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SXSW review: Foo Fighters at Stubb’s
With as many folks outside trying to get in as inside feeling privileged, Foo Fighters played the closing party of SXSW Interactive Tuesday night at 2,100-capacity Stubb’s as a “secret” headliner. Pumped up from the premiere of “Foo Fighters: Back and Forth,” which practically blew the doors off the Paramount, the band opened by playing the new “Wasting Light” album from start to finish.
It sounds like a real good record, more punk than the last couple, with a couple mid-tempo melody masters like those that have propelled Team Foo to the top. Last song “Walk” is as strong as anything the band’s done before. But the real fun came in the last 30 minutes, when the band pulled out its “hits,” including “Learn To Fly,” “Monkey Wrench” and especially “Everlong,” the band’s crowning moment.
Ironic that the band, here for the film segment of SXSW, played an interactive party, while making the highlight reel of SXSW. On a Tuesday. Music has always been SXSW’s tortilla and butter, but Interactive has become king. Music is the party, but bands aren’t making money, unless they have an online tie-in. Foo Fighters set the standard Tuesday night; all the 2,000 bands playing SXSW oughta know that. Now, what you got?
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