Foos don’t disappoint at Vital

THERE were some tasty appetisers served up at Day One of Tennent’s Vital, most notably the Black Keys, but let’s face it, 99.999% of the crowd were here to see the Foo Fighters.

Dave Grohl and his bandmates didn’t disappoint, throwing themselves headlong into their first visit to Belfast. Grohl himself was here 20 years ago with Nirvana, and while he alluded to the fact during the set he didn’t mention the ‘N’ word.

In those past 20 years Grohl has established himself as something of a rock god. His arrival on stage was greeted with hysteria as the Foos set about making up for lost time.

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The great thing about this show was the mix of people in attendance. The concert saw old and young, well-oiled and sober, metallers and pop-pickers coming together in perfect harmony.

This was the first large scale concert I’d been to in quite some time and it was with frustration I noted that the old problem of supply not meeting demand in terms of toilets and beer hasn’t been solved.

Thankfully the Foos supplied their fans with everything they could have wanted and more in a set which spanned more than two hours and three decades.

The band have grown into the role of festival headliners and their effort and enthusiasm further endeared them to fans who didn’t need much prompting. Grohl kept the audience entertained between songs with charismatic banter including an exchange with a teenage girl who got the sharp end of his tongue for using her mobile phone during the encore.

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If Grohl is to be believed the band were touched by the response from the Belfast crowd and he promised the Foo Fighters would definitely be back again once they’d written a new album. Whether his promise is legally binding remains to be seen.

Review by Graeme Cousins

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