2014-2016 Sonic Highways Era
17 videos • 406 views • by FooFightersBootlegs 2013 had been a very busy year for Dave Grohl, as he was busy making the Sound City documentary about the studio where Nirvana had recorded Nevermind, as well as a ton of other artists had recorded over the years. He managed to put out the documentary that year along with an album, and while (I think) all members of Foo Fighters were involved, it did mean that official Foo Fighters business was on hold. Coming into 2014, the band didn't really start doing anything until May, since Dave was busy being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Nirvana, along with Krist Novoselic. The year saw yet another documentary from Dave, this time a TV show. Eight episodes, based on the eight different cities used for recording their eighth studio album, Sonic Highways (with the documentary sharing the same name). Sonic Highways, both album and documentary, are really great. If you haven't seen the documentary I'd highly recommend going to watch them, there are some great things in there. However, I think maybe due to HBO helping produce the show, the band were a little limited in what they could play at shows ahead of time, which results in the first few months of shows, while being really strong, not being as strong as the shows they did later on. Moving on to the album release, the band would play very small shows during the 2014 section of this era, with venues like the 9:30 Club in Washington, the Showbox in Seattle and The Cubby Bear in Chicago. These shows are honestly really good, with a pretty small crowd, some nice back and forth between Dave and the audience, and a lot of great songs played, even deep cuts like Winnebago and Exhausted get played in Seattle. The band finished off 2014 in New York to coincide with the release of the last episode of the documentary, which was about the city and also was where the band recorded the song I Am A River. 2015 saw the band heading away from the US and playing more international shows, and it also features one of the most famous Foo Fighters moments when Dave falls off the stage in Sweden, breaking his leg, and returning to play the whole show before going to the hospital. It resulted in a lot of delays and the band even had to skip their scheduled Glastonbury Festival performance, although they would play at the event later in 2017. Overall, the shows during this time were really, really solid, with a mix of songs played and a mix of smaller venues like clubs to huge arenas and stadiums.