Wednesday 22/08/07 Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails @ Marlay Park, Dublin

Budrising belatedly kicked off their annual summer mega gigs, beaming down two rock titans straight from the mothership, Nine Inch Nails and The Foo Fighters. Budweiser also invited a special guest along, not seen in these parts all summer – yes, the sun came out to play and feast on this all screaming rockfest.

Marlay Park, in Dublin’s southside, is a wonderfully scenic venue for an outdoor concert. The stage rests peacefully in front of some rolling hills, nestled snugly between an array of trees. A really calm, tranquil venue, that is until the ominous thud of Nine Inch Nails begins, the thud turns into a beat not unlike techno but more foreboding. What follows was not for the faint hearted or easily offended.  The screaming starts and rarely stops. NIN, led by Trent Reznor, have not been to Ireland in a long time and they seem intent on showing us what we have been missing. They rip through a set comprised mainly of songs from their current album, Year Zero and its predecessor, With Teeth. The frontman snarls, roars, growls his way through a visceral performance, at one point even telling the crowd, “You are all Irish Pigs” quickly countering, before the inevitable riot starts, “Just like me!” and bursts into ‘March Of The Pigs’. Today, Nine Inch Nails are loud, committed and ever so slightly scary - just what you want from a hardcore industrial rock band.

When you go to a Foo Fighters show you can expect three things. Firstly, some big brash, smoke filled stadium rock histrionics. Secondly, some very good songs and some milk curdling screams. Finally and possibly most entertaining of all, the comedy stylings of Mr. Dave Grohl. Dave doesn’t just have some between song banter; he has entire hilarious monologues, some lasting about 15 minutes and some quality one-liners thrown in as well. He will tell stories about taking his mother to Kerry, previous gigs and whatever passes his fancy. In between the comedy though, he manages to squeeze in a few head bursting rock songs.

Starting teasingly with ‘Everlong’, The Foo Fighters then explode into ‘Monkey Wrench’ and the histrionics begin. Smoke fills the massive stage, lights will flash and flicker furiously behind the band, the frontline of the band will terrorise the stage structure pounding up and down its length. Taylor Hawkins, going topless, is the consummate rock drummer. He’s super cool, cigarette permanently stuck to his lips (Smoking isn’t cool though, kids), he looks like a surfer and he plays the drums like a demon, furiously powering the mega riffs along at light speed. ‘My Hero’ and ‘Times like These’ continue the lesson in how rock music should be performed and displayed in an open-air environment. Dave Grohl, with a full beard, tattoos and long hair, is the personification of the rock god, he is the centre of the Foo Fighters and the main reason 20,000 people have come out tonight. He screams ‘The Best Of You’ from the pit of his stomach to a rapturous reception, the closest piece to a signature tune for this band. The comedy continues for the encore, as the frontman strolls back on stage to mass cheers and quips, “You all knew we were coming back”. The band then power through the encore as loudly and expertly as the concert that had preceded it. ‘All My Life’ puts this summer evening to bed quite spectacularly, the noise threatening to rip our brains right out of our heads.

So stage one of Bud rising is a resounding success, even as far as the weather. The sheer awesomeness of The Foo’s is enough to blast any problems right back to post communist Russia. We will re-convene in the same field on Sunday as leg two of the final summer outdoor gigs continues. A weighty task for those involved to match the power of this double act.