Words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi
Dave Grohl fell for Brisbane! When he got up he asked three times: “Do you like rock ‘n’ roll music?” as the crowd screamed back at him with a definitive “Yes”. He quipped, “Me too”.
How do you celebrate 31 years’ worth of rock hits in a few hours? The Foo Fighters delivered a masterclass in how it’s done. The Gen Xers flew the flag for the “57+” age group “who used to be cool” and for the “OG fans” as they delivered the first concert of their Australian Take Cover Tour in Brisbane. They brought along the younger generation in Northern Rivers band Mini Skirt and the fabulous, Brisbane’s own, Full Flower Moon Band to revel in a night of pure fun rock ‘n’ roll.
The Foo Fighters last performed in Brisbane at Suncorp in 2023, so the city has been lucky with the frequency of the band’s visits. Tonight’s concert had a very different feeling and focus. In 2023 there was a veil of mourning as the band were finding their way after the loss of Taylor Hawkins. Now, in 2026, Foo Fighters are driving a world tour that stretches into 2027, rejoicing in the release of a new album in Your Favorite Toy and delivering a concert experience full of celebratory energy. And, more importantly, the weather was with us. It was hot, like 37C, but no rain or storms. Calippo ice blocks and ices were the hot items: other than the bands.
The evening commenced with a good-sized crowd for Byron Bay-based band Mini Skirt. The band comprises Jacob Boylan (vocals), Cam Campbell (guitar), Jesse Pumphrey (bass) and Jacob Pumphrey (drums), and they opened things up, immediately setting a raucous vibe with a 12-song, 30-minute set as the sun beamed down and the temperature climbed up to 36C.
Mini Skirt brought their punk and rock sounds with a blistering start as ‘Pottsville River’, ‘With Your Hands’ and then a slower ‘Been A While’ were delivered to the growing crowd. The driving punk guitars and bass tones blasted through the venue, and the band filled it with sound, as their songs heavily referenced the late 1970s punk sound.
The songs ‘Mud’, the love song of ‘Bag Of Bones’ and ‘Face Of The Future’ were raw and honest as their rough around the edges musical style channelled an infectious spirit, especially on ‘DIY Nightmare’ and the fantastic song ‘Pretty’. The vocals were deadpan and venomous, and the skin-splitting drums helped Mini Skirt warm up the crowd. It was a hard assignment in the heat, and they did a great job as the band ‘Squeezed Down’ and were ‘Smart Enough’ to handle the ‘Pressure’.
There was a short break. The sun went down. The heat stayed. The crowd waited for Full Flower Moon Band to take the evening up a notch.
Brisbane’s own Full Flower Moon Band: Luke Hanson (drums), Caleb Widener (guitar), Christian Driscoll (guitars), Marli Smales (bass and vocals) and Kate “Babyshakes” Dillon (guitar and lead vocals) took the Suncorp stage next and graced the crowd with their heavy bassline riffs, groove-driven guitars, slightly psychedelic and definitely gritty rock ‘n’ roll sound.
I must declare that according to Spotify “I am one of the band’s top listeners” and it was so easy to hear and see why. This year the band has played a variety of small and huge gigs, and importantly sold out their homecoming gig at the Tivoli, but they have been busy writing a new album, After Dark, due out in February 2027 and some of the new songs were going to feature tonight.
The Full Flower Moon Band walked onto the stage and totally owned it. The songs ‘Power’, ‘Meet Ya’ and the brand-new song ‘Party Hard’ kicked off their set in their distinctive blues rock style. The band were tightly focused and Kate “Babyshakes” Dillon delivered the wild woman of rock persona with her trademark black Telecaster Deluxe as she headed down the catwalk and acknowledged the crowd.
The visceral energy the band gave off was fantastic. Then, Full Flower Moon Band got stuck into delivering their songs: hits and fan favourites such as the amazing ‘Scene’, a blistering take on ‘Female Mechanic’ and the fun ‘New Rocket’. The band’s music was made for stadiums and it was the thrumming control of the bassline that kept it all pulsing along. It was sonically noticeable and totally enthralling.
The band’s guitar work was outstanding as ‘Endless Summer’, ‘Trainspotting’ and the astonishing ‘Hurt Nobody’ were performed with harmony, plus shake, rattle and roll of the drums! Kate “Babyshakes” Dillon left everything out on the stage as the last section of the set delivered the classics of ‘The Devil’, and ‘Roadie’ ended their performance to a big crowd. The band crushed it!
There was another short break. Fans were rehydrating. Then, the stadium went dark. The crowd roared as red flares were let off.
Frontman Dave Grohl ripped down the catwalk at speed. He made it down to the end but not back as he tripped over his lead and ‘face-planted’ into the stage. He told the crowd later that was a “first”. But without a thought, he sprang up to his feet and gave the devil horn salute and joined the rest of the band: guitarists Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear, bassist Nate Mendel, keyboardist Rami Jaffee, and incredible new drummer with the “animal fro” Ilan Rubin.
