Article and Review, Foo Fighters Rock The Great Western Forum October 14th 2011

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Foo Fighters
October 15th 2011
Great Western Forum

It was a cool 70 degrees in an Inglewood parking lot where i waited in eager anticipation to see one of the greatest rock bands of my generation.  The Foo Fighters.  As I sipped my lemonade and tin flavored alcoholic beverage I thought to myself.  Have I really been listening to the Foo Fighters for 16 years…Since I was 14 years of age.  And here I was with my 15 year old brother (Turd Ferguson) about to see them for the first time and my older brother Jett Dunlap.  How time flies.  However, when a band has been playing together for 16 years and still enjoys playing together.  Then you have something very dynamic and special.  This tour was to kick off the Foo Fighters 7th studio album, “Wasting Light.”
The opening act was “Mariachi El Bronx.”  They played to a mostly empty arena with a few loyal fans who know the words.  The lead vocalist seemed like a very white washed cholo from Van Nuys, CA. who mostly did a Mexican two step shuffle.  In his baggie mariachi outfit he sang somewhat bland music which was very hard to understand.  At one point I asked my brother…”Is he singing is Spanish or English?”  But then again, it didn’t really much matter.  The next band was “Cage the Elephant.”  Their energy reminded me of the Black Crows and they had a very indie rock “White Stripes” kinda thing that worked for them.  In an awesome turn of events their drummers appendix recently exploded, (“sorry dude”, and he is o.k.) so Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters filled in.  We’ve seen him drum for “Nirvana”, “Queens of the Stone Age”, and now in person again with “Cage.”  Dave Grohl beat the living piss out of those drums.  It was epic!!!!  “Cage”‘s front man ran all of the stage and dove into the crowd like a human missile.  He also sang like a maniac as fans hoisted him into the air.  Playing such radio jams as “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” and “Shake Me Down” got the crowds juices flowing for the main act.

And then there was Foo…Again, what can I say, they brought down the house.  Foo Fighters opened with “Bridge Burning” off their new album and jumped right into “Rope” one of my personal favorites off the new “disc”, or more correctly “downloadable media” I suppose.  Dave Grohl is an awesome front man who knows how to MC a crowd and put on a great show.  With face melting sound blasting your body and Dave’s screams, my eyes and ears were glued to the stage.  After a handful of songs Dave Grohl asked the crowd “How long do you want us to play?  Two hours???  (crowd cheering!) That’s easy…we gotta lot of fucking songs…How about as long as we can!”  The crowd erupts in applause and shouting.  A band really at the top of their game and masters at their craft is what I witnessed on Saturday night.  They rocked tons of my favorite songs like “Pretender”, “Learn to Fly”, “Breakout” and “Monkey Wrench.”  After two hours of amazing rock music the “Foo Fighter” finally exited the stage.  With a cheering crowd they dropped the lights in the arena.  Moments later you see Dave Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins backstage through a night vision camera.  As Dave Grohl pantomimes that he can’t play an encore because of his throat. Taylor, with the crowds support slowly convinces Dave to play an ever growing number of encore songs.  Taylor hold up three fingers to the crowd.  Dave Grohl shakes his head and holds up two fingers.  This goes back and fourth until they agree to play seven more songs and Dave makes his way back onto the stage.  On an elevated platform Dave proceeds to play some songs acoustically under bright spots.  As the enamored crowd gets lost in the music it’s just Dave and his guitar.  The band joins back in to wrap up the concert and I couldn’t have been more satisfied.  As far as rock bands go, the Foo Fighters are in a league of their own.  I have no doubt that they will one day be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  With lots of history left to be written, I say “Rock on Foo Fighters!!!” and L.A. and myself hope to see you soon.

A concert review by,
Step Rocket.

Great Western Forum October 14th 2011
Dave Grohl Foo Fighters “the pretender”
http://www.foofighters.com/us/home
http;//www.jd247.com

Cage The Elephant 2011

Great Western Forum October 14th 2011
Shake me down
Front Man Matt Shultz, Dave Grohl on drums
http://www.foofighters.com/us/home
http://www.cagetheelephant.com/

Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II, which were known collectively as foo fighters. Prior to the release of the Foo Fighters’ 1995 debut album Foo Fighters, which featured Grohl as the only official member, Grohl recruited bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith, both formerly of Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as fellow Nirvana touring bandmate Pat Smear as guitarist to complete the lineup. The band began with performances in Portland, Oregon. Goldsmith quit during the recording of the group’s second album, The Colour and the Shape (1997) when most of the drum parts were re-recorded by Grohl himself. Smear’s departure followed soon afterward. They were replaced by Taylor Hawkins and Franz Stahl, respectively, although Stahl was fired before the recording of the group’s third album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999).

The band briefly continued as a trio until Chris Shiflett joined as the band’s lead guitarist after the completion of There Is Nothing Left to Lose. The band released its fourth album, One by One, in 2002. The group followed that release with the two-disc In Your Honor (2005), which was split between acoustic songs and heavier material. Foo Fighters released its sixth album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, in 2007. In 2010, it was confirmed that Smear had officially rejoined the band after touring with the Foo Fighters as an unofficial member between 2006 and 2009. Over the course of the band’s career, three of its albums have won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album, and all six albums have been nominated. The band’s seventh studio album, Wasting Light, was released in 2011.

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