The Metallica livestream ended about an hour before this one started, which means I had a good little buzz going by the start. Compared to some of the other livestreams I recently watched this one was very no-frills and more like an actual concert. They walked out, Dave said “Ladies and Gentlemen…The Foo Fighters” and then just got right into the rocking. At this point I started thinking about how ironic it was that there was a chat feature. Bands are usually against people being on their phones at actual concerts since it is distracting and I do not see how the chat feature is any different. Speaking of distracting I love Vans Old Skool shoes so it is worth noting that Dave’s red Old Skool’s caught my eye right away as did Pat’s constant guitar changing throughout.
Foo Fighters shows are always energetic with lots of good natured banter/joking going on so I figured the band might interact directly with the camera a little but no dice. It was almost like watching a concert that was filmed without the intent of livestreaming. That being said they still had some tricks up their sleeve: during “The Sky is a Neighborhood” they brought out a live choir of four younger looking people; “Times Like These” was sped up, which gave it a completely different feel; they unveiled the first live showing of their new song “Shame Shame” and “My Hero” turned into a sing along with the road and camera crew with a freak-out ending.
At one point when it seemed like the band was done Dave quipped, “You all are in the band and you didn’t know it wasn’t over yet?” A little later they tacked “Lump” by The Presidents of the United States of America onto the end of “Learn to Fly.” Being a fan of all the Foo material it is nice to hear something other than “the hits” so “This Is a Call” was a very welcomed addition to the setlist as was the super groovy “Make It Right.”
SETLIST: All My Life, The Pretender, The Sky is a Neighborhood, Times Like These, Shame, Shame, My Hero, These Days, Learn to Fly, This is a Call, Make It Right, Best of You, Everlong
Attending all three days of Kaaboo the previous year was a little too much standing in the sun, drinking and spending a shit ton of money so Ingrid and I decided to cut it down to just one of the days this year. Based on the lineup of Everclear, Incubus, Blondie and Foo Fighters the day that was decided upon was Friday. Unfortunately Ingrid had to bail out at the last minute and sell her ticket due to an impromptu bachelorette party in Vegas.
The Charter Bus worked out well last year so I decided to do that again instead of paying for a surge priced Uber or staying sober and driving. After sucking down a tall boy of Bud Light on the way, our bus rounded the last corner to the Del Mar Fairgrounds to reveal a line of people trying to get in that nearly stretched to that intersection. I could not believe what I was seeing but thankfully there was a far shorter line near the bus drop off point because Everclear was set to kick off the festival about 10 minutes later. Even that line was moving slowly but moments later a festival worker announced that there was a line specifically for people without a bag that was empty. It is baffling to me that an expensive festival that expected 40,000 people could be so disorganized but what can you do?
I got in just in time to grab a cold 16-ounce Corona for $13 as Everclear took the stage around 2 pm. I had not seen Everclear for 17 years and had all but stopped paying attention to any new Everclear material since So Much For the Afterglow so I did not know what to expect. What I got was a band that passed as Everclear but did not go as full force as they could have with the songs at their disposal. I loved that nearly their whole set was songs from Sparkle and Fade and So Much For the Afterglow and it was great to hear those songs live again (especially “Heroin Girl”) but despite Art Alexakis’ best efforts the songs still sounded slightly lackluster. Maybe it was just impossible to impress me because of that time I saw them tear the roof off the place when they opened for Filter about two months before they hit it big with “Santa Monica” back in the day.
Near the end of the Everclear set I met up with Larry and basically just kept drinking and wandering around until Larry’s wife Christi showed up because the next band I wanted to see was Incubus and they were not on until just after 6. We went to watch comedian Tom Papa and quickly realized it was more of a plug for bread baking then it was a comedy show so we caught a little of The Zombies set before more drinking and wandering around ensued.
Close to the time Incubus was to go on I was reminded that every time there are too many people in one spot the woman’s bathroom line is always crazy and there are always a few brave women willing to go into the men’s bathroom. One particular pair of younger girls in front of us were not going into the bathroom to use the toilet but rather to go do some coke with a 70 year old billionaire. After we exited the bathroom Christi and Larry started chatting with them and the gold digging vibe was making me sick to my stomach so I ended up basically ditching them and standing by myself for Incubus because Kyle had come in later and found Larry and Calvin and Jane never returned my text.
This was to be my seventh time seeing Incubus but I had not seen them for nine years. Their newest effort was the album 8 that was released a year earlier but other than “No Fun” they stuck to older songs and treated us to a one/two punch of “Calgone” and a great cover of “Need You Tonight” by INXS. I feel like Incubus made the most of their limited time and age was not about to slow them down. Not that they are old by any means but they were still sounding fantastic playing the shit out of their songs with passion and enthusiasm after all these years.
