The Foo Fighters
Key Arena July 16 2008
There's a reason I don't go to 'stadium' rock shows or stadium anything, unless it's a good football match or free basketball tickets, of which I won't be availing of anytime soon due to recent cataclysmic events surrounding Seattle's very own Sonics and their overnight move to Oklahoma!(?) (To my Euro-centric readers - in America, top flight teams playing in major capitol cities CAN up and leave at virtually a moments notice if the price is right. No seriously, they can).
Suffice to say, I wasn't particularly excited about seeing the Foo's the other night. Don't get me wrong I really like their music, am a huge fan of Dave Grohl and think he is by far one of the most talented musicians in the world right now. Plus he doesn't take himself too seriously which is a huge bonus in my book.
My daughter Muirenn has been dying to see them, so we bought tickets (25% of the cost going to Ticket-bastard but that's a whole other rant!), and went to the show. With a support from faded Brit band Supergrass, the Foo's didn't mess around and took to the stage at 8:50 p.m. They proceeded to play until.... 11:25 that night! The longest show I've seen since Bruce Springsteen in 1988! Not only did they play for two and a half hours, they rocked out hard and blasted through what must have been 25 songs at least. Dave Grohl's influences rub off on his stage presence with Lemmy from Motorhead and Angus from ACDC coming immediately to mind. Dave has also taken the best of 'stadium' rock 'bring it closer to the crowd' props and introduced a cat walk down the center to a small stage in the middle. It was after an hour that the band migrated to this center stage for a half dozen acoustic numbers, with a violinist, keyboard player and percussion - plus original guitarist Par Smear on guitar.
What I loved about this show was their energy and Dave's ability to have fun and share it with the audience. He joked, burped and told stories of his days living in Seattle. Every second word was an f*#% or s*%# but that didn't matter, he was hilarious. After the fifth song Dave declared they would play until they were ordered off the stage, and whether he was ordered or not, everyone got their money's worth from this show.
For me it was somewhat nostalgic as I reminisced watching Dave play with Nirvana in Dublin in 1992 and how he carried the show and reportoir with the audience even then. I remember seeing the Foo Fighters perform outdoors in Ireland years later with Queens of the Stone Age and Red Hot Chilli Peppers - who they blew off the stage. Now I'm taking my daughter to see a musician I highly respect that's my age who she will always remember as the lead singer in one of the greatest live bands today.
I still won't be going to any stadium rock shows by choice but I have to thank the Foo Fighters for proving that this type of event can still be cool and impressive, even for an old jaded musician like myself!
Key Arena July 16 2008
There's a reason I don't go to 'stadium' rock shows or stadium anything, unless it's a good football match or free basketball tickets, of which I won't be availing of anytime soon due to recent cataclysmic events surrounding Seattle's very own Sonics and their overnight move to Oklahoma!(?) (To my Euro-centric readers - in America, top flight teams playing in major capitol cities CAN up and leave at virtually a moments notice if the price is right. No seriously, they can).Suffice to say, I wasn't particularly excited about seeing the Foo's the other night. Don't get me wrong I really like their music, am a huge fan of Dave Grohl and think he is by far one of the most talented musicians in the world right now. Plus he doesn't take himself too seriously which is a huge bonus in my book.
My daughter Muirenn has been dying to see them, so we bought tickets (25% of the cost going to Ticket-bastard but that's a whole other rant!), and went to the show. With a support from faded Brit band Supergrass, the Foo's didn't mess around and took to the stage at 8:50 p.m. They proceeded to play until.... 11:25 that night! The longest show I've seen since Bruce Springsteen in 1988! Not only did they play for two and a half hours, they rocked out hard and blasted through what must have been 25 songs at least. Dave Grohl's influences rub off on his stage presence with Lemmy from Motorhead and Angus from ACDC coming immediately to mind. Dave has also taken the best of 'stadium' rock 'bring it closer to the crowd' props and introduced a cat walk down the center to a small stage in the middle. It was after an hour that the band migrated to this center stage for a half dozen acoustic numbers, with a violinist, keyboard player and percussion - plus original guitarist Par Smear on guitar.
What I loved about this show was their energy and Dave's ability to have fun and share it with the audience. He joked, burped and told stories of his days living in Seattle. Every second word was an f*#% or s*%# but that didn't matter, he was hilarious. After the fifth song Dave declared they would play until they were ordered off the stage, and whether he was ordered or not, everyone got their money's worth from this show.
For me it was somewhat nostalgic as I reminisced watching Dave play with Nirvana in Dublin in 1992 and how he carried the show and reportoir with the audience even then. I remember seeing the Foo Fighters perform outdoors in Ireland years later with Queens of the Stone Age and Red Hot Chilli Peppers - who they blew off the stage. Now I'm taking my daughter to see a musician I highly respect that's my age who she will always remember as the lead singer in one of the greatest live bands today.
I still won't be going to any stadium rock shows by choice but I have to thank the Foo Fighters for proving that this type of event can still be cool and impressive, even for an old jaded musician like myself!
posted by Shano at 10:34 AM
1 Comments:
Cant believe Muirenn's listening to The Foo's Fighters. Thats great. I should send over some old Chili's. It might help keep her away from Brittony for another year.
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