FOO FIGHTERS - MILTON KEYNES NATIONAL BOWL - 5/9/15

Dave Grohl  - the nicest guy in rock they say – and after Saturday evening I can categorically agree.

On Saturday night at the Milton Keynes National Bowl, Grohl apologised numerous times for something that he couldn’t really help (although, did he really have to jump of that flippin' stage?!). Eleven weeks ago Grohl shattered his leg after jumping off the stage at a Foo Fighters gig in Sweden. An injury that meant the band had to cancel their upcoming dates including a headlining gig at Glastonbury festival and two nights at the cathedral of rock – Wembley Stadium. The news rippled through Europe and once it arrived in the UK thousands of hearts could be heard breaking and breaths became bated as fans awaited news of possible new dates.

As Grohl was resting in the luxury Grosevnor House in London after metal plates and pins were settling into their new home in the rock-star’s leg, new dates were announced. Not Wembley this time but rather the National Bowl in Milton Keynes; a familiar place for Grohl and the band who first played the coliseum-like venue back in 2011.

Having left home at 11:30am and traveled the length of Wales and half of England throughout the day, by 6:15pm, as we parked the car, we were more than ready to listen to some good music. Unfortunately, we missed Royal Blood but we did get to listen to their set while sitting in traffic outside the National Bowl. I have been lucky enough to see them live twice before so it wasn’t all that bad. After buying a ‘Brake a Leg Tour’ t-shirt (which are apparently selling on ebay now for over a £100  – crazy seeing as I bought it for £22!) we headed into the bowl just in time to watch the mad mystery that is Iggy Pop.

Iggy Pop entertained us with hits such as The Passenger, Real Wild Child and Lust for Life in between sweary but funny ramblings about how happy he was to perform for us that evening. Also, is Pop seriously double jointed? If not, I think he needs to visit a doctor!

With the shirtless Iggy Pop off the stage it was only a matter of time before the Foos graced us with their presence. As quarter past eight approached, the center of the bowl began filling up with kids, parents, teenagers and grandparents alike. Rock has no age barrier it seems.

Before the crowd could take in the fact that Grohl and the boys were on stage, in the flesh, right in front of their eyes, the band immediately bombarded their fans with hit after glorious hit that gave a strong indication that the evening was going to be special. 

Starting with Everlong, straight into Monkey Wrench and to the Foo’s classic Learn to Fly the crowd couldn’t believe their luck - after the disappointment of the cancellation of the Wembley gigs to this amazing evening - it had been an emotional journey!

 It started superbly and it continued like that until the very last song 2 hours and 15 minutes later. A mammoth set that even Bruce Springsteen himself would be proud of.

The Pretender along with Sonic Highway anthems, Congregation and Something From Nothing kept the crowd bouncing late into the evening. However, one of my personal favorites, Big Me, was somewhat overshadowed by the impromptu light show that Grohl asked the audience to create with their phones; although taking away from the beauty of the song, the lights were pretty cool!

A few lengthy instrumentals arguably slowed down the Foos momentum but nothing could truly bring the crowd down from the euphoria they felt after witnessing a piece of musical history half way through the set.

Having watched the YouTube clip of Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page joining the Foos on stage in Wembley stadium during their last world tour to sing the Led Zep classic Rock and Roll, I was hoping that they would arrange something similar for us this time around. Unfortunately they hadn’t planned anything. Fortunately, however, the stars aligned and the universe was on our side as Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and Queen’s Roger Taylor happened to turn up to watch the gig and agreed to join the Foos onstage to form a “Superduper Group” and perform the Queen classic, Under Pressure!

As the crowd finished dueting with Grohl on Best of You, Grohl grabbed his crutches and walked to the front of the stage with the rest of the band to thank the thousands of fans who had traveled to Milton Keynes to watch them perform on that memorable September evening. The fact that Grohl’s leg was still in plaster and that he was sat down for the whole performance in his fantastic throne, barring the little dance he had during Monkey Wrench, was irrelevant as the front-man still owned the stage and held the audience in the palm of his hand more so than any band, able-bodied or not, that I've ever seen. Now that’s a sign of a great front-man and a great band.

For me, it was a dream-come-true to see Foo Fighter live – a band that I have loved for the majority of my life; a band that I was brought up on. Having been to countless number of gigs over the last 21 years, Saturday’s gig was definitely in my top 3. Foo Fighters are up there keeping company with Bruce Springsteen and AC/DC in my estimation. 

They were worth the wait.