Worshipping the Foo

I know you probably don't want to hear any more about the Foo Fighters, but I simply must document my awesome evening (mainly because I want to remember it past today!).

So I'm going to write a (probably long) post about my day yesterday. Feel free to skip if you like, I'll be back on the weekend with something about my boys...

Anticipation

Anthony and I arrived in Sydney long before the registration started. But that was OK; we had a nice walk through Darling Harbour and did some serious people-watching as the crowds arrived. Everybody was extremely well-behaved (throughout the night too) - no yobbo-ing or pushing and shoving, which was nice. There were all sorts of people there, from young kids who were toddling when the Foo Fighters released their first record, to folks much older than Anthony and I.

When the boat finally arrived (a very comfortable three-story one), Anthony and I climbed up to the top floor and grabbed a seat. I'm not great on boats, but I needn't have worried, the short trip was calm and the butterflies in my stomach came more from excitement than nausea.

After a short trip, we disembarked at Goat Island, and walked around to what turned out to be a very intimate and scenic venue.
The small stage was set up with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background, and the ground space in front of the stage was tiny. But that was OK, because there were only about 300 of us there anyway (later on, the balconies on the building behind us filled up with 'VIPs' - or people who had some connection to the radio, record company or TV channels, many of which obviously had very little interest in the Foo Fighters, more the prestige of being there...)


Showtime
Finally, the band came on stage:

They ripped through their new album, one after the other, with no breaks to chat or even take a breath. The new songs are great - fast, loud and rocking, like their first album. Lots of chances for Dave to roar his trademark scream.
We were about 6 people back from the stage, and stayed there all night, with none of the crushing and shoving you'd get in a 'regular' mosh pit. Everyone there was on such a high, and so busy loving the band (and loving being so close to the band) that there was none of that stuff.

I loved being able to lock eyes with the guys in the band, getting lovely smiles out of Nate and Pat,

and even managing to look the wonderful Dave Grohl in the eye...*sigh*.

I know, I know, it's a silly thing to get excited about, but realistically, I'm never gonna meet these guys. I never know where to 'stalk' anyway, and always have someone else with me who probably wouldn't want to hang around for hours waiting for that 'chance' anyway. Not that I resent that, I love have someone I love with me at these gigs, especially 'cause I can't take Sam. James waited for a couple of hours with me, after the Them Crooked Vultures concert, with not much of a result, and Anthony probably would have last night, but he had to drive the three hours home anyway (it was OK, we had a lovely beer and a burger at Grill'd, then a nice drive home, reminiscing all the way). So I'm happy that I got that close to them.

After they played the whole new album, from beginning to end, they started in on all their hits. They started with 'All My Life', which got everyone in the (downstairs) crowd jumping up and down and going crazy. They then proceeded to play song after cool song, with yours truly jumping up and down like a mad thing, screaming and singing myself hoarse.

All in all, they played more than 30 songs (I think 38 was the final count). As you can see on the set list (which a fellow Foo fan graciously loaned me for a photo - he even took the photo!), all the hits were covered. Some highlights for me were 'My Hero' (as always: it's a great song, and it reminds me of Sam - we even have 'There Goes My Hero' on our concert shirts), which got everyone singing (even some of the wet blanket VIPS!); 'Stacked Actors', in which Dave leaped into the crowd, ran upstairs and stood up on the balcony for a while, dangling his guitar over the edge; 'Monkey Wrench', which never fails to get everyone up bouncing and singing; 'Everlong' (of course, one of my favourite songs); 'Up in Arms', where Dave dedicated it to a lookalike fan Jim (who had been standing next to us all afternoon), who proceeded to jump up on the stage, chug Pat's beer, and sit down while they sang the intro.

Lucky guy.

More!
In the encore (which was more than the four songs on the set list), they played the lovely 'Butterflies', an old, rare track, and one of my highlights for the night, a truly fabulous cover of 'Darling Nikki' by Prince. Pure gold.
Dave promised us 10 songs in the encore, but by about the 8th one, the powers-that-be were looking at their watches and tapping their feet, because they'd hit the noise curfew. They probably could have gone on for another hour (at least, that's the impression they gave us), but were kinda struggling to find songs to play anyway, or at least struggling to remember how to play them.
They finished off with 'This is a Call', which, as their first hit, was a very loud and fitting way to end the night.

Dave was his usual funny and charming self, Taylor pounded away on the drums (apparantly he could be heard all around the harbour!), Nate and Chris were totally immersed in the music, and Pat alternated between big smiles for the fans and eyes-closed blissful music making.

All in all, 3 hours of musical yumminess which I would gladly do again tonight, and every night. (I found out this morning they're putting on another gig in Sydney tonight - it's times like these I really wish I lived in a big city). The cool thing is, it was all filmed for Channel V, and will be screened on the 2nd of April. Now I've just gotta work out how to get a copy!

By the time they finished, my whole body was stiff, and I had lost my voice. A sure sign of a great night.

A great, great night.

Oh gee, I'm supposed to be studying but I just can't concentrate! Check out the photos on the TripleM website. If you look at photo #48, you'll see me on the top of the boat with both arms in the air. :)