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Foo Fighters concluded their 'Sonic Highways' rollout w/ NYC episode & intimate Irving Plaza show (pics, setlist)

photos by P Squared Photography

The Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters put out a new album and an HBO series about it, both called Sonic Highways, this year. The premise of the show was it had Dave Grohl & co. traveling to eight different US cities — Chicago, Washington DC, Nashville, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, and New York City — and discussing those cites’ musical histories while also showing clips of them recording parts of their album in each. A.V. Club gave the show a B+, sounding mixed on the Chicago episode but more positive about the DC one (the two episodes they had watched for review before it premiered). An excerpt from their review reads:

That kind of self-awareness from Grohl–knowing that he’s reached a level of success far beyond the people who helped feed his roots–deepens Sonic Highways in incalculable ways. Without making too big a deal about it, Grohl contrasts himself with Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who admits in “Chicago” that he doesn’t really know or care much about the blues, and in “Washington D.C.” confesses that he’s never been part of any kind of indie scene. And Grohl himself admits that the unusual method of recording this new Foo Fighters album is just a way for a seen-it-all/done-it-all veteran rock band to introduce some novelty. Sonic Highways subtly acknowledges the differences between the scholarly and the intuitive, and between the mega-millionaires and the guys still making records in their basements.

Grohl knows he’s fortunate to have played in two of the most popular rock bands of the past 25 years, and to have the backing of HBO and the well-heeled production company Worldwide Pants Inc. (whose founder, David Letterman, is a big Foo Fighters fan, hailing them for going out every night and “fighting foo”). But Grohl also knows none of this happened by chance. Sonic Highways is about Chicago, D.C., Austin, Seattle, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, and Los Angeles; but it’s also about Grohl, remembering where he came from and what he owes.

Jezebel had another take in their article “Dave Grohl’s Sonic Highways Systematically Erases Women in Music.” They write:

Sonic Highways is meant to reflect Grohl’s own fandom and musical upbringing–but it also positions itself as a type of definitive oral history of each city’s music scene. And with each episode, it becomes more dismaying, and much clearer, that Grohl’s version of that history begins and ends with men almost entirely.

…[The Seattle] episode spends a majority of time on the local punk rock scene of the ’80s and ’90s, and the music that would eventually be called grunge. Sub Pop Records’ Megan Jasper gets some cursory airtime, but beyond that, there is not even a sole mention of women in the scene, other than Grohl cheesing that he was shocked that women in Seattle actually went to these shows. GUESS WHAT GROHL, it wasn’t just because there was more melody, or that you know, Chris Cornell and Kurt were cute. It was because there were plenty of women bands who were completely crucial to the scene, including 7 Year Bitch and The Gits, of whom I am assuming he is aware because, when Gits singer Mia Zapata was raped and murdered, Grohl’s band Nirvana donated money to hire a private investigator to find her killer.

Hole is not mentioned.

Nor is Bikini Kill, who were not from Seattle but were integral to the actual existence of Nirvana, the band–Tobi Vail dated Kurt and turned him on to feminism, while Kathleen Hanna coined the title of their biggest hit by writing “Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit” on the mirror at a party. Oh and also, Hanna actually DATED Grohl. (Allegedly.) Also, they were punk as fuck, a musical tenet Grohl apparently values above all others.

Have you seen the show? What did you think?

The documentary wrapped up this past Friday (12/5) with the NYC episode, and like The Foos have done in other cities, they celebrated with an intimate show that night at Irving Plaza. As you may know by now, the only way to get in was lining up for tickets — people camped out overnight and those tix went really fast. Only about 1,000 people got in (and the guestlist was probably huge) but if you didn’t, you’ll have another chance when they play the 45,000+ capacity Citi Field on their 2015 tour. They played for about 3 hours, and in addition to the Sonic Highways stuff, those in attendance got “Everlong,” “Monkey Wrench,” “I’ll Stick Around,” “Big Me,” covers of The Stones, Tom Petty and Queen & Bowie’s “Under Pressure” and more.

More pictures from Irving, and the setlist, below…

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SETLIST (via)
Outside
The Pretender
Learn to Fly
White Limo
Arlandria
Rope
My Hero
Hey, Johnny Park!
Monkey Wrench
Congregation
Walk
Cold Day in the Sun
I’ll Stick Around
In the Clear
Big Me
Something From Nothing
Times Like These
These Days
Miss You (The Rolling Stones cover)
Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)
Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie cover)
All My Life
This Is a Call
I Am a River
Best of You
Everlong