What were you up to one week ago?
I, like a lot of people, was at Mosaic Stadium, for one of the biggest concerts to hit Saskatchewan, as the Foo Fighters paid a visit to Regina on their “Take Cover” tour.
From the time tickets went on sale last year, my brothers and I were excited for this one. We had originally planned to see Dave Grohl and Company on their “Medicine at Midnight” tour in 2022, which had dates scheduled for both Regina and Saskatoon, but that tour ended up being cancelled, following the tragic passing of beloved Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins, in Bogota, Columbia, in March of 2022.
However, the band has rebounded since then, first with drummer Josh Freese, before parting with him, and adding Ilan Rubin at the kit., as well releasing two albums – 2023’s “But Here We Are,” and “Your Favourite Toy,” which came out in April.
The anticipation built, until the big show on September 15th, at the home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
I actually had some vacation time to use, so I took some time off, so I didn’t have to worry about having to rush back to Yorkton after the show. I spent most of the week at the farm, and headed into Saskatoon early Tuesday to pick up my youngest brother, Barrett, before heading over to meet up with my oldest younger brother Ward, and the three of us made the drive south on Highway 11 to the Queen City.
Upon getting into the city, we found a spot to park and strolled on over to Mosaic Stadium, where we waited for our other brother Curtis, his wife Niki, and their son (my nephew Hadley).
As we waited outside Gate Four, we listened to opener Mannequin Pussy, and once everyone was all present and accounted for, we made our way inside and found our seats. Curt and Niki were in the lower level, a couple of sections over, while Ward, Bear, Had and I grabbed some beverages, and headed up to our spot in the upper deck, in section 639, to settle in for the first of the two bands we were really there to see – Queens of the Stone Age.
Our vantage point for the evening!
I had never seen QOTSA before, but they were fantastic., pumping out hits like “Little Sister” and “Make It Wit Chu,” as well as a badass one-two punch of “Go With the Flow” and “No One Knows,” before wrapped up their set with “A Song for the Dead.” An awesome set!
Josh Homme doing his thing with Queens of the Stone Age!
After QOTSA finished their hour, we were trying to guess what the Foo Fighters would open with (it’s too easy to go online and look at previous tour setlists to see what they’ve been opening with). In the end, Bear and I were right, as the lights went down, the crowd roared, and the Foos hit the stage, to the slow build of “All My Life!”
Regina, say hello to the Foo Fighters!
As Dave Grohl mentioned, they were trying to pack 31 years of the Foo Fighters into three hours, so it’s inevitable that everyone will have songs they figure should’ve been in the setlist, but I think they did a great job of hitting all eras and albums. Sure, I’d maybe like to have heard “The One” from the “Orange County” soundtrack, “Waiting on a War” from “Medicine at Midnight,” or “For All the Cows” from their debut album, but that’s a minor quibble, when they have so many classic tunes to choose from!
Here is the setlist, as noted by setlist.fm:
All My Life
The Pretender
Times Like These
Rope
Stacked Actors
My Hero
Learn to Fly
These Days
Walk
This Is a Call
No Son of Mine (with a snippet of Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades”)
B-Stage
Wheels
Marigold (Late! cover)
Big Me
Under You (Dave solo)
La Dee Da
Run
Invincible / Seven / One Headlight / Manimal / Tap Dancing in a Minefield
Monkey Wrench
Breakout
Window
Aurora
Best of You
Encore:
Exhausted
Everlong
It’s pretty tough to top that, right?
You might have noticed that medley. In a fun way of introducing the band members, they played chunks of songs from some of their former bands, including “One Headlight” by the Wallflowers, which Foos keyboardist Rami Jaffee played on. Pretty cool!
As far as some of my personal highlights?
Well. I didn’t have to wait long to hear my my favourite Foos tune, “The Pretender” – it was the second song of the night! (By the way, how many bands wish they could open a show with three huge tracks like “All My Life,” “The Pretender” and “Times Like These?”
I loved “Walk” and “These Days” (both off “Wasted Light,” which may low-key be one of my favourite Foos albums, as well as deeper cuts like “Stacked Actors” and the big three from “The Colour and the Shape” – “Monkey Wrench,” “My Hero” and “Everlong,” which closed the show.
I also loved the tributes to Taylor Hawkins – “Under You,” from “But Here We Are,” which Dave performed solo from the B-stage out in the crowd, and “Aurora,” which he noted was a one of Taylor’s Foo Fighter faves. I love that song too. If ever a guitar sound could be described as “shimmering,” like sunlight reflecting on a lake, it would be in “Aurora.”
The Foo Fighters ventured out into the crowd, and play a few tunes from the B-stage!
Something else, just as a random aside… Foos guitarist Pat Smear always has the biggest smile on his face, and looks like he is having the BEST time! Every time the cameras panned to him, you’s see Pat strummin’ away, loving life! So awesome!
Once the show wrapped up with the closing notes of “Everlong,” everyone made their way out of Mosaic Stadium, knowing they’d just witnessed a show they’d remember and be taking about for a long time!
I made sure to hit the merch tent before leaving, and picked up a t-shirt to commemorate the occasion.
If I had more cash to spend, I would’ve loaded up even more, but c’est la vie!
It was also very nice of Mother Nature to cooperate, as the first few drops of rain fell just after the show ended!
Our night wasn’t over, as my brothers and I made our way out to Curto’s place at Last Mountain Lake, where the four of us played pool, had some more beverages, and shot the breeze for hours, until we realized it was about 5:50 a.m., and it was probably time to shut ‘er down for the night! I couldn’t think of a better way to cap off the night, and I’m sure my brothers would agree.
We were all super tired the next day, but it was more than worth it! Thanks to the Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age and Mannequin Pussy for stopping in Saskatchewan, and giving us all a great night. Feel free to come back anytime!
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