On a balmy late summer evening last week, Sleep Train Amphitheater was blasted by the raw sounds of the last true band to come out the late 90’s grunge scene: the Foo Fighters, fronted by Dave Grohl, who was the drummer from one of the arguably most popular rock bands of all time, Nirvana, alongside the likes of Pat Smear (Guitar), Taylor Hawkins (Drums), Chris Shiflett (guitar), and Nate Mendel (Bass).

Put this superstar quartet together and you get the head banging super rock group that call themselves the Foo Fighters. Typically a Foo Fighters show consists of plenty of hard rock, profanities, and Grohl endlessly jumping around the stage with boundless energy.

All of that was present except for Grohl jumping around stage. While touring in Europe, Grohl fell off the stage and broke his leg.  But rather than cancel the tour or even that concert for that matter, he drew up a sketch for a Game of Thrones inspired throne made from guitars. Yes, guitars.

He then had it manufactured, and after missing only three shows due to having to undergo surgery. Grohl was back on stage rocking for the rest of the tour on a throne that in his own words “Shot lasers and lights out of my ass.”

The show started with the drop of a massive Foo Fighters banner to the opening few measures of their hit song, “Everlong.”

The night was filled with new and old songs alike, but no matter what they played it always had everyone on their feet.

One of the best parts of the night was when Grohl pulled up from the pit a mid 50’s tie dyed Grateful Dead hippie to dance on stage while they played a broken down version of “Arlandia”.

His self proclaimed title was Happy Feet Steve, at one point Steve got fairly close to the edge of the stage to which Grohl responded “Watch your back! Don’t fall off that f****** stage, dude. Believe me you don’t want to fall off that f****** stage. You just scared the s*** out of me.”

As Steve left the stage Grohl said “Happy Feet Steve on Facebook! No s***! Happy Feet better drink some more water. You know what I’ll sing a song for you, actually we’ll sing a song for you”, at which point they broke into a mesmerising cover of “Under Pressure” by Queen.

They closed the night with a beautiful version of one of their most famous songs, “Best of You,” with the entire crowd on their feet, screaming at the top of their lungs. And with a quick bow they finished, no encore, no games, the lights came back on and the people left.

The best thing about a Foo Fighters concert is that they are able to accomplish something that I have never seen another band achieve. They are able to make an arena of any size feel like a small dingy Seattle bar from  the rise of the grunge scene.

Wherever Foo Fighters perform, you can tell that they play because they are absolutely in love with the idea of playing music. When you go to a Foo Fighters it’s obvious they play for the joy that they get from the fans and not for the money.

If you ever have the chance to see them live anywhere in any sized venue I would give them my best recommendation, for they truly are one of the last great bands to have survived the modernization of music.