THUNDEROUS GROHL
“Just so you know,” says Dave Grohl, taking in the crowd from the tip of the catwalk at Etihad Stadium, “This is a big Foo Fighters show.”
With over 45,000 rock fans in attendance, Grohl isn’t telling fibs, but at this stage pretty much all Foo Fighters shows are big. They’ve performed in stadiums during their last two Australian tours, including Etihad in 2015.
The shows aren’t just big either, they’re long; Springsteen-rivalling long. For almost three hours, Grohl and co. sung, screamed, smashed and plucked their way through an entire collection of hits, including a smattering of covers. There’s no way you could walk away from a Foo Fighters show and not be impressed. There’s the rock spectacle of it, the generation-spanning hits, the stadium-wide singalongs, but at its core, you’re just left wondering how the heck he does it? How does he scream through the breathless string of lines in Monkey Wrench’s bridge and still have a voice, let alone carry on for three hours!
FOH engineer Bryan Worthen knows the highs and lows of a Foo Fighters show rest almost entirely on Grohl’s shoulders. “Dave is the main focus. On the records, Dave’s vocal has lots of effects on it, but live, people just want to hear his voice,” explained Worthen. “The way they play every song is based off how Dave is playing — the timing, the feeling.” Surprisingly — given there are three guitarists to choose from — Worthen says Dave’s guitar is also the loudest for 90% of the show.
YAMAHA BRAIN RETRAIN
Worthen has been with the Foo Fighters since the tour, 16 years ago. Back then, it was clubs and theatres, with a few small arenas in Europe. Much of the crew has remained since then. The longest-standing member tour. The crew has grown up with the band, making for a well-oiled show. However, Worthen steers clear of snapshots, preferring to use his digital console in a more analogue manner.