SETLIST: Privilege, Anna Molly, Meglomaniac, A Kiss to Send Us Off, Circles, Pardon Me, No Fun, Love Hurts, Calgone, Need You Tonight (INXS), Are You In?, Nice to Know You, Wish You Were Here, Drive, A Crow Left of the Murder
Next up was Blondie. Even though there are only five Blondie songs I really like I was excited to see them because I had never seen them before. After getting a round of applause for basically telling some jerk chick trying to cut in front of everyone in the beer line to fuck off I got to see a 73 year old Debbie Harry do her thing. She was still pretty spry but something was just missing for me from the band as a whole. I got to see “One Way or Another,” “Rapture,” and “Call Me,” but had to get my ass to the other stage to see Foo Fighters so I missed “Heart of Glass” and “The Tide Is High.” At least I got to see someone playing the keytar before I left.
Once I made my way to where the Foo Fighters were playing I ran into Christi and Sierra. Larry, Kyle and Sierra’s boyfriend had gone to get beers so I just waited there and watched the Foo with that group. This was my eighth time seeing Foo Fighters but this time was not like the last time I saw them a year earlier at a festival made up of strictly rock and roll bands that they headlined. This was a diverse group of bands gathered so they knew their audience and filled the limited set time with mostly hits. To be fair they do have a lot of hits. Regardless of this a Foo show is always packed with energy and surprises. Taylor’s drum riser literally started rising during a drum solo tacked onto the end of “My Hero” that lead into him singing “Sunday Rain.” The most rocking song I got out of them was “The Sky Is a Neighborhood” but the most fun moments started near the end when Dave sang Van Halen’s “Jump” over the music of “Imagine” by John Lennon. It matched up surprisingly well. After that we got a little “Hey Ho, Let’s Go” from the Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” followed by a full on cover of Queen’s “Under Pressure” with Dave climbing behind the drum kit to let Taylor come out front and sing after he proclaimed, “Here’s one Vanilla Ice stole from Queen and we’re taking it back.” Those moments made the whole day worthwhile.
SETLIST: All My Life, Learn to Fly, The Pretender, The Sky Is a Neighborhood, These Days, Walk, My Hero, Sunday Rain, Another One Bites the Dust/Imagine/Jump/Blitzkrieg Bop, Under Pressure, Monkey Wrench, Best of You, Everlong
CalJam was billed as a “daylong marathon of eating, drinking and rocking” modeled in the vain of the famed CalJam festivals at Ontario Motor Speedway back in 1974 and 1978. Who better to bring some semblance of this nostalgia back than Dave Grohl? “In addition to 12 hours of rock and roll good times, CalJam offers camping, carnival rides, a water park, attractions, a mobile recording studio & so much more. On Friday night, October 6, campers will also experience the world’s best Go-Go band Big Tony & Trouble Funk, an outdoor movie theater and many other surprises.” Besides the great lineup I loved that this was unabashedly a rock and roll festival. No DJ’s, no bullshit, just pure rock and roll.
I convinced Luke to go after I convinced Tom to go and our camping passes arrived in a super cool paper CalJam RV with a silk CalJam flag. Unfortunately only after we bought a camping pass did we learn that for some reason unbeknownst to us in order to camp you had to arrive on Friday night by 11:30…even though the show was all day Saturday??? Once we arrived we quickly understood why the organizers made campers show up the night before. There were just too many people that would have needed to be handled at the same time as all the people that did not camp. It was extremely well organized and we were not the least bit upset with the extra safety precautions that were taken. Having been to a couple similar “camping” situations I have to say it was refreshing to have grass on our little piece of the pie. It was also a very nice touch to have Christmas lights strewn over the entire campground to light up our night and give a little ambiance. After setting up shop, having some beer and watching a small part of “Yellow Submarine” at the outdoor movie screen we called it a night because we had a long 100 degree day in front of us. I especially liked the setup Tom had which consisted of an air mattress that blew up to fit perfectly in the bed of his truck.
Much to my detriment it did not take long the next morning to re-ignite the flame from the night before. A paltry breakfast of turkey bacon and potato chips did little to equalize said flame. Our first order of business was to go down the water slides located within the campgrounds. We thought this would be a suitable equivalent to a shower and besides why wouldn’t you want to go down a water slide after drinking a little? It seems we were just a tad early so we were turned away and told to come back at 11. Fast forward a couple hours and we were granted entrance into the majestic water park where almost immediately upon arrival we overheard someone say that Dave Grohl was there and had just gone down the water slide. Someone spotted him and I took the opportunity to go fan boy and shake his hand as he was trying to escape. What a cool guy. He was walking around with no posse or bodyguards. Just a down to earth guy that everyone wants to have a beer with.
