Australia is at the mercy of factors beyond anyone’s control. Extreme weather, the tyranny of distance. This great southern land is at the ass-end of the world, a journey that that will take many travelers a day out of their life to get there, and another to return home.
In rocks the Foo Fighters, again, urging you to hold their beer. In January of this year, the U.S. band completed the long-haul for a one-off show in Launceston, the second city of Tasmania, an island some 1,600 miles north of Antarctica. On that occasion, the Foos spent 48 hours traveling, for a three-hour show at UTAS Stadium. Mission accomplished. Four years earlier, in 2022, Dave Grohl and Co. performed for one-night only at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong, a satellite city of Melbourne, to help refuel a touring industry crippled by the lockdown.
On Thursday night (Nov. 5), the Foos were back on familiar turf for their Take Cover Australian tour opener at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, the noisy neighbor to the XXXX brewery. It’s their second visit to this country in 10 months. In a quirk of the schedule, the band will break after the Adelaide date on the tour, Nov. 17, and return in late January for New Zealand shows and a tour closer in Perth. Count them. That’s three visits to Australia in a year, all of them for concerts produced by Frontier Touring.
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The Foos love Australia, and it’s reciprocated. Guitarist Chris Shiflett stepped out wearing an AC/DC shirt, with the sleeves hacked off. Grohl recounted his three-decade-long affair with the country, before the band played “Big Me” from their self-titled 1995 debut album. The parody “Footos” music video, Grohl revealed, was shot here. The Foos might as well have Aussie passports at this point.
“I’m so f—ing grateful, and lucky, that we’re still here 30 years later, and coming to tour for you guys again,” Grohl told his audience. “It would take a lot to say no to Australia.”
From the gritty staccato chords of “All My Life” and Grohl’s “are you f—ing ready” pep talk, through to the Foos’ traditional ending number “Everlong,” Billboard soaked up the action on a glorious spring night.
Check out four outstanding moments below.
