Fighters of Foo...



I totally stole that title from my roommate, who could have, in turn, stolen that from somewhere else, but the show must go on...

This past Tuesday found me at the Wang Center in Boston’s Theater District to see an acoustic Foo Fighters performance with Frank Black (The Pixies) in support. Where do I start? Before the show we hit up one of our favorite dive bars in Boston, The Tam. We had a few drinks, a few laughs, and met some fellow concertgoers there. A few beers later we headed to the Wang – I’m sorry, that’s funny (Austin Powers movie quotes running through my head – “Wang, pay attention!”). Frank Black kicked the night off with a solid 30 minute set. I only caught the tail end of it but it was nice to hear the leader of the Pixies belt out a few tunes.

The reason why I was late – well, two friends had bought tickets over eBay and were supposed to pick up their tickets at will call. Needless to say the seller never switched the names for the tickets so my friends were left without seats. Having two tickets in hand I was faced with a dilemma – sell my other ticket and try to get my money back, or give it to said friends so that they only need to look for one ticket. I did the honorable thing and let them sweat it out a bit before giving up the ticket. My friend better have enjoyed the show, because I gave him a seat seven rows back! They found another ticket and were all set. Our other friends were already seated and taking pictures by the time we got in. I ended up dead center, first row of the mezzanine (go figure!). Finally, with my arms folded and hanging over the balcony rail, I was able to enjoy the show. I had forgotten how beautiful the Wang Center was since last visiting the venue for a Wilco concert. It really is an amazing place with an unbelievable sound.

I sat next to a really nice couple that seemed to chat me up at every free moment. They would ask me about music, work, life, etc. Pete, the boyfriend, was constantly bringing me beers through out the night. He refused to let me pay. Finally I used the “bathroom trick” to get up and grab some drinks. He gave me a dirty look before sipping his beverage. He told me to quit embarrassing him (with a smile) and then chugged his beer. He gave me another cold stare and questioned, “What are you waiting for!” Taking the hint I lifted my glass and almost got brain freeze! Before I could even get the words out that I would get the next round, Kim, the girlfriend, was already out of her seat and heading to replenish our stock. They were there with friends as well. Apparently they would grab a number of their friends to make beer runs to provide the necessary amount of IDs. One of their friends was pregnant and wasn’t drinking (thank God, look what happened to me – thanks mom!). She was strictly in tow for ID support. Before long the buzz I was feeling was not from the music!

I will try and keep the actual concert talk brief because I know better than anyone else that I like to talk, especially if it's about music! If you want to read a review of the show you can go here. I disagree with some parts of the the review. Dave Grohl is an amazing centerpiece for the band and stands well enough alone to command the attention of a packed house (instrummental or vocal) – each intently waiting for the next syllable or strum of his guitar to drop. He, along with the band (and guests), put on an amazing show filled with stripped-down versions of their classics, newer material, and old dug-up gems from Grohl’s past.

A brief, but funny highlight from the show happened during some playful banter between Grohl and guitarist Pat Smear. Smear has played with both Nirvana and the Foo Fighters. Grohl was doing introductions and commented about Smear’s choice of attire – a suit with sandals. Grohl exclaimed, “Sandals, where do you think you are…a Widespread Panic show?” I almost fell out of my chair! If you knew me, you would know that Widespread Panic (link on the right) is my favorite band. In your case, maybe it’s a good thing that you don’t know me! My jaw dropped as Pete and Kim asked “What did he say?” After explaining why I had a silly grin on my face I convinced them to give WSP a listen. The more Spreadheads the better!

As Grohl was blasting “Best of You,” I was poked in the side by Pete a few times. I turned expecting he was going to say something along the lines of, “I love this song, this is great,” or “need a beer?” Instead I was greeted with gawking eyes and a big smile. Even Kim was getting in on the funny faces. I looked at both of them as I shook my head, perching my shoulders up with confusion. It seemed the majority of the people in the front row of the mezzanine were all looking in my general direction with varying faces of amazement. I didn’t know what was going on – was it me they were all looking at? To my delight it was not. As I turned my head the answer to all my questions was staring me right in the face – well, they both were. Apparently at some point, unbeknownst to me, a woman made her way down the aisle during the encore…not a big deal, right? Wrong! She decided to flash Grohl and the rest of the band for a for a few seconds (which amazingly enough felt like an eternity) before an usher finally removed her (booing in the background ensued). Too bad for Grohl and the rest of the “Fighters of Foo,” there was no way they could have seen because of the lighting. Too bad, because they were glorious!

After the show we headed to Rock Bottom for some drinks, appetizers, and laughs. That pretty much wrapped up the entire evening. Once home the roomie and I watched some video she took while at the show – pretty impressive I might add. Then she showed me some easier ways to view pictures on my computer (instead of plugging my camera into a port, etc.) – stuff I was too dumb to figure out on my own! Seeing that it was already 1:00am and I had a lot of internet surfing to do at work first thing in the morning, I decided to head back to my room and straight into my bed. Two hours later I am still looking at the pictures on my memory cards – DAMN! Oh, as always - GO SEE LIVE MUSIC!