M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, 14th December 2005.
FF Setlist:
In Your Honour
No Way Back
My Hero
Best Of You
Up In Arms
Learn To Fly
Times Like These
The One
Stacked Actors
Big Me
Breakout
Generator
Have It All
Everlong
Monkey Wrench
-------
This Is A Call
Cold Day In The Sun
All My Life
6th Foos show for me, and it's finally a non-festival one. Woo!
Let's get the support acts out of the way, Eagles = rocked! Futureheads had a crappy mix so each song bled into each other, and was like a wall of white noise. Only good one was Hounds Of Love.
Right.
Foos are amazing! I knew this before. What I know now is that they've grasped playing huge arenas with gusto now, because they have a show to match their performance.
Every rock show should have lasers. Fact.
They start with In Your Honour the screens rising up from the stage to reveal the band slowly, it's an awesome beginning.
No Way Back
From then on it's all nuts and mayhem, blasting out the first four songs like a salvo of heavy machine gun fire.
My Hero
The vid-screens (some larger than others, and all oddly shaped) veer from on-stage band footage to pre-recorded visuals, and it's an effect which really fits the band. Only when the lasers kick in for Best Of You, so we get the full value of this huge production.
Best Of You
There are two notable surprises in the set, one is Up In Arms and the second is Big Me (pulled out of retirement after Dave said they'd never play it again due to fans chucking Mentos on stage whenever they did).
This is the "Greatest Hits" set to end all Greatest Hits sets, all the big guns are wheeled out. Stacked Actors takes Dave into the back of the arena on a little stage my the mixing board, doing guitar duels with Chris Shiflett, and Breakout sees the awesome laser show in full effect.
Breakout
Breakout
Everlong is played as per the rest of the tour, with Dave on his own, however the band now join in for the last chorus, which makes the climax of the song more euphoric. Monkey Wrench ends the main set, and it's almost all done.
Encores bring about Foos classic This Is A Call and the now expected Dave/Taylor swapover for Cold Day In The Sun, it's so good to see Dave play drums.
All My Life
All My Life is at the end of it all (after arsing around playing classic intros - one of which being Rush's YYZ - fantastic!), and it's certainly the best Foos show I've attended. One to remember, definately.
9/10
