Foo Fighters put on epic show at upgraded American Family Insurance Amphitheater
Milwaukee couldn’t have asked for a better person to mark the return of huge concerts than Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl.
Because there’s probably no rock superstar on the planet who appreciates concerts as much as he does.
“There is nothing like the energy and atmosphere of live music,” Grohl wrote in a powerful column for the Atlantic in May 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic robbed the world of concerts, and so much more.
“We need moments that reassure us that we are not alone,” he wrote. “That we are understood. That we are imperfect. And, most important, that we need each other.”
Nearly 24,000 people had that experience Friday night, watching the incoming Rock & Roll Hall of Famers at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater for the first huge Milwaukee concert since the pandemic began in March 2020.
They sang at the top of their lungs. They danced away their worries and their pain. They bonded with loved ones and complete strangers. They joined Grohl near the night’s end in a primal, cathartic scream.
Their passion suggested they needed this.
Foo Fighters frontman and guitarist Dave Grohl performs during their concert Friday night at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater at Maier Festival Park, the venue’s grand reopening following a $51.3 million renovation. For more photos, go to in this context than ever before.
“It’s times like these you learn to live again,” Grohl sang with quiet gravitas. “It’s times like these you learn to love again.”
Four minutes after the song slowly unraveled, the band in a flash erupted into the full rock rendition backed by blinding lights. Guitar in hand, Grohl sprinted stage left and stage right, his long mane flowing freely whenever he paused to thrash his head. Taylor Hawkins clenched his teeth, pummeling the drums with breathtaking speed and staggering might.
They were having the time of their lives — and the crowd loved every minute of it.
Giannis-Antetokounmpo level energy deep into Friday’s 2 set. He might have been kidding when he suggested the show would last until Wednesday, but he played like he meant it.
As did Hawkins, who seemed to throw a powerhouse drum sequence into each of the night’s 21 songs. It didn’t matter if Foo Fighters were playing a quieter, older deep cut like “Aurora,” or a slinky tune like the title track from this year’s “Medicine at Midnight” — the band just couldn’t help injecting each track with electric intensity.
The only time anyone seemed to hold back was when Grohl was on the drums for a Hawkins-led cover of Queen’s “Somebody To Love” — perhaps uncomfortable about overshadowing his bandmate’s frontman moment. But it was a playful performance — with Hawkins crashing and burning with the climactic falsetto before tossing it to the more capable backing singers.
So was the band’s take of the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing,” featured on their new Bee Gees tribute album “Hail Satin,” where they’re billed as the Dee Gees. Grohl’s attempt of the famous falsetto of Barry