After wrapping my hand in plastic and vowing to never wash it again (I kid) and going down the water slide we went back to the campsite to chill for a bit since the first band on the bill that we cared about were The Struts who did not start until 2. It was back at the campsite that our neighboring camper decided to offer us the leftover mushrooms that she had. This amounted to several stems and a couple caps. I would say I was surprised but this sort of thing seems to find me on occasion. The idea was to split it up between three people. Hold that thought.
I knew nothing of The Struts except that the singer slightly resembled Freddie Mercury and they had quite a buzz surrounding them. They had a good energy about them but were not really my cup of tea. Since the entire affair was a rare General Admission event we were free to roam about anywhere in the crowd and watch them up close.
Next up and the first band I really, really wanted to see was Royal Blood. I had just seen them for the first time ever less than two months before this but they were awesome again. It was obviously not as intimate as the last time I saw them but their aura still translated well to the amphitheater setting. Still hard to believe all that sound is coming from just two dudes.
There was a short intermission before Babes in Toyland were to play so we seized this opportunity to continue double fisting beers on a 100 degree day after drinking since 8 am plus Friday night. THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. It was about this time we lost Luke. He apparently decided to break from the group without any communication to go ride the ferris wheel. Cell phone service is terrible with that many people in a concentrated area so this was the last we would see of him. I only saw Babes one other time way back in 1995 when they opened for White Zombie. This time they were playing the second stage back in an area that I did not even know existed. It could have been the beer and heat combination but I felt like there were not that many people watching them. I was very close to the stage and entranced by these three ladies doing their thing. They simply rocked.
It was around this time that I lost Tom and apparently my phone as well. Hot. Mess. Express. Although I was now without both people I came with or a phone to aid me in finding them, I did still manage to have my cookie and the mushrooms on me. So I did what any (in)sane person would do and ate it all. I do remember some of Cage the Elephant’s performance and remember thinking how improved they were over the one other time I had seen them about six years before this when they opened for Foo Fighters. I also remember enjoying the one song I actually like of theirs “Mess Around.”
Somehow this was only the third time I had seen Queens of the Stone Age and the last time had been almost a decade before. They were here in support of their newest album Villains that was released a little over a month before this and were pretty badass as expected but I felt like I watched them from outer space due to the circumstances. Even though I could have gone to the floor I found more solace in the lawn section due to my state of affairs so I’m sure I looked like a lunatic being all by myself. I remember being there but still had a “come to” moment right as the Foo Fighters came on.
This time seeing Foo Fighters was much different than the last time I saw them when Dave was literally rocking a cast from a throne. Not only was Dave mobile but they had the new album Concrete and Gold that was less than a month old. I very much enjoyed one of my favorite tracks from the new album “Dirty Water” as well as a scorching version of one of my favorite Foo songs of all time “White Limo.” Besides the new songs they had a couple other surprises up their sleeve. The first was Rick Rolling everyone with Rick Astley himself as Foo Fighters played the most rocking version of “Never Gonna Give You Up” I have ever heard. The next was bringing out Joe Perry for a spot on cover of “Draw the Line” and a cover of “Come Together” with Liam Gallagher singing. These motherfuckers played from 9:45 to midnight and I loved every second of it. Dave hinted at the possibility of this becoming an annual affair. Sign me up!
SETLIST: Times Like These, All My Life, Learn to Fly, The Pretender, The Sky is a Neighborhood, La Dee Da, Walk, These Days, My Hero, Sunday Rain, White Limo, Arlandria, Rope, Dirty Water, This Is a Call, Misirlou/Cat Scratch Fever/Another One Bites the Dust/Smoke on the Water/Day O mash up during band introductions, Monkey Wrench, Run, Never Gonna Give You Up, Best of You, Draw the Line, Come Together, Everlong
Dave Grohl is the shit but you already knew that or you probably wouldn’t have clicked on this post. I already figured I would end up going to this show but did not know all the details until the last minute. After buying tickets for four and having one person bail I ended up going with Jason who literally got into town just a few hours before the show and Tom. We got into the venue as Gary Clark Jr. was finishing up. He rips it up on guitar but I was a little disappointed because Royal Blood had opened up for the Foo most other dates of the tour.
