Foo Fighters @ The Manning Bar, Sydney Uni

Friday, March 25

Thursday night had been big: a work farewell that ended in a karaoke joint, with everyone too drunk to sing. I battled into the office the next day, grabbing a coffee and a toasted ham and cheese sandwich on the way to keep my hangover at bay. My Friday night was already sorted: leave work at five, order a pizza, watch the footy and crash out early.

An 11am email saw those plans punted. It had been announced that Foo Fighters were playing a surprise gig at Sydney Uni’s Manning Bar. Tickets were on sale at Red Eye Records and Hum Records: 300 tickets per store, 1 ticket per person.

I was a big fan of Foo Fighters’ first three albums. My interest had waned over the past decade, but the chance to see the band at such a small venue for only fifty bucks was too good to pass up. When we got to Hum Records there were about 40 people in front of us. With tickets not on-sale until 12, we knew we would be going to the gig – the fact that I’m writing a review probably gave that away.

Before the gig I headed home and watched the start of the footy. At half-time when my lift turned up, Parra and Souths were 12-all. Arriving at the Manning Bar at nine, there was an inexplicably large amount of cops at the entrance with a sniffer dog.

Although the place was packed the bar lines moved quickly. Staff must have fought to get on the roster that night. After a few drinks I was feeling better than I had all day. Everyone in the crowd knew they were lucky to be there. The anticipation was high, the atmosphere infectious.

At 9:27pm a mate texted: “3 questions…Why doesn’t Hayne kick? Why is Jeff Robson a footballer? Why is Matt Cecchin a referee?” With the Eels flogged, I was even more pleased to be at the gig. As if they’d been watching the game backstage, right after I received the text the Foo Fighters entered the stage. The crowd roared and the band looked ready to rock.

Dave Grohl told the fans, “I hope you’re ready for a loooong night”. Opening with “Bridge Burning” Foo Fighters launched into their soon-to-be released album Wasting Light. The huge number of cops out the front had moved into the venue to hear the new tracks. The Foo Fighters must get a lot of airplay in the police academy.

Over 45 minutes the Fooey’s played their new album front to back. When they finished with the album’s closer “Walk”, Grohl spoke to the crowd again: “That’s the new album”. The crowd cheered wildly, not so much because they loved the new stuff, but because it was time for the old stuff.

Starting with “All My Life” they proceeded to belt out hit after hit, with most tracks being drawn from The Colour and the Shape and There Is Nothing Left to Lose, their 2nd and 3rd albums.

During Dave Grohl’s banter a fan threw a cigarette onto the stage. Grohl was slightly bemused that it was “just a cigarette”. In response a big joint was launched up. Grohl handed it to his roadies for later. I guess the sniffer dog was just there for the tunes. Moments later Dave spotted a yawning girl in the crowd and dedicated the next song to her, telling the crowd to stop booing the girl. “This is how beautiful relationships begin,” he said, “because now all I wanna do is please you”.

That girl is probably still boring her friends about that yawn.

By the time they left the stage for the first time Foo Fighters had played for about two and a quarter hours. They would’ve been forgiven for not doing an encore, but everyone could tell they weren’t finished.

As they took the stage for a second time the small crowd made a massive noise and Foo Fighters really looked like a band enjoying themselves. They rocked through “The Pretender” loudly – a little too loud, as it turned out. As they started the next track, the vocals couldn’t be heard. The PA was blown.

Rather than walk off stage pissed off, or finally say goodnight, Grohl decided he wasn’t finished rocking. He bent down and turned his foldback speakers around to face the crowd – he wouldn’t be able to hear what he or his band mates sounded like, but the crowd would. Chris Schifflet, Nate Mendell and Pat Smear followed suit. Taylor Hawkins looked on from his drums, happy with his band mates’ decision to keep going, and happy he didn’t have to turn his drum kit around. It was a great rock ‘n’ roll moment.

They played three more tracks finishing with “This Is A Call,” a song Grohl recorded by himself in 1994, in the months after the demise of Nirvana. More than 16 years on, the song hasn’t aged a day. It was the perfect end to the near flawless gig – the PA blow out and Grohl’s refusal to let that stop him finishing the set how he wanted, only added to the special nature of the night.

Everyone went home happy, and I don’t think the cops made a single arrest, although they did all stay for the encore – just to make sure no one got out of hand.

Tim Gonzarelli