At their peak the Stones were one of the most influential contemporary acts of the 20th century, alongside the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. The Stones helped electrify American blues, they were dangerous too. Mick Jagger once said he would rather die than sing Satisfaction past the age of 45. In July he turned 71. Move over Mick Jagger. Credit:Getty Images The Foo Fighters sell more records and have more influence on music in this millennium than the Stones, and next February and March the Foo Fighters will play a touring spectacular based on decades-old music. The Rolling Stones are the greatest Rolling Stones cover band in the world. Here are six reasons the Foo Fighters matter more than the Rolling Stones in 2014: 1. Dave Grohl is cooler than Mick Jagger

Jagger was one of rock's great sex symbols and frontmen, but at 71 still strutting and pouting on stage and chasing Brazilian models, he's beginning to look like the Woody Allen of music. Grohl somehow portrays rock-star and everyman cool, a neat trick. Grohl's generosity to fellow musicians and fans is legendary, but he still speaks his mind (his comments on "stripper pop" and reality television this year were bulls-eyes) and has been willing to parody himself his whole career. Who would you rather have a beer with? 2. Foo Fighters 2015 shows will be bigger and better The Foo Fighters play rock as it should be: full-throttle and that's why promoters book them to much bigger venues - you can guarantee 50,000 people will turn up. Just this month Grohl and co nailed Black Sabbath's classic War Pigs and their own new single Something From Nothing on The Late Show with David Letterman. The Foo Fighters' edge is on stage, whereas it's one of rock's great illusions that the Stones continue to sell tickets based on their "danger". Three decades ago Jagger is reputed to have told the author Ian Whitcomb: "I'm a cricket buff and I don't mind a good Trollope to go to bed with - the book variety." 3.

The Foo Fighters have history - let's not forget Grohl drummed for Kurt Cobain's Nirvana and Pat Smear had joined too by the end - but the "Fooies" continue to make relevant popular guitar music today. Just as important is how they reach people: the band is a masterclass in connecting the public and media in 2014, with no better examples than his acclaimed 2013 documentary Sound City documentary and the Sonic Highways TV series which was "a love letter to the history of American music". In a visual age, Foo Fighters' music videos are some of the best you will see in any genre - go watch any of Everlong, Long Road to Ruin, Walk, Learn to Fly. 4. They play guitars not banjos or synthesizers So do the Stones, but timing is everything - when they started rock was at the cutting edge, it was rebellion. The Foo Fighters have rocked out through an era where rock lost its mainstream appeal. True rock fans know it's the killer three-piece that plays at their local for $12 on a Tuesday that keeps rock going at the grass roots level, but on a global scale no one does more for rock today than the Foo Fighters. 5. Their music saved our trapped miners

Brant Webb and Todd Russell asked for Foo Fighters music when they were trapped down a one-kilometre Tasmanian mine shaft in 2006 and Grohl obliged, adding in a handwritten note: "My heart is with you both, and I want you to know that when you come home, there's two tickets to any Foos show, anywhere, and two cold beers waiting for yous. Deal?" Grohl went on to write The Ballad of the Beaconsfield miners about the incident and did indeed meet one of the miners, Webb, backstage after a show in Sydney. Grohl told Triple J: "I'm not just having one beer with those dudes, we're going for it." 6. The songs Ok before you get lost in bellowing apoplexy I'm not going to say the Foo Fighters' songs are better than the Stones', but they stand up extremely well live. Whether or not the Foo Fighters write anything with the depth and complexity of Sympathy for the Devil or Honky Tonk Woman, their music connects in an age when rock does not. You could be a casual rock fan and still enjoy a Foo Fighters gig because you'd realise you knew half a dozen songs. Foo Fighters 2015 Australian Tour Brisbane - Tuesday February 24, Suncorp Stadium, ticketek.com.au

Sydney - Thursday February 26, ANZ Stadium, ticketek.com.au Melbourne - Saturday February 28, Etihad Stadium, ticketmaster.com.au Hobart - Monday March 2, Derwent Entertainment Centre, ticketmaster.com.au Adelaide - Wednesday March 4, Coopers Stadium, ticketek.com.au Loading