Then, the call was made: “Are you fucking ready?” as the roar went up from the crowd. Foo Fighters opened with ‘All My Life’ and the party had started. There was no chat as the band raced through ‘The Pretender’, ‘Times Like These’ followed by ‘Rope’ and ‘Stacked Actors’ from 1999’s There Is Nothing Left To Lose dedicated to the 57+ age group and “old skool motherfuckers” in the crowd. He signalled that this performance would take songs from across their back catalogue rather than lean heavily on one album. And Dave Grohl told the crowd, when they stopped to draw breath, “we have so many songs”. The band’s history was weaved together into these first five songs.
Then, Foo Fighters delivered one of the early set highlights in the delivery of 1997’s ‘My Hero’ that had the crowd singing along. It was followed by 1999’s ‘Learn To Fly’ as the Foo Fighters ‘classic’ era was highlighted. Banter was kept to a minimum, but when Dave Grohl let go, he really let go and got chatty, as the beer and whiskey flowed, he swore, burped, spat and chewed gum throughout.
Through the night Dave Grohl would wind up the crowd with statements like: “It’s a fucking rock ‘n’ roll show right now”, “we’ve been coming to this place for a long time… 31 years” and asking questions of “Do you like rock ‘n’ roll music?” which was asked three times, as the crowd roared back “Yes” before he answered them “Me too”. And promises of “We’ll play as long as we can until they kick us off” and spoke of his memories of “Somersault Tours” and “being cool once back in the day” and how the huge “sing along means that you are at a stadium show”.
Dave Grohl drenched himself in water as the Foo Fighters launched into the energetic songs of ‘These Days’ and ‘Walk’. Then, ‘This Is A Call’ became the first huge jam session of the night. It led right into the dazzling ‘No Son Of Mine’ that had an Motörhead ‘Ace Of Spades’ interlude.
Foo Fighters moved to an intimate stage at the end of the catwalk runway at a “B-Stage”. It gave the band a chance to perform some stripped-back versions of their songs. One of the highlights of the night was the song “very popular in Germany” in the acoustic guitar-driven ‘Wheels’. The crowd sing along was huge. Then, the cover of the B-side of Nirvana’s ‘Heart-Shaped Box’, the acoustic song ‘Marigold’, was played. It was followed by ‘Window’. Then, the Australian moment as “our first single” was mentioned before ‘Big Me’ was performed. Dave Grohl took us down memory lane as he reflected on the “does anyone still eat them, they are fucking delicious” Mentos music video that was filmed here. “Thank you to the 90s,” as Dave Grohl laughed.
Dave Grohl was left on the stage alone with his electric guitar for a solo performance of ‘Under You’. And, it was great to see him just deliver the musician’s gold, a voice and guitar. It’s the test and he passed it with flying colours.
Then, there was a quick run up to the main stage, as Foo Fighters returned to the full electric band mode, and performed the great new song ‘Your Favorite Toy’ and ‘Run’ that saw their new drummer Ilan Rubin get a solo of his own, as Dave Grohl got the crowd jumping.
One of the most fun moments of this tour sees each band member play a song they worked on in their past lives, with archival videos and photos from those projects playing on the screen behind them. Chris Shiflett (fabulous lead guitarist) got to play his first band’s No Use For A Name song ‘Invincible’. Nate Mendel (bass and lovely voice) played ‘Seven’ from his band Sunny Day Real Estate and it was awesome. Dave Grohl stated that Sunny Day Real Estate was “the best emo-band in Seattle”. Rami Jaffee (keyboards) played ‘One Headlight’ from his band The Wallflowers, which Dave Grohl sort of knew some of the lyrics to but the crowd did and helped him along. Then, speed punk guitar master, Pat Smear gave us The Germs gem in ‘Manimal’, as Dave Grohl stated the importance of the band’s music and reflected on their influence on his own career. Ilan Rubin, formerly the drummer for Nine Inch Nails and Angels and Airwaves, was last but not least. His band The New Regime was showcased, and the instrumental track ‘Tap Dancing in a Minefield’ was delivered. Ilan Rubin demonstrated his impressive, and I mean impressive, guitar skills as Dave Grohl moved onto the drums for the only time in the set.
My favourite ‘Monkey Wrench’ kicked all things Foo Fighters back off, which ended in another drum solo as Dave Grohl got the whole crowd to scream: “Okay. I like that”. The light show got even more impressive as ‘Breakout’, the touching emotional tribute to Taylor Hawkins was played in ‘Aurora’ while ‘Best Of You’ closed out the main set with an impressive display of drumming from Ilan Rubin.
The encore came fast as the curfew was looming. The three-song encore started with a fabulous debut cover of Paisley’s own Gerry Rafferty’s ‘Baker Street’. Then ‘Hey, Johnny Park!’ was delivered before ‘Everlong’ closed things out. It was full rock glory with much noodling as the band faded out with the clock as Foo Fighters brought the phenomenal set to a close.
All three bands delivered the goods at this concert. Long live rock ‘n’ roll!
