The Foo Fighters Documentary - Back & Forth

I thought I’d pop a short review up around this documentary - the rise (and rise) of the now stadium rock band the Foo Fighters.

In short, this film captures the band from their inception after the suicide of the Nirvana front man Curt Cobain leading us through a steady journey of members leaving (& returning in the case of guitarist Pat Smear), joining, then leaving - pretty standard band practice if you ask me.

The largest drama & point of interest for me (apart from their current drummer Taylor Hawkins falling into a drug induced coma in 2002) is when the original drummer William Goldsmith has all his drum tracks re-done by Grohl during the recording of their second album ‘The Colour & the Shape'. Off the back of this act by Grohl it’s quite surprising that William actually leaves the band.

It's at these stages in the film that it's at its most exhilarating. Well for me at least.

But as Dave protests “I know what the drums should sound like”. I’m sure you do Dave!

So Mr Grohl certainly does comes across as the driving force / control freak behind the band (which I’m sure is no surprise to anyone into this outfit).

I have enjoyed the Foos over the years dipping in and out of their albums (I bought their first album when I was 16 & in a really shit grunge band myself).‘One By One’ & ‘In Your Honour’ passed me by & then I guess ‘Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace’ I thought was a lovely piece of rock magnificence. So overall I must admit I’m a bit of a fan.

I wouldn’t warn people not interested in the band off this, it’s a handy little exploration into the world of a rather large rock group. As individuals the group are really charasmatic, funny fellas. I even chuckled to myself on a few occasions (like some sad bastard watching a documentary on his own, Saturday night).

Also, if you’re looking for any kind of musical insight into how the band constructs their songs etc you ain't gonna get it brothers & sisters! Apart from the rather sloooooow back end of the doco when the camera observes the production of some songs off their latest album 'Wasting Light' there isn’t much else.

But for me I was quite happy to be entertained by the many anecdotes from each member as they slowly trawl through the bands history. Wembley is another rather touching moment, the two sold out shows the Foos play in 2008, playing to 85,000 people each night. Dave is nearly brought to tears, the soft (hard rocking) Jessie.

So whether it gave enough of an insight into the musical world of the Foo Fighters or not, this documentary both charmed & rocked my bollocks off...

http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=FOOFIGHT11&gclid=CK_Z1ryC-KkCFYYcHAodEjqbYA#.ThpCFmH86i8