Foo Fighters Auckland Show

Artist: Foo Fighters

Date / Venue: 13th December, 2011, Western Springs Stadium, Auckland

Support Acts: Cairo Knife Fight, Fucked Up, Tenacious D

About 50,000 fans turned up to Western Springs Stadium in Auckland last night, braving the elements for a pre-Christmas party with Dave Grohl and company for what turned out to be a fantastic night.  

Just as the rain stopped, which had plagued Auckland for much of the day, the Foo Fighters hit the stage bang on 8.20, starting proceedings with their 2002 hit 'All My Life'.   

A few songs into the show, Grohl welcomed everyone in attendance to what would be the last Foo Fighters show of 2011, claiming New Zealand was the "loudest fucking country in the world".  He reminisced about the Foo Fighters 2005 show at the (now defunct) Mt Smart Supertop which Grohl insists was the loudest show the band have ever played, prompting the fans to be louder tonight before launching into 'Learning To Fly'.  

As the band went through their repertoire of hit after hit, thousands watched on from the steep sloping hills at Western Springs, many slipping and sliding while trying to get the best views they possibly could.  And once you are stuck up there with the night settling in, it can be very tricky negotiating your way out.  Grohl paid special mention of the punters watching from the back, and encouraged those on the field to sing for those up on the hill.

Grohl also took a moment to talk about their Christchurch benefit concert at Auckland's Town Hall earlier in the year, promising that they would once again perform at the intimate venue stating "You have my fucking word we'll play that Town Hall again" stating they'd play for "four hours".  

It's hard to pick any crowd favourites from the night because, well, they all were.  'My Hero', 'Learn To Fly', 'Ropes' as well as acoustic versions of 'Wheels' and 'Times Like These' were sung along by all in attendance.  A glorious version of Pink Floyd's 'In The Flesh' was covered, as well as a short teaser of Van Halen's 'Panama' (Grohl said they know the starts of thousands of songs).  

Earlier, kiwi band Cairo Knife Fight got things off to a good start, holding their own for which would have been the largest show of their career to date.  Canadian punk band Fucked Up followed shortly after and impressed the crowd, making a lot of new fans in the process.  

Tenacious D featuring Jack Black and his talented sidekick Kyle Gass went down a treat, the highlight being there well known hit 'Tribute (Greatest Song In The World)'.  They even rejoined the stage during the Foo's encore, donning less than flattering attires and helping out with a performance of Queen's 'Tie Your Mother Down'.  

Foo Fighters finished the night with their 1997 hit 'Everlong', leaving the thousands satisfied and probably a little blurry eyed for work on Wednesday morning.  

The only problem now will be trying to battle 50,000 fans for the Auckland Town Hall show in the near future...

Foo Fighters Setlist: 

All My Life
Rope
The Pretender
My Hero
Learning To Fly
White Limo
Arlandria
Breakout
Cold Day In The Sun
Long Road To Ruin
Stacked Actors
Walk
Monkey Wrench
Let It Die
These Days
This Is A Call
In The Flesh (Pink Floyd cover)
Best Of You

Encore:

Wheels
Times Like These
Generator
Tie Your Mother Down (Queen cover featuring Tenacious D)
Everlong

Tagged as : Foo Fighters | Tenacious D | Fucked Up | Cairo Knife Fight | concert review |