Song Eighty-five: The Best of You

The first time I saw the Foo Fighters, I was fifteen years old at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa for Edgefest. The festival featured acts like Green Day, and The Tea party and I remember how being soaked from the rain that day. I also remember how much fun it was to crowd surf because the people in the crowd would just float you to the front of the stage and then the security in front would just help you down into this little gap area between the stage and the floor where you could walk out to the side of the crowd and start all over again. I remember the Foo Fighter’s taking the stage and Dave Grohl casually plugging his guitar in while chomping on a big wad of gum as he adjusted the mic. Everyone was cheering in anticipation for them to start and when Dave was ready, it was obvious because he screamed the most primal animalistic scream into the mic I had ever heard live which blasted over the PA and ignited the crowd. I wasn’t a big fan then but I did enjoy their show that day.

The second time time I saw the Foo Fighter’s live, they were opening for Bob Dylan in Ottawa at the Corel Center. A group of my musical friends and I had free box seats for the show. The Foo Fighters were doing their acoustic show that evening and to be quite honest, the opener and main act should have been reversed. Having seen them at Edgefest when I was a kid was cool but it didn’t have as great of an effect on me as the acoustic show did. Dave Grohl along with his extended band absolutely blew me away. You know the songs are strong when you can strip them down to an acoustic version and still get the same inspiration. I’m a Bob Dylan fan but to be honest, he wasn’t really good that night and as far as I was concerned the show ended when the Foo Fighter’s left the stage. None of us even stuck around to see the end of Bob’s set.

After that concert I was quite hooked on the Foo Fighters, especially the acoustic album. The next time they came to town, my wife and I went to the show and yet again they blew me away. This time it was a mix of their electric tunes and and then a surprise second stage that came down from the ceiling of the building where Dave Grohl played a small acoustic collection of tunes. Dave was hilarious on stage. A true rock and roll showman. I remember the way he strutted down the catwalk to his acoustic stage passing screaming and adoring fans. Half way down the catwalk, without a hesitation or a pause he splashed the drink he was holding right into someone's face and kept walking! Then he jokingly mocked the people who were in the front row who thought they had the best view but now there were at the very back because of this second stage. I remember laughing at that as the front row people desperately tried to cram backwards to get a good view from what was now the back. I now consider the band one of my favourites and if I could see them again I would!