Sunday, July 16, 2017

Live: Foo Fighters @ Herodes Atticus Odeon (Athens, July 10th, 2017)


This week has been exceptionally busy for live rock music in Athens and the start was certainly one for the history books! It is very rare that the historic Herodes Atticus Odeon theater, right below The Acropolis, is used for rock concerts, but on this occasion it hosted the first ever show in Greece of one of the biggest rock names of the last couple of decades, the Foo Fighters.


The cost for bringing for a concert a band of this magnitude is rather daunting for local promoters in the current economy, but thanks to the popular US music show "Landmarks Live in Concert", a PBS series hosted by Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the fact that the band would play without a fee, with all profits going to charity, it became possible for this gig to happen at this unique site.


Dave Grohl, after acknowledging how crazy and unique was for his band to be playing under The Acropolis, made the promise to give a show that would make up for the fact that the Foo Fighters had never played here before and, indeed, in their marathon two hours and 15 minutes set, the band played tracks from almost all their albums, from their 1995 breakthrough self-titled debut ("This Is a Call") up to the forthcoming "Concrete and Gold" ("La Dee Da", "Dirty Water", the live debut of "Arrows", "Sunday Rain" and "Run"). Only previous record, "Sonic Highways" remained unrepresented.


For a band with so many hits under its belt, I'm sure that the audience would have liked to listen even more songs from the past, but my first impressions from the new material are positive and it's possible that after we hear the new album we'll be able to appreciate more this opportunity we had for a live preview.


It's certainly been too long, but the Foo Fighters, at least live, remain a great band, and having the opportunity to see them perform in these unique surroundings was, without a doubt, an out of the ordinary, unforgettable musical experience. As Dave promised at the end of the show, right before finishing with the great "Everlong", let's hope it will not take another twenty years until the next time.


Hers is what the Foo Fighters played at their Herodeon show:

Times Like TheseAll My Life, Learn to Fly, The Pretender, Wanted Dead or Alive / Another One Bites the Dust / Blietzkrieg Bop (Bon Jovi/Queen/The Ramones snippets played during band introductions), Cold Day in the Sun, La Dee Da, Walk, These Days, My Hero, We Will Rock You, (Queen cover) (Harper Grohl on the drums), Dirty Water, This Is a Call, Arlandria, Rope, Arrows, Monkey Wrench, Sunday Rain, Best of You, Run, Everlong.


Check out below "Monkey Wrench" and new track "La Dee Da" and stay tuned for our Ejekt Festival coverage, coming up soon!

Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench (live in Athens, July 10, 2017)

Foo Fighters - La Dee Da (live in Athens, July 10, 2017)

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