Foo Fighters wow 130,000 fans at UK mega gigs

Foo Fighters

Milton Keynes Bowl

pictures by James Watkins, review by Andy Richardson

Three quarters of the way through the Foo Fighers' extraordinary set at one of Europe's biggest concert venues, frontman Dave Grohl paused.

He told the audience that he loved playing in Britain because fans treated his band as though they were the biggest in the world. The 65,000-strong crowd roared. "And I think I kinda like it," he said, as he launched into another ferocious tune.

Grohl's band have been treading the boards for a decade-and-a-half and, right now, fans aren't being disingenuous in treating them like the biggest - and best - on the planet.

Over two nights at Milton Keynes bowl, they cemented their place as the world's foremost rockers, thrilling fans with a visceral, high octane set of foot-to-the-floor rock'n'roll.

With support acts including the exceptional Jimmy Eat World and the raucous Biffy Clyro, the Foos also welcomed to the stage a number of special guests, including Alice Cooper and Roger Taylor as well as Seasick Steve and John Paul Jones.

But it was all about Grohl and his incredible American rock band. They thrilled a partisan crowd with nerveless, fast-paced tunes from throughout their career. Fan favourites were mixed with a liberal sprinkling of songs from their latest opus, Wasting Light, including These Days, Walk, an incendiary White Limo and Dear Rosemary, accompanied by Bob Mould.

After a five-song encore that willfully ignored a strict curfew, the Foos completed their evening's work with a formidable rendition of Everlong as a dizzingly spectacular pyrotechnic display exploded overhead. They'd just given fans one of the best gigs of their lives.