Been to a couple of pretty big gigs over the last two weeks. First off was last week when I finally got to see Foo Fighters live!
I’d originally bought a ticket to see them play in 2022, but obviously with the sad death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins, the whole of that tour was cancelled. Anyway, I bought some tickets when this new tour was announced last summer, so had been looking forward to it for quite a while!
I bought 4 tickets in total, so a few weeks beforehand, Abhi took a couple of tickets off me for him and his friend Caz, and then Ali travelled up from Bristol to come along as well!
Ali, me, Abhi and Caz.
We all took the tram in together from East Didsbury, and arrived at Old Trafford Cricket Ground whilst the first of the two support acts was playing. I’d not heard of the first group, but the second support was from Wet Leg, and I do know a few of their songs. During this, the heavens opened, and we all got a bit wet – the weather forecast for the evening had said there’d be rain, but was supposed to clear by the time the Foo Fighters were to appear, and luckily it did!
Foo Fighters at Old Trafford.
As expected, Foo Fighters were amazing! They’ve got so many recognisable hits to choose from, and Dave Grohl is the perfect front man. He had the crowd in the palm of his hands, and has so much energy!
They played for over two and a half hours which is pretty crazy, and it was such a great atmosphere for the whole night, and nice to be there with friends since I’m usually a solo-gigger!
Dave Grohl.
Ali.
Set-list:
Monkey Wrench
Learn to Fly
No Son of Mine
Rescued
The Pretender
Times Like These
Generator
Stacked Actors
Medicine at Midnight
Walk
Statues
Under You
My Hero
This Is a Call
The Sky Is a Neighborhood
Arlandria
These Days
Sabotage / Blitzkrieg Bop / Whip It / March of the Pigs / I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail
All My Life
Unconditional
Aurora
Best of You
Encore:
The Teacher
Everlong
Foo Fighters.
And then this week, I got to see Travis and The Killers!
I was supposed to go to the newly opened Co-Op Live venue at the start of May, but there were loads of issues which delayed its opening, causing that gig to be rescheduled for later this year, but on Wednesday night I finally got to check it out.
The Killers and Travis at the new Co-Op Live.
Travis were on as support, and I’ve got to say, they performed as though they were the main act, and the crowd treated them like that too – not usual for a support act at a show like this!
Support from Travis.
Fran Healy from Travis.
They were really good, and I heard a lot of people around me commenting on how impressed they were by them. I saw them at Manchester’s Albert Hall back in 2022, which is a much smaller venue, but they handled an arena gig with ease.
Oh, and found out they’re touring again at the end of the year, so this morning I bought a ticket for their next Manchester show back at the Albert Hall in December!
Set-list:
Sing
Driftwood
Alive
Side
Closer
The River
Flowers in the Window
Gaslight
Why Does It Always Rain on Me?
Then it was time for The Killers!
The Killers.
Brandon Flowers.
What. A. Show!
I think I might have said this when I previously saw The Killers at Old Trafford a couple of years ago, but Brandon Flowers is such an amazing performer, and really knows how to work the crowd. As well as the band’s brilliant performance, the visuals around the stage were also great. I guess it would have looked even better closer to the stage, but it still looked good from my high position at the side.
Brandon Flowers.
The Killers.
The only slight negative for me was nothing to do with the band I don’t think, but more about the acoustics of the venue. I’d read that a lot of time was spent in the design of Co-Op Live in getting optimum sight-lines and sound quality, but I found the sound of the band to be a bit muffled (although I didn’t notice it so much with Travis). Of course it could just be my hearing going bad!
Set-list:
My Own Soul’s Warning
Enterlude
Human
The Way It Was
Somebody Told Me
Smile Like You Mean It
For Reasons Unknown
Dying Breed
Bones
From Here on Out
Caution
Runaways
Read My Mind
Your Side of Town
Andy, You’re a Star
Spirit
All These Things That I’ve Done
Encore:
Pressure Machine
Mr Brightside
When You Were Young
Exitlude
Brandon Flowers.
As well as music I’ve also been along to some live comedy – last Sunday night I saw Richard Herring at the Lowry Quays Theatre. He was performing his latest show ‘Can I Have My Ball Back?‘, and it was really funny, even if references to conditions which make you think about your mortality hit close to home at times! I actually bought his book by the same name when I went to his RHLSP show back in November, but I’ve still not got around to reading it yet! I’ve got so many books I’ve bought that I need to read!
Richard Herring – ‘Can I Have My Ball Back?’