(Sony BMG)

Dave Grohl and merry crew captured at their beaming peak

In his band’s new DVD Live At Wembley Stadium, Dave Grohl often resembles an athlete in an ‘80s movie who suddenly ‘overcomes the odds’ and enjoys a euphoric, slow motion victory. He even weeps in ecstatic disbelief at the end of the performance, overcome by his band’s rise into stadium rock status. Live At Wembley Stadium is a document of the Foo Fighters throwing off the post-grunge shackles – tellingly, nothing from the first album is played (though the one concession to the old days comes in the form of Grohl’s Nirvana B-side Marigold). The film showcases the Foo Fighters displaying their sleek FM rock chops, as radio hit after radio hit is performed with sweaty abandon. Taylor Hawkins resembles a surfer dude version of manic Muppets drummer Animal, and Grohl is a black t-shirted beardy rocker, hollering at the crowd to sing along and stalking up and down a U2-style catwalk, as air punch standards The Pretender, Times Like These, Learn To Fly and Monkey Wrench are unleashed on an adoring audience. It even has the ‘sensitive’ acoustic bit in the middle, which is not without highlights, such as My Hero reimagined as a terrace pop anthem, somewhere between Elton John and Tears For Fears. Childhood heroes Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones are on board for a spirited Ramble On and, best of all, a Hawkins-sung barnstorm through Rock And Roll. All in all, this is a particularly potent and vivid portrait of a band visibly relishing the heights of success.

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MATT THROWER

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