10-12-05 The Foo Review

LOCATION:
Harbor Yard Arena, Bridgeport, CT
Row E, sidestage




BANDS:
Foo Fighters
Weezer
Hot Hot Heat

PRICE: about $50


DETAILS OF EVENT:

CONCESSIONS: As usual, I arrived hungry. Got a hamburger clocking in at $5.50. I'm not even gonna front. It was damn good. Also got a bottle of water for $2.75.

VIEW: Awesome. Sidestage, but could see everything. I had an aisle seat and no one was in my way.

PRE-SHOW VIBE: Pretty relaxed crowd. The music over the speakers prior to the Foos was especially good. But all I remember is "Twisted Transistor" (Korn) and "B.O.B" (Outkast). I thought it was funny they played Korn. But at Korn, I thought it was funny they played Foo ("All My Life"). Maybe they have a secret friendship no one knows about. When they're ready, they'll tell us. Perhaps blog about it on MySpace.

ATTENDANCE: Less full than you'd think. Alllmost sold out.

AUDIENCE: All ages. Some parents were there as fans and/or chaperones.

WARDROBE: Very much like everyone just went out to a dive bar right before showtime.

STAGE SET: HHH and Weezer had basic black with their logo gigantic. Foo Fighters had frickin' laser beams Pink Floyd style, and big screens all over (see below photo of Dave).

ARI RATING (ADRENALINE RUSH INDEX - 1-10):
Frame of reference:
1= I sat in my chair motionless and felt no emotional connection
10=I walked out bruised and high off nothing but the energy of the show

I give it an 11. Easily one of my top 10 favorite live shows. And this was only my second time seeing them.


SETLIST:
Foos:
In Your Honor
All My Life
My Hero
Best of You
Learn To Fly
Up In Arms
Times Like These
The One
Stacked Actors
DOA
This Is A Call
Breakout
Everlong
(encore break)
Cold Day In The Sun (dave on drums)
Monkey Wrench

Weezer:
opened with Hash Pipe, the rest isn't in order:
Say it Ain't So
My Name is Jonas
Buddy Holly
Photograph
Sweater Song
Dope Nose
Beverly Hills
We Are All On Drugs
This is Such a Pity
El Scorcho
Island in the Sun
Perfect Situation
Surf Wax America
they also covered "Big Me" since Foos don't play that on this tour
then maybe two others I didn't know (one was slow)

HHH: I only remember a song with the title "Nowhere" in it, and a song where he kept saying "Wash your dirty mouth". Sorry Shannon :(


HIGHLIGHTS:

Weezer: I forgot how much I liked them. I don't know how I've gone this long without purchasing at least one CD of theirs. Definitely psyched about "My Name is Jonas." "Say it Ain't So" got a pretty good reaction out of the crowd. It was a homestate show, as Rivers is from Storrs (UConn Land). "Island in the Sun" was cool, because Rivers showed up in the back of the arena and did it by himself on acoustic guitar. During the "Sweater Song", they pulled a kid out of the audience to play acoustic guitar. Though the kid seemed way too relaxed. Like at Green Day's shows the kids are sooo excited, whereas this kid got up there like he'd been playing with the band his whole life. Maybe he's just that cool. Who knows. Also kind of interesting, Rivers let other band members sing. The bassist sang "Dope Nose", the guitarist sang some slow-ish song (the pace reminded me of "Imagine" by Lennon), and the drummer sang "Photograph."


Foos:


Dave singing "In Your Honor" (at a different show).

Oh. My. GOD. As soon as I heard the opening chords of "In Your Honor" (the song playing on my profile page) I got major chills. That song was made to be the opening song for their set. Just brilliance. Then they just kept kicking my ass with every song they played. "Stacked Actors" was a pleasant surprise. I didn't think they'd play it, so I was psyched. Like the Roseland show a few years ago, Dave ran through the crowd. People went nuts, jumping the barricades to get to him in the back of the arena. "Everlong" was of course awesome. Dave came out and played alone (electric guitar) then right at the end where it builds up again, the rest of the band came out to finish out the song all rocked out. "Best of You" has a special meaning to me, so I loved that. It was also cool to see Taylor come out and sing. He played guitar on that song while Dave played drums. Dave randomly playing the opening riff to "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" was cute (that's my favorite guitar riff of all time). I'm telling you though, as soon as Dave walks out, it's over. Done. You're in heaven watching a rock god in action. Like I always say- some people go to church, I have this.


LOWLIGHTS:
Nothing I can think of.


DO YOU RECOMMEND THIS SHOW? (YES/NO - EXPLAIN):
Hell yes. Even casual fans of both bands would love it. They've both been around so long that if you've watched MTV or listened to rock stations at all in the last ten years, you'd recognize the songs and be able to get into the show. As you can see from both setlists, it's pretty much their greatest hits.

