Seeing Foo Fighters at Villa Park was an awesome experience I'll never forget

The Foo Fighters gig at Villa Park is the third outdoor music event I’ve been to in less than two weeks. It was also the third of these where I was rained on, but the weather was a small issue on a night that saw Foos play a nearly three-hour set. 

The length of their set was expected given that they’ve played plenty of tracks on every other show. Opening up proceedings with ‘All My Life’, my first time seeing these giants of rock music was off to a flying start. 

‘This city loves rock and roll,’ Dave Grohl told the crowd, before playing a couple of Black Sabbath and Metallica riffs. There was an issue in the crowd, leaving Grohl to give fans a filler until everything was right again- he started playing ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin. ‘You don’t want me playing the whole song,’ Dave said as he got the ball rolling on the classic song. 

Keen to do something special for the last UK night, Foo Fighters had a special guest for Villa Park- bringing out a legendary Birmingham musician who had never played at the stadium before. Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler was welcomed onto the stage by Foos, and he went on to play a cover of the hit song ‘Paranoid’. 

Foo Fighters have a huge discography, and at least one track from 13 albums was given a rendition through the night in Birmingham. A sprinkling of acoustic songs including ‘Skin and Bone’, saw Grohl venture out onto the walkway of the Villa Park stage with Rami Jaffee playing accordion. 

Dave Grohl has built a strong and deserved reputation as a class act and top frontman, and my first time seeing Foo Fighters live solidified this for me. Few lead singers have the character, charm, and ability to hold a crowd so easily, but Grohl is without a doubt on this list. A set of 27 songs had no real disappointments, and hearing the classics such as ‘The Pretender’ and ‘My Hero’ live was worth the months-long wait since getting my ticket. 

 Two personal standouts for me were ‘Generator’ and ‘La Dee Da’, the first of these being a real throwback song from Foo's third album ‘There Is Nothing Left To Lose’. The band weaved seamlessly through their tracks, with Grohl stopping at intervals to have a few words to the crowd in a true showmanship way. 

The tragic death of drummer Taylor Hawkins is remembered each show by Foo Fighters, and at Villa Park ‘Aurora’ was dedicated to him. During the encore, there was an even better special touch. Taylor’s son Shane sat behind the drumkit and played ‘This Is A Call’ with the band his dad loved so much. A poignant ending to the show was rounded off with arguably the Foo Fighters classic, Everlong. 

Before the song, Grohl called for no soppy farewell because the band might see the Birmingham faithful again one day soon. The icing on the cake of what was an incredible night of music- which even a cancelled train and a dash to Star City for an Uber couldn’t put a damper on.