And we have made it to Sunday.
Everywhere you turned, someone was ranting or raving about Foo Fighters closing out the festival in the coming hours.
Personally, I was super excited to see Foo again, considering it had been over two years since the last time I saw them.
But, before we can talk about the wonderful man who is Sir Dave Grohl, we have to discuss the bands that lead up to the evening.
The first band of the day was Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors.
I had previously seen them in 2013 when they opened for Needtobreathe in Birmingham at Boutwell Auditorium and their set was wonderful. This time proved to be no different.
They played the festival like they were playing to thousands in an arena despite the hundred or so in attendance. There is something to be said about bands that carry themselves in that way.
They played
Good Light
Nothing But Trouble
Tennessee
American Beauty
Here We Go
Live Forever
What Would I Do Without You
Can’t Take It With You
Rooftops
Fire and Dynamite
Afterwards, I went to see the John Butler Trio.
I was somewhat familiar with this group because of the song Ocean (which seems to be a crowd favorite)
To classify Butler as a Reggae artist would be too simple.
He blends rock, bluegrass, funk, blues, and jam along with a traditional Reggae sound.
While some people love Reggae Jams, they are not for me.
But, Butler’s guitar skills are astounding and he knows how to move his audience.
He played
Cold Wind
Hoe Down
Better Than
I’d Do Anything (Soldier’s Lament)
Blame It On Me
Pickapart
Ocean (Extended Improv Jam)
Zebra
Livin’ in the City
Since 2011, unless you have been living under a rock, the song “Sail” has been listened to, or made fun of by you or someone you know.
AWOLNATION’s Aaron Bruno is the man behind this five times platinum single.
I was looking forward to this band but once I entered the photo pit, I took three pictures and left the stage.
Why?
They were so loud and the speakers were thumping so hard they almost burst.
The bass made it hard to breathe.
After escaping that new kind of hell, I made my way to the back, where the sound was still so loud, but more distorted and it was hard to determine if you were hearing music or static.
Even though the sound was terrible, the performance itself was great for getting the crowd moving and even more pumped for Foo Fighters.
They played
Megalithic Symphony
Guilty Filthy Soul
People
Not Your Fault
Jump on My Shoulders
Kooks Everywhere
Kill Your Heroes
Soul Wars
All I Need
Some Kind of Joke
Sail
Burn It Down
In anticipation for Foo Fighters, Trombone Shorty entertained the crowd with original jazz compositions as well as covers of Green Day’s “Brain Stew” and The Guess Who’s “American Woman.”
*Drum Roll please*
FOO FIGHTERS TIME!!!
I am just going to get straight down to the near perfect set-list.
They played
All My Life
I’ll Stick Around
Rope
The Pretender
My Hero
Generator
Walk
Learn to Fly
White Limo
Arlandria
Cold Day in the Sun
Big Me
Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love (Van Halen cover)
Something From Nothing
Breakout
Monkey Wrench
Hey, Johnny Park!
Times Like These
Dear Rosemary
Breakdown (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)
Best of You
This Is a Call (with Trombone Shorty)
Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie cover)
Everlong
Few bands can play over two and half hours and still have a crowd on their feet. The band played to their crowd, but also to their die-hards (like me) who wanted to hear the deep cuts and rare B-sides.
Overall, Voodoo was a wonderful, spiritual experience for me and I cannot wait to do it all over again next year.
