Foo Fighters and Porno for Pyros: Tibet- Free Rock

The big rock-concert event of last weekend -- and perhaps of the entire summer -- was the Beastie Boys' Tibet Festival in NYC. That two-day show featured everything from a not-so-surprise set by U2 to the all-star team-up of R.E.M.'s two Michaels (Stipe and Mills) with Beastie Boy Mike D. But you didn't have to go all the way to New York to see some of the Tibet Fest's less-than-one-of-a-kind offerings. A few acts worked overtime to appear both at New York's Randall's Island and at Great Woods, where the third annual WBCN River Rave offered two full days of Aerosmith-free rock in a hard place -- at least, rock in a hard place in which to sound good without an extensive sound check.

Boston's Mighty Mighty Bosstones were perhaps the hardest-working band in last weekend's rock business. They headlined the main stage at Great Woods both nights, generating something alarmingly close to Beatlemania in the all-ages crowd, and played a Sunday-afternoon Tibet Fest set. But since we all already know that the Bosstones kick ass and have been doing so for the better part of the past decade (it's just the rest of the country who are finally coming to their senses), that leaves the two most noteworthy River Rave appearances as Dave Grohl and his mighty Foo Fighters and Perry Farrell and his increasingly eccentric Porno for Pyros, both of whom had already done their Tibet Fest duties by the time they showed up at Great Woods on Sunday.

Unlike last summer's more rockist Porno for Pyros, who headlined Farrell's techno-heavy ENIT Festival at Great Woods with a set that reached all the way back to the art metal of Jane's Addiction, this year's model appears to be moving forward with the amorphous worldbeat grooves that defined 1996's Good God's Urge (Warner Bros.). Decked out in a technicolor dream suit, Farrell emerged waving one of his favorite props -- a bottle of red wine -- and led (or followed) the group through a half-hour set of what might as well have been an extended jam based loosely on "Sympathy for the Devil." At least, that's what it sounded like through a muddy mix punctuated at random intervals by booming feedback from Pete DiStefano's acoustic guitar but driven with remarkable effectiveness by unflappable drummer Stephen Perkins's dexterous tribal beat. Farrell still strikes me as a well-intentioned snake-oil salesman peddling a haphazard mixture of hippie pipe dreams and Eastern spirituality, but his joy is infectious enough to keep an arena entertained. In other words, he may be driving an environmentally correct solar-powered car, but he's headed down the same old highway to Hell.

Foo Fighter Dave Grohl has had something of a rocky ride over the past few months. Aside from separating from his wife of three years -- photographer Jennifer Youngblood -- he's had to deal with the departure of drummer William Goldsmith, plus widely circulated rumors last month that guitarist Pat Smear is calling it quits. But he appeared unfazed, and a lot less nervous than he used to be fronting a band, leading Smear, bassist Nate Mendel, and new drummer Taylor Hawkins (who spent last year drumming behind Alanis Morissette) through a hard-hitting set of metallic punk. This time it was the combined thunder of Mendel's bass and Smear's guitar that muddied the mix. But once the levels got sorted out, Foo Fighters sounded ready to tackle an upcoming summer tour that kicks off July 2 in Minneapolis.

-- Matt Ashare