Photos via Nick Stern
When you look at the top selling songs on iTunes, you'll come across some pop singles, redundant hip-hop club bangers, a few pop-country tracks, plenty of glitzy dance numbers, and maybe a song that falls into the "rock" category. Seldom do you find a song or band that can actually be called "rock and roll" (if that "vanilla" genre of music even exists anymore). Thankfully, we have the Foo Fighters for that—arguably the last American rock and roll band*.
Last night at Madison Square Garden, the sixteen (!!!) year old band rocked out for nearly three hours. That's two more hours than that last Britney Spears album. The show was gloriously and unabashedly a cliche of the "rock concert experience." Headbanging by lead singer Dave Grohl, guitar solo duels, earsplitting screaming, and all the other trademarks were in abundance. It was exactly what the fans paid for (they got Joan Jett and Bob Mould as a bonus).
Missing from the crowd was the New York archetypal hipster (this band lost their cred in 1997, man) and in their place was a crowd of mixed age, but with plenty of people north of 40 (like most of the band). Parenting advice was dispensed for those in the crowd with kids (there were plenty of teenagers and at least one five year old): buy your kids an AC/DC album and a guitar, not Guitar Hero.
While the Foo Fighters may not be venerated like Nirvana, its frontman's former band, they have certainly established themselves as one of America's great rock bands, perhaps reaching a wider audience than Nirvana ever could if things didn't end so soon. As Grohl pointed out during the concert, "at least tonight rock and roll isn't fucking dead." And as long as the Foo Fighters are around to affix the jumper cables of rock to the nipples of the American people, it never will be.
*The opinions in this post belong to Tien Mao, and Tien Mao only. In fact, no one else at Gothamist believes the Foo Fighters are the last American rock & roll band.
