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Foo Fighters coming to Spokane Arena on Aug. 4

Foo Fighters’ front man Dave Grohl plays to the crowd during “All My Life,” on Dec. 4, 2017, in the Spokane Arena. (DAN PELLE)
Foo Fighters’ front man Dave Grohl plays to the crowd during “All My Life,” on Dec. 4, 2017, in the Spokane Arena. (DAN PELLE)
By Ed Condran For The Spokesman-Review

The Foo Fighters will make their much-anticipated return to Spokane on Aug. 4.

Presales through Foo Fighters and Citibegan at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

There will be a Live Nation presale 10 a.m. Thursday, if tickets to the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena show remain. It’s the first Foo Fighters show in the city since the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers performed at the Arena in December 2017.

The August date, which is the only arena show on the Foo Fighters tour that is expected to be primarily comprised of amphitheaters, is anticipated to sell out quickly. After playing a couple of festivals during the summer, the Foo Fighters will start a formal tour in Spokane after playing a one-off date in Japan.

Foo Fighter frontman Dave Grohl has tabbed his longtime pals, the Breeders, as tour support. The Breeders, who influenced Grohl’s former bandmate, Kurt Cobain, opened Nirvana’s final 1992-93 tour.

Expect an epic show from the Foo Fighters since Grohl, who lived in Seattle during his Nirvana days, has always been enthusiastic when speaking about his experiences in Washington. That includes a date at the Spokane Convention Center in June of 2003.

Plan on tickets selling faster than they did for the band’s 2017 show, which sold out days before the event.

“I expect there to be interest in this show beyond our region,” Spokane Arena Director of Entertainment Matt Meyer said. “I expect a number of fans from throughout the Western United States and beyond to come in for this show since we’re one of the most intimate venues on the tour.”

Aside from the familiar and perhaps new material that will be delivered, fans should listen for what the normally loquacious Grohl might utter upon his return to the Spokane Arena.

“I’m speechless,” Grohl said at one point during the band’s 24-song set in 2017. It’s not common for Grohl to be at loss for words, as the former Nirvana drummer has been one of the most eloquent performers

since the Foo Fighters’ initial tour in 1995.

Grohl had no idea what he was assembling when he basically recorded the Foo Fighters debut eponymous album in 1994 by playing every instrument except a guitar part for “X-Static” and laying down all of the record’s vocals.

Grohl almost joined Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers. However, he had a change of heart.

“I was supposed to just join another band and be a drummer the rest of my life,” Grohl said in 1995. “I thought that I would rather do what no one expected me to do.”

The Foo Fighters went on to win 15 Grammy Awards, the most by any band, save U2.

It’s been a remarkable run for Grohl, who is arguably one of the greatest drummers turned frontmen, along with Phil Collins and Ringo Starr. Few singers have such a palpable connection with the audience as Grohl, who will certainly engage the crowd at the Arena.

The tour follows the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, who was with the band for 25 years and died in Colombia while the band was on tour. The Foo Fighters then held multiple tribute concerts around the world in his honor.

The Foo Fighters launch the 2023 tour May 24 in Gilford, New Hampshire.

This story is developing.