Pretender, and helped the band collect a pair of Grammys for best rock album and best hard rock performance.
Speaking of Foo history, sometime member Pat Smear (ex- of The Germs, and a founding Foo) has been brought back into the fold for this tour. Also along for the tour is percussionist Drew Hester, who has the chance to play triangles and other tinkly items.