Foo Fighters Gave Hope to Generations of Rock Fans in Dallas

On a sweltering, humid day in Fair Park, Foo Fighters fans lined up in droves early at the gates of Dos Equis Pavilion. By 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the line had grown to several hundred people of all ages sporting multiple generations of Foo Fighters concert T-shirts and garb.

The enormous parking lot of the 20,000-capacity venue had just played host to a few groups of tailgaters that mentally seemed to be somewhere between the movie Heavy Metal Parking Lot and a Coldplay pregame party. As lines entering the east and west gates of the venue grew significantly, passersby couldn’t help but spot the three giant Foo Fighters tour buses along with over half a dozen production semi-trucks that took up most of the space between the two entrances.

Dos Equis Pavilion has long been a stomping ground for the Foo Fighters, who have returned to the venue often since their first performance there opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2000.

When the gates were finally opened, a vast mix of fans sporting Stone Temple Pilots, Tool, Alice in Chains and Smashing Pumpkins T-shirts flooded the concession stands, looking like a throwback to the Starplex days of the '90s. It's been a revitalizing time for Dallas rock fans, as 97.1 The Eagle also found its way back into existence earlier this week, spinning hits from all these bands, including Foo Fighters.

Millennials and Gen-X rockers weren't the only ones excited about the evening. Foo Fighters seem to bring a multigenerational crowd, including several rockers from metal band Van Damme and the owner of the legendary Trees. After an average $54 spent on two hotdogs, two sodas and a Liquid Death, the show was ready to start.

Nova Twins opened the show at 7 p.m. with impressive visuals on the giant LED screen behind them. The English band consisting of Amy Love and Georgia South formed in London a decade ago and is touring in support of  the album Supernova from 2022. For a three-piece project, Nova Twins' sound easily filled the massive venue. Armed with a Y2K fashion sense, Nova Twins' 30-minute set sonically matched their aesthetic. Had a house party in Sam Levinson’s Euphoria featured a band consisting of a retro-future-punk-pastiche with hip-hop vocals, Nova Twins would now have found themselves as huge as the movie Challengers. Consider the snarl of Shirley Manson, peppered with Prince's stage presence, then recontextualized for Generation Z. One can only imagine Nova Twins as forming in the hallways of Central Saint Martins in London, playing the clubs of Kings Cross and shopping the vintage stores of Camden Town. Their stand-out songs included “Antagonist” and “Choose Your Fighter.”

The fact that Foo Fighters brought Nova Twins on tour only confirms their interest in nurturing the next generation of musicians to come.

At 8:01 p.m., all lights in the venue fell as Dave Grohl ran onstage dressed in all-black to a deafening wall of cheers from the crowd. Guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett followed suit along with new drummer Josh Freese, longtime bassist Nate Mendel and keyboardist Rami Jaffee. With a guitar strapped to his shoulder, Grohl greeted his audience with his signature brand of humor saying, “It’s gonna be a long night, motherfuckers.”

Foo Fighters opened their set with “Bridge Burning,” off their Wasting Light album, quickly following with “No Son of Mine.” After just two songs, Foo Fighters were moving full speed ahead, Grohl strumming his guitar, eyes tightly closed as he belted out notes as Smear, Shiflett and Mendel hung back a bit, making space for Freese and the singer to lock rhythms early. Ten minutes in, Grohl was fully drenched in sweat, ripping his signature scream, running from side to side on the stage and breaking into more banter with the crowd. The frontman cooled himself by dumping several cups of water on his head. Smear had yet to break a sweat.

“I’ve got a question for you. Can I ask you something? Do you love rock 'n’ roll music? I fucking love rock 'n’ roll music,” Grohl said before busting a classic Black Sabbath riff. This was followed by a performance of the newer single “Rescued” from Foo Fighters' latest album. “The Pretender,” next on the setlist, got the massive crowd clapping and singing along to every note of the chorus. Grohl got back on the microphone to chat more.
“For those of you who haven’t seen us, we’ve been a band for 30 years,” Grohl said. “We’ve got a lot of fucking songs, so we’re gonna play what we can before they kick us out.”

