In true rock and roll style, I spent my Saturday night watching rock and roll on You Tube. The Taylor Hawkins tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, to be specific, in memory of the Foo Fighters’ drummer who died earlier this year. It says a lot about the man that such a tribute could be held in the first place, never mind that it attracted some of the greatest names in music. The entire show was held together by a visibly emotional Dave Grohl who played drums or guitar on almost everything and was the PA man, too. It was slightly shambolic at times which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. There wasn’t much I didn’t enjoy. Even the set by two thirds of the surviving Queen.
Liam Gallagher opened the show with a couple of Oasis songs, followed by Nile Rodgers with a couple of Chic songs. Supergrass entertained the crowd, Joe Walsh’s 1960s James Gang less so, on the grounds that hardly anyone at Wembley knew who any of the songs, never mind the other members of the band. Why Walsh didn’t simply play a few bangers of his own, I don’t know.
Suddenly, things looked up when my second favourite of Grohl’s bands (after Nirvana, obvs), Them Crooked Vultures came on. Josh Homme struggled through a bizarre version of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (why?) but along with Led Zep man John Paul Jones vibrant bass and Grohl’s powerhouse drumming, they soon found top form.
The surviving Rush members, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee, powered through a couple of classics and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson’s lungs were in good shape, as he performed Back In Black and Let There Be Rock. But it was the Queen bit that astonished me.
I bow to no man or woman over my intense loathing of Queen’s overblown and pompous faux rock, but here I found myself not just tolerating Brian May and Roger Taylor’s tribute to Hawkins (T) but enjoying it. The opener, We Will Rock You, is one of those songs that is as pleasant to listen to as fingernails being scratched down a blackboard, but thanks to the addition of The Struts lead singer Luke Spiller, it was bearable. Onto a song I had never before heard, I’m In Love With My Car sung by Taylor, and I actually liked it, as did I enjoy their best song Under Pressure (because Bowie was on it) sung by Justin Hawkins. Next, we were treated to Somebody To Love, a personal least favourite for me, along with the rest of their catalogue, but here it was performed by perpetually smiling Eurovision hairy man Sam Ryder, dressed in an outrageous jump suit. And it was a lot of fun. There. I said it.
Ending their set, Brian May walked to the very front of the stage with an acoustic guitar, asking the crowd to sing along with a final tune, Love Of My Life. I confess I’d never heard it before and judging from the lack of a stadium singalong hardly anyone else had either. Given the occasion, I’m loathe to slag off the song or the performance but it was something like five minutes I’ll never get back. Still, it was the first, and almost certainly last, time I have ever enjoyed anything vaguely Queen-ish. And above everything else, they didn’t do Bohemian Rhapsody, which would have ruined everything. Anyway, it was about Taylor Hawkins, not me.
The show finished with a run through of some of the Foo Fighters greatest hits, starting with Times Like These during which Grohl broke down. I confess that I zoned out for much of the Foos’ set until Paul McCartney appeared for a brilliant version of the Beatles Helter Skelter. Given that pretty well everyone present was a Foos fan, I’m guessing they enjoyed the set. To this non fan, they seemed on pretty decent form. More than that, it was very obvious that all the artists wanted to be there and it wasn’t an opportunity to flog their new record.
Imagine it. I watched much of a concert at which the stars were Foo Fighters and the remnants of Queen and I enjoyed it. Next week, I write a positive review of the new album by Muse. NURSE!!!
