2022 Innings Festival
Tempe Water Park
Tempe, Arizona
February 26-27, 2022
By Mary Andrews
It’s been two long years since the previous Innings Festival in Arizona. The two-day festival is a blend of top notch musical bands and baseball’s major league great players. Spring training has not officially started yet. But that did not stop throngs of fans from coming to the festival.
Foo Fighters
Saturday’s entertainment was headlined by Foo Fighters (FF) and FF was clearly the major headliner of the weekend. Fans were packed in far beyond the Home Plate stage field and across the walk way, up the stairs up the bridge and the field beyond.
Little wonder, the two hour set was an attempt by Dave Grohl to “fit 26 years (of music) into two hours.” The band gave it the college try and the fans were ecstatic. The band even managed to cover Tom Petty’s “Breakdown.”
It wasn’t all about Grohl as each band member had an opportunity to display his talent. Drummer Taylor Hawkins, lead the group with a long version of Queen’s “Somebody to Love.” Guitarist, Pat Smear, played opening chords of “Blitzkrieg Bop” to lead the crowd in shouting “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go.” Bassist. Nate Mendel, did John Entwistle’s solo of the Who’s “My Generation.” “Times Like These” had Grohl at center stage on vocals backed by Rami Jafee’s powerful keyboards.
At the end of “The Pretender,” Grohl asked, “Do you want rock ‘n’ roll?” He obviously knew the answer and the band delivered it in spades. Of course, Growl got behind the drum kit before the set was over.
Set List
St. Vincent St. Vincent aka Annie Clark provided an extraordinary set prior to the Foo Fighters. The set began with her backup singers entering the stage with the sound of a wah-wah guitar prior to Clark emerging to sing “Digital Witness.” The set was dazzling from beginning to end using choreography as an integral part of the show. Clark has evolved into a must-see artist these days.
Set list:
Billy Strings
The guitar virtuoso, Billy Strings, had another very strong set for Saturday. The young musician has become a huge musical force over the last year and a half bringing Bluegrass music to the forefront of popular music.
The opening song, “Pyramid Country,” was not your typical bluegrass jam, instead was more psychedelic and experimental in direction. His superior band that included Billy Failing (banjo), Royal Masat (bass), and Jarrod Walker (mandolin); made each song a magical experience. There was a lot of improvisational exploration during the set.The crowd seemed to be as large and as enthusiastic as the Foo Fighters across the park.
Set list:
Caamp lead singer, Taylor Meier, didn’t let being hit by a car, dampen his set the following day. “We’re good and we’re here. Let’s go.” Maier being in a sling meant Evan Westfall had to play guitar and couldn’t do his banjo parts. Many highlights ranged from “No Sleep” to “Send the Fisherman” and “Peach Fuzz,”
Tame Impala
Tame Impala provided an elaborate set of a breathtaking light show with lasers, psychedelic videos with every track, and a massive ring of lights overhead (that appeared to be a flying saucer). The concert made its way through such towering musical highlights as Parker’s soulful vocals on the disco-flavored “Borderline.” There was a dreamy “Breathe Deeper,” the psychedelic boogie groove and crazed guitar of “Elephant,” an epic “Let it Happen” and “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards.”
After bringing the set to a close with “Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control,” Parker and the members of his touring band returned to play “The Less I Know the Better” and “New Person, Same Old Mistakes.”
Set List:
Black Pumas
The Black Pumas is lead by Eric Burton, an extremely charismatic frontman and soulful singer. Highlights of their set ranged from “I’m Ready,” a Pumas original to a deeply emotional reading of “Oct 33” and the gospel-tinged “Colors” that featured an incendiary lead guitar break. And they threw in a really nice cover of “Sugar Man” by Rodriguez.
More super sets were provided by The War on Drugs and Matt and Kim. The festival was just what was needed after a two year absence of live music and we can’t wait until next year’s offerings.
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