08-21-06 Foo Fighters

BANDS:
Foo Fighters
Opener: Frank Black (from the Pixies)


LOCATION:
Beacon Theatre, Broadway, NYC



PRICE:
About $59 before Ticketmaster charges

CONCESSIONS:
I bought this shirt at $25:


There were some others that were designed just for this acoustic tour, but I took to this one because I felt my predominantly black wardrobe could use a colorful boost. Also, I like it's random 70s feel. In fact, I like that vintage look so much that I may clean out their online inventory because that style is pretty prevalent among their collection in their online store. They sold a poster that I almost bought but couldn't because I didn't have enough cash on me. I wish I had paid attention to the details of the poster, because in searching their online store for that t-shirt graphic, I saw that all the posters are unique to each show, so that would have been a cool souvenir. They were sold for $25 and looked like this:



As far as parking rates go, this was another night of being financially raped by a NYC garage. Parking was $39. THIRTY-NINE MOTHERF'ING DOLLARS. The way I felt when I was told that price matched the pain I imagine Luca Brasi experienced when he had a knife jammed into his hand at the bar. (Godfather reference. If you didn't get that, then we need to talk.) Now look, I didn't have a choice. Don't sit there and think I'm a total novice Manhattan driver either; I scanned the area for street parking first. But I had a show to get to, so I just had to suck it up and pay their astronomical fee. Consider this warning my gift to you: when seeing a show at the Beacon, stay the hell away from the Beacon Garage on 75th and Broadway.

VIEW:
I had never been to the Beacon so I figured that since it was a typical theater, the floor slant would work to my advantage and I'd be able to see from the back. However, I had the misfortune of sitting behind someone with a big head, so my view of centerstage was blocked the entire show. Thanks to her, I had to crane my neck left and right all night and woke up with a sore neck. But I was so psyched just to be there, that Giganto Head didn't completely ruin the experience. As long as I could see Dave, I was cool.

PRE-SHOW VIBE:
I got there in the middle of Frank Black's set, so I had to find my seat in the dark. When I got to my row, a girl resembling Heather Matarazzo (lead in "Doll House") was in my seat. I looked at her ticket and told her she was actually in row Y, but she didn't seem to comprehend. I took the empty seat next to her and wondered if I could have been any clearer than "Your ticket says row Y. This is row V." I restrained myself from flinging her across the theater by her ponytail and relaxed to the chill music of Frank Black instead. After Frank, the pre-Foo music was Sun-era Johnny Cash.

ATTENDANCE:
Sold out and then some. People were spilling out the sides of the row, lining the walls and steps... just a giant blob of Foo-Lovers.

AUDIENCE:
Their demo is all over the place: old, young, parents, kids, trendy, indifferent. The only population not represented was probably those who would go apeshit for Paris Hilton's new CD.

WARDROBE/STAGE SET:


ARI RATING (ADRENALINE RUSH INDEX 1-10):
Frame of reference:
1= I sat in my chair motionless and felt no emotional connection
10= I walked out bruised and high off nothing but the energy of the show

I sat in my chair but came out high off the energy of the show. I'm not even sure what to score this one and I am the one who made up this freaking rating system.

SETLIST:
Razor
Over and Out
On The Mend
Walking After You
Marigold
My Hero
Next Year
Another Round
See You
Floaty
Virginia Moon
Cold Day in the Sun
Skin and Bones
Miracle
February Stars
Times Like These
encores:
Friend of a Friend
Best of You
Everlong

HIGHLIGHTS:
The show started with Dave alone onstage singing "Razor." Just before the end where it builds up, the rest of the Foos and their additional orchestra (a percussionist, violinist/vocalist, Pat Smear and keyboardist) joined him and when their parts kicked in, Dave went into headbang mode. That set set the tone of "Yes this is acoustic, but we're going to rock the hell out of these songs anyway."

Any time Dave talks is a highlight. After the second song, he warned us that it was going to be a long night because they have a lot of hits and he has a "Blabbermouth...dot net" which made me laugh. If you are reading this and don't get that site reference, then I'll address that in our sitdown after I school you on "The Godfather."

Before he played it, Dave mentioned that "Skin and Bones" was not a song on any CD. When he realized that some crowd members knew of the song, he accused them of being "Internet nerds." Then continued the teasing with "Post whore geeks!", "Apple Fuckers!" and what seemed to be his favorite: "Mac Ticklers!"

Before "Friend of a Friend", Dave told a story about his pre-famous days in Tacoma, Washington. He likened the smell of Tacoma to boiling a pot of broccoli and then taking a dump on top of it. I can only hope for Tacoma residents everywhere that he's just exaggerating.

For one of his solo encores, Dave said "Do you mind if I scream my head off for a little bit?" and launched into "Best of You." It never occurred to me that he would play it since it's a pretty rocked out song, so this was a bonus for me. As soon as he shot out of the cannon with "I've got another confession to make...", chills ran up my spine. This song touches so many nerves with me that I don't even want to discuss it here, because it'll turn into a whiny LiveJournal entry in 2 sentences flat.

LOWLIGHTS:
In what was supposed to be a treat for us, their lady violinist sang "Floaty", a song I'm not familiar with. I wasn't into her voice, but I seemed to be in the minority, so what do I know. However she redeemed herself when she took over for Norah Jones in "Virginia Moon." Giganto Head was also a lowlight.

DO YOU RECOMMEND THIS SHOW? (YES/NO-EXPLAIN):
Yes. Hello- Dave Grohl = Living Legend.

BONUS POST-SHOW EXCITEMENT:
Since this was a theater show in the city, the tour bus was parked right on the sidewalk so I knew I had a shot at meeting them. I waited through all the groupies and tagalongs, which included a very short Janeane Garafolo, until Taylor came out after about an hour (Chris, Nate and Pat didn't sign anything). Dave however kept us waiting another hour, finally appearing at 1am. But for me, this was worth the wait. Even though I had a super fast exchange with him, it really lifted my spirits because I've had a really weird month. You see? This is why I always put rock stars first: because they consistently bring me joy.

Anyway, here are their autographs: