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At Foo Fighters' sold-out Dallas concert, it was impossible not to get smacked with that holy, rock 'n' rollin' spirit

After a dreary day where storms threatened to wash out the first Dallas Foo Fighters show in over a decade, rock 'n' roll proved to be mightier than meteorological conditions.

As much shouldn't be a surprise, though, as Foo's leader Dave Grohl seems to be a man who can do it all. The legendary drummer for grunge icons Nirvana before he become a band leader, he directs music videos and documentaries and has performed in side projects with more music legends than is fair. Given his range of expert abilities, what's the big deal with adding Moses-like power to control the weather with a wave of his tattooed arm?

The first concert under the venue's new Dos Equis Pavilion banner was a sold-out, sweaty rock revival. 

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Following British glam-rock openers the Struts, Grohl, along with guitarists Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear, drummer Taylor Hawkins, bassist Nate Mendel and keyboardist Rami Jaffee whipped up the congregation's zeal for close to three hours.

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Over the lengthy course of the show, Grohl had two primary bullet points for his sermon: that the band would indeed play a long set, and that praising rock 'n' roll was the only thing that mattered in this open-air house of worship. Having already conducted a full leg of this current tour behind last year's excellent Concrete and Gold LP, this well-oiled team was in fine form. And unlike many Sunday-morning churchgoers who get antsy by noon, knowing lines for lunch are growing longer without them, no one at this service wanted the revelations to cease.

Early in the show, with both arms raised high, Grohl breathlessly proclaimed, "Guess what? I love [expletive] rock 'n' roll!" as the hallelujahs roared in. 

It wasn't as if many in attendance were nonbelievers. But the few who could be converted were surely convinced.

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With nine studio records over the course of 23 years (eight, if you don't count the admirably ambitious, yet mark-missing experiment in 2014's Sonic Highways project), the band has stacks of texts from which to draw. The first half of the service offered propulsive, fervent performances of songs from both the Foo's New Testament ("Run," "The Sky is a Neighborhood") and Old Testament ("All My Life," "My Hero," "Breakout"). Taking the pulpit for a guest turn, Hawkins, sporting a "Denton" tank top as a tribute to the city he was born in and lived for the first five years of his life, sang lead on the soulful new song "Sunday Rain."

Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters played for nearly three hours at Dallas' newly-named Dos...
Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters played for nearly three hours at Dallas' newly-named Dos Equis Pavilion (formerly Starplex).(Jason Janik / Special Contributor)

The rock devotion wasn't confined to strict interpretations of the group's many chart-topping hits. Covers from many early prophets, including Alice Cooper's "Under My Wheels" and David Bowie's "Under Pressure," were lovingly conveyed, while many of the guitar solos and mid-song breakdown jams were rooted in the blues and punk sounds this band owes its existence to. As the delicate, instantly recognizable notes of John Lennon's canonical "Imagine" played, and Grohl talked about unity and peace, he made sure the crowd was listening: Instead of reciting Lennon's lyrics, he pulled verses from the Book of Diamond Dave, as he paired Van Halen's "Jump" with the soothing, lilting melody.

Beams of laser lights, a trio of impassioned backup singers for the newest tunes, and vibrant LED video and light panels added to the majesty of this rock altar. It was only fitting that Hawkins performed a miraculous drum solo as his platform lifted him high, close to the heavens, a good two or three stories above his mates.

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The pleasing mix of old and new hymns continued throughout the night after the cover-centric middle section was complete. As feverish as Grohl's proselytizing had been before, it only grew as the set wound down.

Scroll or swipe through photos of the Foo Fighters' sold-out concert in Dallas

After a back-to-back offering of the melodically gritty "Dirty Water" from the latest album and the over-two-decades-old "This is a Call," the final two songs of the night could not have been a more fitting invitation for the prayerful to savor. And for the wandering to find their ways home.

Grohl spotted his old friend and former drum tech Cat from the front of the crowd and brought him on stage to dedicate a cover of AC/DC's beloved 40-year old "Let There Be Rock" to him. That classic psalm's detailing of rock 'n' roll's genesis ("let there be guitar, there was guitar") seemed divinely inspired, naturally.

Closing with "Everlong," arguably the band's most glowing, sacred song, it was impossible to not be smacked with that holy, rock 'n' rollin' ghost spirit. Grohl emptied his tank into the mic, singing "If everything could ever feel this real forever, if anything could ever be this good again," surely the thousands on hand were convinced that everything will be fine as long as we have these songs to worship together with.