octumo.com

I managed to get my hands on some last-minute Foo Fighter’s tickets for Sunday’s gig at the O2 (formerly the famed Millennium Dome), courtesy of a business contact.

We had seated tickets so there was no need to get there early, half an hour seemed sufficient. We missed most of the support act Serj Tankian (of “System of a Down” fame). Didn’t seem to miss much although Serj was keen to big up the Foos.

The gig started almost without warning and Grohl took some time before he really started interacting with the crowd. He started the set with recent single “Pretender”. His energy really started to show in the second song, when it seems Grohl came into his own, running up and down the stage in an impressive show of enthusiasm for music. This was both a taster of what was to come and a display of what makes the Foo Fighters such a great band.

I recorded the set list on my iPhone as we went along: “The Pretender, Times Like These, Breakout, The Long Road to Ruin … screw this, I am having to much fun to pull out my phone and note down every song name”.

The gig really took ahold of me after about 4 songs and while I was still taking pics on my iPhone and posting them straight to Flickr via email (great feature by the way), it was really a chore rather than anything remotely connected to the amateur photo-journalism I usually enjoy. But I had to have something for the folks back home and they seemed to appreciate the service.

After a rock set, an acoustic set and some experimental (and excellent) Triangle and Guitar solos by guest artists, the encore flew past too fast for my liking. I wanted them to continue playing forever.

The acoustic set was performed on a circular stage in the center of the arena, hoisted from the ceiling halfway through the set, and was somewhat epic. It gave the band a chance to exhibit their range and technical skill.

Serj performed with the band for the last song, practically redeeming himself and making me curious to maybe browse over to his MySpace page to have a less critical listen to his music. Personal preference is at play here, I have to admit.

Overall the energy of the gig was fantastic and the band was great at motivating the audience. I very much enjoyed it.

The venue itself is very good and I was impressed what O2 have done with it. I never had an interest in the “boring” Millennium Dome but it was positively teeming with people and has a mall-type setup with bars, restaurants, exhibition space and even an Ice-Rink. And we even managed to get some complementary Egyptian food and tea just because we are O2 customers.

I will look out for future dates at the O2 and I recommend the Venue and the Band highly.

The gig rates 2nd on my list of favorite gigs (after Muse at Wembley).

Related:
Pictures - Foo Fighters at The O2
Pictures - Muse at Wembley
TheO2.co.uk