Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl on stage at Mt Smart Stadium. Photo / Chris Loufte
Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl on stage at Mt Smart Stadium. Photo / Chris Loufte
Dave Grohl is standing at the end of a runway that extends nearly halfway into Mt Smart Stadium's rammed crowd - and he's getting absolutely drenched.
He doesn't need to be there. He doesn't need to do this. The front man for the Foo Fighters could be back on stage with the rest of his band mates, enjoying cover from the scattered rain that fell through much of last night's stadium rock event of the summer.
At that point, two-and-a-half hours into the Foos third stadium show and umpteenth tour here, he could easily have given up and let everyone go home early to have "a warm bath," as he'd joked. No one would have blamed him.
For anyone who attended Adele's final show in the same venue this time last year, that rain that was falling from the moment opening act Weezer arrived on stage meant it was all starting to feel eerily familiar.
One game lad even turned up in a fully inflated life jacket.
Rain soaked fans watch the Foo Fighters. Photo / Chris Loufte
But here's Grohl, marching out into the crowd for the encore, determined to get soaked along with everyone else.
"We've gotta sing one last one together," he declared as he launched into a solo version of Times Like These, which became yet another mass stadium singalong. "You deserve it."
If there was a defining moment from last night's show it was this: Grohl out in front, pulling that shaggy hair out of his face, hanging out with his fans. His grin said it all.
At this point, nine albums and 24-years into their careers, there's no such thing as a bad Foo Fighters show. It's just not in their DNA.
And tonight's didn't disappoint, with high points scattered throughout their set. There were soaring singalongs My Hero and Everlong, songs that had drunken dude-bros wrestling each other like small puppies.
Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl on stage. Photo / Chris Loufte
There was recent single Sky is a Neighbourhood, its chugging riff perfect for pulling out your air guitar - which many did. And there was Breakout, which the crowd sang so loudly the band simply stopped and watched in awe.
"Crazy," declared Grohl afterwards. "You guys need to chill out."
They'd started with such a hiss and a roar, it was always going to be hard to keep up. So the middle of last night's value-for-money three-hour show did drag, with a fair bit of what a mate dubbed "Foo Fillers".
Drummer Taylor Hawkins got two - yes, two - songs, guitarist Chris Shiflett ran through a pretty average Alice Cooper cover of Under My Wheels, while there were football chants, constant banter, several covers and Rivers Cuomo showing up for a duet.
But that opening 30 minutes really was something. It saw Grohl sprinting down that runway, declaring, "It's a beautiful day for a rock show right?" and launching into a three-song explosion that managed to make the weather clear.
When they launched into the opening stomp of Run, the rain started stalling. It completely cleared during All My Life, as Grohl crept around the stage playing the stop-start anthem's grinding riff.
Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl on stage. Photo / Chris Loufte
By the time they launched into Learning to Fly, you could even see the hint of some late evening sun.
During The Pretender, a full rainbow could be seen arching over Mt Smart's eastern stand.
"We just made the rain stop," declared Grohl afterwards with that delightful cackle of his.
When he retold the story of the band's 2011 show registering as seismic activity, you could just tell that next time - and he promised their would be a next time - he'll be boasting of the time this rock god became a weather god.
Earlier, Weezer guitarist Brian Bell arrived dressed for the weather, splashing around on stage in a full length yellow anorak and knee high gumboots. They didn't disappoint, with a greatest hits setlist that relied heavily on songs from The Blue Album and Pinkerton.
Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo. Photo / Chris Loufte
Cuomo showed he didn't mind the weather either, donning a sombrero for several songs, including Beverly Hills and Feels Like Summer, which, when performed in the pouring rain, felt like the night's perfectly ironic highlight.
