Campus Tales: That Time Foo Fighters Played Manning Bar

By Patrick McKenzie and Rhea Thomas

March 2011 was an...interesting...time. Perhaps interesting isn’t the best word but, for many, eight-and-a-half years ago was certainly a simpler time; without uni, OLEs, stupol, simultaneous due dates, and thereby without stress. Obama was nearing the end of his first term as President, ‘Born This Way’ by Lady Gaga was at its fifth consecutive week atop the Billboard charts, and the newly-released music video for Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ was racking up views into the hundreds of millions. Foo Fighters, having played a gig on Sydney harbour’s Goat Island just the night before, announced on the morning of Friday March 25th a secret and highly exclusive spontaneous second Sydney concert at none other than our campus’ very own Manning Bar that night.

A seminal echo of the post-grunge era, Foo Fighters were – even in 2011 – 16 years and 6 albums in; inarguably a band more accustomed to playing arena-sized shows. The wily five-piece, fronted by ex-Nirvana drummer and occasional Queens of The Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures member Dave Grohl, was resolutely intent on bringing the noise to a comparatively tiny crowd of 600. Hamish Reid, then 20 and studying a Bachelor of Music at AIM in Surry Hills, was one of those lucky few.

“I was sitting in an aural skills tutorial and saw a Facebook post pop up that Foo Fighters were to perform a secret show at Manning Bar, and that tickets were going to be sold at HUM on Oxford St. in 20 minutes time”. He and a friend then looked at each other, nodded, and promptly agreed to run all the way to the store, joining the throng of people already lined up to buy tickets. HUM was just one of two stores selling an allocation of 300 tickets each – available only in physical form and for a steal at $50 – the other being the iconic Red Eye Records on York St.

The performance was timely, the band’s seventh studio album Wasting Light was set for release a little over two weeks later on April 12th. Recorded in Grohl’s own garage using only analogue equipment and brought together by Butch Vig, producer of Nirvana’s perenial Nevermind, it represented a true back-to-basics approach to the band’s trademark raw sound. This show was to be both a preview of an album distinctly heavier and more intense than those in the band’s earlier catalogue as well as a medley of greatest hits.

“The gig itself was everything I had hoped it would be.'' Assuredly a superfan already, Hamish’s clearest memory is the unbridled excitement at what would eventuate to be a monstrous twenty-nine song setlist. With only setlist.fm and an assortment of potato-quality phone videos as a guide, it’s known that the behemoth of a set began with the band ‘previewing’ their soon to be released record by performing it in full.

Of course, the performance was dotted with notable moments of humour and unbelievable energy. After smashing through Wasting Light, the second part of the set began with tracks ‘All My Life’, ‘My Hero’, ‘Times Like These’, and ‘Generator’. Aptly, Grohl then dedicated the next song ‘Up in Arms’, about a couple weathering hard times in their relationship, to a girl he saw yawning in the crowd. Even after performing performing nine more songs – most of which were classics from their first three albums – and rounding the song count off at twenty-five with the transcendent and sublime mega-hit ‘Everlong’, somehow the band still had the energy to return to the stage for their encore. Hamish regales: “I remember knowing every tune and leaving the gig with sore vocal chords and a sore body from getting smashed in the mosh”.

As the encore began, it was time for ‘The Pretender’. The screaming hit song from the band’s 2007 album Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace not only dialled the energy up to 11 but saw the PA blow out. Rather than scrapping the set Grohl, always the showman and with a glorious mane almost greater than his musical talents, simply kicked forward his foldback speakers towards the crowd. At the expense of being able to hear each other the rest of the band followed suit for another three tracks.

“I admired this because it was evident he cared more about keeping the energy high and creating a good experience for the crowd than having the perfect conditions for himself'' Hamish says. Spontaneous shows are not uncommon for Foo Fighters, having been known previously to preview their albums in fans’ garages and even announcing yet another impromptu Sydney concert at the Oxford Art Factory in 2017 alongside rock cover band Chevy Metal.

Years on, just how anyone else in his position would feel, Hamish – now a guitarist – doesn’t regret a thing: “I’m not proud of idly scrolling through Facebook in class nor slagging off the tutorial I was paying to attend, but that was then, and frankly, I remember more about the concert than the class.”

The mythical performance is now consigned to a small collective memory and the annals of Manning Bar’s website, boasting Foo Fighters among “the best local and international acts” that have performed at the venue over many years.

Here’s hoping they make a triumphant surprise return soon.