A mere mortal would be daunted by the thought of performing while confined to a chair after a severe leg injury. But for lead singer/guitarist, , turned out to be the catalyst for the rebirth of the ‘ 20th anniversary (newly named) “Break A Leg” tour.
Before the audience sees the band, they can hear them rumbling from behind the stage curtain at on Sunday. Fits of sound from the kick drum and the toms, wails from the guitars and Grohl’s signature throaty scream send the fans into a frenzy of anticipation. Halfway through the instrumental intro to “Everlong” Grohl yells, “Alright!” The curtain whips away revealing Grohl sitting atop his custom-designed rock and roll throne.
A painkiller-induced brainchild, Grohl’s throne is designed to keep him mobile during shows It’s mounted on a metal stand, complete with decorative guitar necks fanning out from either side and swiveling stage lights mounted on the back of the massive throne.
As the show continues, his motorized throne surges forward towards the crowd, and fans hardly have a chance to catch their breath before the band barrels into “Monkey Wrench” and “Learn to Fly”. Though Grohl is restrained to his throne, his energy knows no bounds.
Through the entire two-and-a-half hour set he stomps his good (left) foot, whips his wavy locks and wails on his guitar. What’s most impressive about his performance isn’t related to his lack of physical mobility. It’s his vocal agility. His voice is somehow both clear and raspy with a vibrato that is pure rock soul. He sends out gritty screams into the audience and the fans respond in kind to his seemingly endless energy. His voice is at once soulful, pain-stricken, hopeful and full of longing, which often times embodies the heart of rock music. And he’s doing all of this sitting down, which any singer will tell you is not easy.
“We know the first 10 seconds of every (expletive) classic rock song,” Grohl explained. They played a snippet of songs like Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” and Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” to feature the talents of Pat Smear (guitar), Nate Mendel (bass), Chris Shifflet (guitar), and Taylor Hawkins (drums).
Midway through their set, Grohl slows it down by hobbling closer to the audience on his crutches to find a chair on the walkway next to Smear and Shifflet holding acoustic guitars. As Grohl sings the first lines of “My Hero” the audience sings along. The clear sound of thousands of fan voices blending in unison with Grohl’s is enough to make even a grown man cry. Incidentally, Grohl spotted one such man near the front row and invited him onto the stage. As the song continued, the entire Fiddler’s fan choir sang out and in a resounding final chorus, the fan shared a mic with Grohl himself.
The Foo Fighters end their show with “Best of You” in which a fleeting moment gave the impression the band would finish by lulling the audience to an easy close. That is, until the tempo picks up, the guitars speed up and Grohl turned an invisible dial as the band charges into the final chorus. The audience was transfixed, in awe that this kind of rock prowess was coming from a man in a chair.