Foo Fighters were on tour for the Sonic Highways album/show (both excellent) but the big news was that Dave had broken his leg about three months prior to this during one of their concerts in Sweden. He is so badass that he came back onto the stage about an hour after he broke his leg to finish the concert. Apparently when he was getting his leg fixed up at the hospital and doped up on OxyContin he concocted a “throne” that would allow the Foo Fighters to continue on with the tour. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/watch-the-throne-dave-grohl-on-how-the-foos-saved-their-summer-20150730
Let me just say that I have never seen someone sitting down rock so hard. Dave always has a lot of energy and not an ounce of that was lost just because he was confined to sitting. They got “Everlong” out of the way right away to start the show and from that point on it was pure rock and roll that seamlessly transitioned from their hit songs to silly banter to cover songs and back again. Most of the other times I have seen them they have done a medley of just the beginnings of cover songs and then a full version of another. The full cover this time was “Under Pressure” by Queen/David Bowie. Phenomenal. Another fun part of the show was when Dave invited a guy onstage that was dancing his ass off out in the crowd. He went by the name “Happy Feet Steve” and continued to dance his ass off onstage while the band played “Arlandria.” As a fan of all of their music I am always left wanting more of the lesser known deep cut hidden gems but these guys always play at least a solid two hours so I really have nothing to bitch about. I left the venue that night far from disappointed.
An excellent new album called Wasting Light meant a new tour and another opportunity to see Dave Fucking Grohl and his band. It had been about three and a half years since I had seen my old friends so this was overdue. Somehow Tom and I scored floor tickets to see Cage the Elephant open and Foo Fighters rock our faces off. I never get tired of seeing the Foo. I always enjoy when they play “Stacked Actors” but the encore was the best. Dave made his way to the back of the arena like last time to play a couple things by himself and then do a killer cover of one of my favorite Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers songs “Breakdown.” So good.
SETLIST: Bridge Burning, Rope, The Pretender, My Hero, Learn to Fly, White Limo, Arlandria, Breakout, Cold Day in the Sun, Stacked Actors, Walk, Monkey Wrench, I Should Have Known, These Days, This Is A Call, In the Flesh?, All My Life, Best of You, Times Like These, Dear Rosemary, Breakdown, Everlong
Donna being the dear that she was bought a pair of floor tickets as a birthday present for me. Foo Fighters were touring for Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace that was released about six months before this. All was well until we tried to get in. The tickets were the printout kind bought off of Craigslist and when the barcode was scanned we were informed that the tickets had already been scanned…as in the person who sold her the tickets printed out multiple copies to sell to us and arrived before us, making our tickets absolutely useless. I was livid. Donna still had the phone number to the gal that sold the tickets to her and I called to light her up. She played stupid and agreed to refund Donna’s money…which did us no good in that moment. We still needed tickets. Walking around in these seeing red moments looking for scalpers I thought I saw Nick “Peeps” Oliveri walk by us. This was later confirmed by a picture I found on the San Diego Union Tribune website. We eventually found someone to sell us two tickets at the very back of the arena in seats near the top. This was a far cry from being on the floor as I anticipated but at least we were still there to witness the greatness that is Foo Fighters. Everything ended up turning out alright because halfway through their set they all came down to a smaller stage that had been set up towards the back which in effect gave us front row seats for their mini-set.
SETLIST: Let It Die, The Pretender, Times Like These, Breakout, Learn To Fly, Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running), This Is A Call, Stacked Actors, Skin and Bones, Marigold, My Hero, Cold Day In The Sun, But, Honestly, Everlong, Monkey Wrench, All My Life, Big Me, Long Road To Ruin, Best Of You
A tour in which Weezer opened for Foo Fighters dubbed the “Foozer” tour. Weezer was touring for their underrated album Make Believe that had just come out in May. I think Dee may have came with me but I’m sure Macy came with me only because I remember she was scared shitless riding in my topless Jeep on the way home. I had only seen Weezer one other time up to this point eight years earlier (ironically also opening up for another band) so I was pretty excited to see them again. I think two bands of this caliber on the same bill elevates the performance of each because I’m sure they have no desire to be outdone by the other. Weezer’s backdrop looked like a jumbo version of the one that the band stands in front of on the Make Believe album. One of the things I love about Weezer is that the music is light, poppy, and heavy all at once and that was on full display here. Several three-minute bursts of hooky rock in rapid succession. Besides the new songs it was also cool to finally see songs from the Green Album and Maladroit performed as well.
