Foo Fighters Flashback: Live in Boston, 2003
A Foo Fighters flashback for you, on the occasion of the anniversary of their killer Boston gig on the water in 2003. When I saw this anniversary pop up on…
(Photo by Bruno Vincent/Getty Images
A Foo Fighters flashback for you, on the occasion of the anniversary of their killer Boston gig on the water in 2003.
When I saw this anniversary pop up on my calendar, the first thing I did was make a connection I'd never made before. The Foo show I'm about to write about took place a day after the anniversary of their debut album. Foo Fighters was released on the 4th of July, 1995. It's my all-time favorite Foo album and it's a summertime staple. I actually wrote about picking it up on the day it released.
And now I'm writing about seeing the band live eight years and one day after that first release. The summer of 2003 was a blast. I had moved home to Boston after living in New Mexico for almost three years. My job hosting middays at the late, legendary WBCN gave me the opportunity to see loads of live rock. When the Pavilion concerts for the summer were announced, Foo Fighters topped the list.
Foo Fighters Flashback: Live in Boston, 2003
Back then, the venue was called the FleetBoston Pavilion. But we all still called it Harborlights. Hell, it's 2023 as I'm typing this and I still call it Harborlights. It was--and is--one of the best spots in the city to see live music in the summertime. On the water, under the tent, taking in the sunset and a few live sets. It just can't be beat. And the Foo Fighters show that night was hard to beat, too.
This was the One By One tour, so the setlist was heavy with the new songs, which suited me fine. "All My Life" opened the set, and the band just kept throwing punches, going from that into "The One" into "My Hero." To my disappointment, the Foo only played one song from their debut album: "For All The Cows." And that was followed by an extended jam sesh over "Stacked Actors." A low point.
As you can see from the setlist, however, the band finished strong. I have a fuzzy memory of Jack Black hanging with the band backstage, as he was in the video for "Low," but I can't find any online corroboration of that. I didn't get to hang with the band myself, but I did get to hang with openers My Morning Jacket, who were stupendous live. That was back before they went full-on jam band.
There's no footage I could find of the Boston show, but the D.C. stop below will give you a good idea of what the live Foo vibe was like back in '03.