Foo Fighters followed this with the classic “Times Like These,” starting with a stripped-down intro and ending with a surge of power. Next was “Break Out,” from 1999’s There’s Nothing Left to Lose, which really got the crowd moving. At this point, Grohl and Freese began improvising, resulting in a ridiculously impressive drum solo. Grohl dumped another cup of water on the drummer’s head to cool him off before playing “Medicine at Midnight.”

“Listen, if we’re going to go three hours tonight, we’ve got to break that shit down a bit,” Grohl said. “Do you know what I’m saying?” As the crowd cheered Foo Fighters on, the band moved into new territory for the night. In the middle of the next song, Grohl and Shiftlett faced one another in a guitar transaction of sorts, consisting of complementary solos, sonic textures and pivoting positions.

After one hour of playing, the frontman took a few minutes to introduce each member of the Foo Fighters. Each had their own solo moment, which included a small barrage of 30-second covers ranging from The Ramones to Rage Against the Machine.

“Look at this motherfucker, he doesn’t even sweat; I’m in a wet T-shirt contest,” said Grohl of longtime friend and former Nirvana bandmate Pat Smear. He followed this with a heartfelt compliment for the band’s current drummer. “Ladies and gentlemen, the person that allows us to come out here and play tonight,” Grohl said. “Josh fucking Freese. Shit, he was in fucking Devo, man!”

Before transitioning into the next song, Grohl took a few seconds to carefully contemplate his words while gently strumming the chords to mega-hit, “My Hero” from 1997’s The Colour and the Shape album.

“I want to dedicate this next one to an old friend that lived around here,” Grohl said. “His name was Dimebag Darrell.”

Grohl’s reference and song dedication to Pantera lead guitarist and Dallas musical legend Dimebag Darrell Abbott evoked a tender spark of emotion from the crowd as they paid their tributes, singing every word of the Foo Fighters single.
“Learn to Fly” and “These Days” followed in the next grouping of songs before a raucous performance of “All My Life.” The band then dove into a curious mash-up of their new song “Nothing at All” with the classic, “I’ll Stick Around.” Then came “The Glass,” “Monkeywrench” and “Aurora.” This one made Grohl say a few words about his old friend and late bandmate, drummer Taylor Hawkins.

“We like to do this song every night because it was Taylor Hawkins' favorite Foo Fighters song,” Grohl said. “You know, Taylor always loved coming here because Taylor was from here. Every time we played Dallas, his whole family came out. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a room full of Taylor Hawkins, but it’s amazing. So, this one’s for Taylor.”

After “Aurora” Grohl announced that the Foo Fighters had one song left before ripping into a bombastic performance of “Best of You.” At 10:23 p.m., the Foo Fighters walked off a simmering smokey stage, blue lights gleaming as steam wafted freely into the 20,000-person crowd. But this crowd had no plans of leaving anytime soon.

Hundreds of flashlights and lighters soon illuminated the entire Dos Equis Pavilion, reaching the furthest outskirts of the venue's back wall. Nearly five minutes later, Grohl and company were back on stage. The crowd soon fell silent as Foo Fighters started playing “The Teacher,” an emotional song Grohl wrote for his late mother. The ending of this song seemed to be the culmination of decades of playing together as Foo Fighters performed a type of sonic surgery on the stage with thousands of people carefully watching their every move, sharing intimacy, building empathy and ending the night on a note of hope. Finally, it was time for Foo Fighters to wrap up the night, which they did with a flawless performance of “Everlong,” quite possibly one of the best love songs ever written.

As Foo Fighters left the stage and took their final bow, one couldn’t help but notice that the crowd’s intensity only grew throughout the night and crescendoed with the band at the climax of the show. For those inclined to preach the worn-out trope that rock 'n’ roll is indeed dead, Foo Fighters and their rabid fans prove otherwise. Dave Grohl and his band consistently deliver showstopping performances, and the world just may need them to play well into the next two decades.

At the end of every show, Grohl says that he doesn’t like saying goodbye to his fans. The fans certainly don’t like having to say goodbye to him, either.