SETLIST: “My Name is Jonas,” “Peace,” “Don’t Let Go,” “ In the Garage,” “This is Such a Pity,” “Big Me,” “Perfect Situation,” “Why Bother?,” “El Scorcho,” “Say It Ain’t So,” “We Are All On Drugs,” “Surf Wax America,” “Beverly Hills,” “Buddy Holly,” “Photograph,” “Island in the Sun,” “Undone – The Sweater Song,” “Hash Pipe”
This was my third time seeing Foo Fighters. I had just seen them about a year before this but now they were touring for the double album In Your Honor that came out about three months before this show. The album is one half traditional rockers (Disc 1) and one half slower acoustic songs (Disc 2). Foo Fighters flat out rocked on this night and were able to blend four new songs in with some of their classics. Their stage setup was a cool arrangement of asymmetric amps and video screens. I’m pretty sure Dave Grohl could have made it as a comic if he wasn’t so good at being a musician because he is a funny bastard. Besides rocking our world and making us laugh he treated us to a cover of CCR’s “Born on the Bayou.” Kick. Ass.
SETLIST: “In Your Honor,” “All My Life,” “My Hero,” “Best of You,” “Up In Arms,” “Learn to Fly,” “The Last Song,” “The One,” “Stacked Actors,” “Everlong,” “DOA,” “This Is A Call,” “Born on the Bayou,” “Breakout”
Day Two of Street Scene. Randomly I remember having a Chipotle burrito here for the first time with guacamole. I’ve not had one without guacamole since. This was the day there was a fiasco because the trolley ran right through the parking lot where the event was and at some point there were so many people trying to get to one of the stages that the trolley was blocked. I remember watching Eek-A-Mouse because Dee is into reggae, which worked out nicely to stake a spot for Cypress Hill. For this performance they had lost the two guitarists I had previously seen them with and went back to just DJ Muggs, Sen Dog and B-Real. Lots of marijuana smoke in the air but if you know anything about Cypress Hill then you already knew that. I got my fill before the main attraction for me: Foo Fighters. I had only saw them once before and had not seen them since the release of One by One. The picture of Dave Grohl in the red shirt was taken around this time period but not at this show. I included it because it invokes the main moment that sticks out in my memory. He strapped on this tuned down Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser guitar (apparently given to him by Dale Jr.) and ripped into “Stacked Actors.” Awesome. There was also a moment during their set where some guy jumped up on the stage and Dave said something along the lines of “you’ve got the balls to jump on the stage but do you have the balls to show the audience your balls?” The guy did it and Dave said “You’re awesome dude. Nice balls. Now get the fuck off my stage.” I think P.O.D. ended up not being at this show for some reason but I do remember seeing some of Jack Johnson’s set.
Apparently Filter and Bush played but I only really remember the Foo Fighters because I had never seen them before. I became an immediate fan simply based on Dave Grohl being in Nirvana but actually liked the music too. Dave Grohl is a badass and he kicked a lot of ass that night. They were on tour for the recently released There Is Nothing Left to Lose album. One memorable moment was when Dave said “I’m gonna sing this next song to Taylor” and played whatever song it was just facing Taylor Hawkins but the highlight was when Dave got behind the drum kit himself. He just went nuts and reminded everyone just how talented he is.
This was an interesting show for me because of my love life. I was hired on for the holiday season at a retail store called Meier & Frank. Working in a four level retail store at the mall was a wonderful way to meet women. The problem was that I was not interested in any of the girls that outwardly showed interest in me. I worked as a “floater,” which meant I didn’t know what department I was going to work in until I showed up for work. One day I was assigned to Men’s Sportswear and that’s when I saw her. An angelic, sweet, and innocent looking girl named Lucinda. I couldn’t stop looking at her but she wanted nothing to do with me. A day shortly after I was assigned to a department that was right next to Men’s Sportswear and I happened to work with a girl named Robin, who happened to be Lucinda’s best friend. Turns out Lucinda had a boyfriend. Not that long after she broke up with him and invited me to her birthday party. It was at Robin’s apartment, which happened to be in the same building as Lucinda’s apartment. You get where I’m going with this. I previously agreed to go to this concert with Rose but had since fallen for Lucinda harder than any girl I had ever fallen for. Rose’s friend Tyler worked at the Memorial Coliseum and I remember not really wanting him to see me there with another girl because I really wasn’t trying to be with Rose at that point.
SETLIST: Stacked Actors, My Poor Brain, Breakout, Learn to Fly, Up in Arms, Ain’t it the Life, Monkey Wrench, Alone + Easy Target, Everlong, Aurora, This is a Call, I’ll Stick Around
