Source: Sonic Studios DSM-6P w/3-way lo-cut filter (@ 80hz, middle setting) > Tascam DR-2d @ 16 bit/44.1 kHz
Mastering: .WAV > iZotope RX7 Advanced v7.01.315 (De-click) >
Sound Forge Pro 14.0 Build 130 [minor edits, normalize, & fades, Boz Digital Labs T-Bone plug-in (slant EQ)] > CDWav
(tracking) > Trader's Little Helper (level 5) > FLAC > TagScanner 6.0.35 (tagging)
Location: Approximately 75 feet from the front of the stage, DFC
Recorded by: Steve "ballsdeep" Hagar
Mastered by: Dennis Orr
Setlist: (2:38:56)
01 Crowd
02 Times Like These
03 The Pretender >
04 Learn To Fly >
05 No Son Of Mine
06 The Sky Is A Neighborhood
07 Shame Shame
08 Rope >
09 Breakout
10 Chat
11 My Hero
12 These Days >
13 Medicine At Midnight >
14 Walk
15 You Should Be Dancing
16 Band Intros
17 Somebody To Love (1)
18 All My Life
19 This Is A Call
20 Chat
21 Aurora
22 Chat
23 Best Of You
24 Monkey Wrench
25 Chat with Happy Birthday To You (2)
26 Everlong
(1) Taylor - lead vocalsand Dave - drums
(2) For Gus Brandt - tour manager
Dave Grohl - lead vocals & guitar
Chris Shiflett - lead guitar
Pat Smear - guitar
Nate Mendel - bass
Rami Jaffee - keyboards
Taylor Hawkins - drums & percussion
Barbara Gruska - backing vocals & percussion
Laura Mace - backing vocals
Samantha Sidley - backing vocals
Violet Grohl - backing vocals
Show Notes:
After a looooong break, it's time to get back to the live music...actually played this year.
To say that I was underwhelmed when the Foo Fighters were announced in my hometown (about 6 weeks prior to showtime), along with 2 nights in Anchorage..........with all tickets at $154.50 per, post fees, would be a huge understatement.
While I respect Dave Grohl as the alt-rock version of Lemmy (2 cool motherfuckers who write, for the most part, horrible music where 90% of the songs sound the same...when Lemmy drove them around in the "White Limo" vid, my analogy there was cemented), I was never a fan of Nirvana, and even less so of the Foo Fighters...I was just much more drawn to the AIC/Soundgarden/PJ than I ever was anything Nirvana, or related....but it was a local rock show...but it was 1.5 Franklins to just get in the door?
Um, no thanks.
Then, a good buddy who flips a few tickets down in the States, gave me a heads up that the Alaska Foo tix were gonna crash, and sure as shit, a good 10 days prior to Anchorage #1 (no, Dr. Deep did not go tape Anchorage, 20 years-younger balls would have given it a run, but with summer hotel prices, etc, and my FF apathy, it was 2 miles from home, or not at all), tix were $14 a pop. While this may be a norm for a show a day or two prior, those kind of prices are fairly rare that far out.
By the time I decided to go, they then added a vax requirement, so then I wasn't going.
Then, they added free quick-test options 2 days prior at the venue, saving a wait day of, so it was back on, and I think it was $35, plus fees bumped it to $48, which was still nearly a 70% savings for not "jumping the gun". (And yes, I'm covid -free as of yesterday)
Oh, yeah, as a brief aside, the first/only/one time I was supposed to see FF never. even. happened. May 16, 1995, with Hovercraft and Mike Watt, Catalyst, Santa Cruz CA
For a 23 year old kid from Alaska, to get to see (not see?) Vedder in Hovercraft, then the Foos, *then* the legend Mike Watt (who Vedder was s'posed to be sitting in with) all in one night, that was a great deal for a $16 ticket, right?
Well, Hovercraft was like a bad Pink Floyd high-school project...I'm not even sure if it was Eddie and his wife... Their "25 minute black/white bad hallucination video collage Pink Floyd drum solo" ended, then they come out and say "We're sorry, but the Foo Fighters will not be appearing tonight" (??? apparently, an illness, and they played a few shows as "The Flu Fighters" right after)
THEN we get a Mike Watt set where Vedder comes out for...nary a song (hence the prior 'not see' in parentheses....was he even in the house? did he catch the flu too?)
I know Hovercraft was s'posed to keep him 'anonymous' onstage, but then he'd come out with Watt at most shows and sit in for a few songs (on drums, or, at least that was the 'word on the street', that Eddie was the drummer or in the shadows on triangle and cowbell or something.... I never studied MW shows from that tour to see if that was the norm/ever happened or not).
For that journey way back when, REM was the night prior, and two Black Crowes shows in LA were the following nights, it was 19 shows in 23 days, so no FF for me...until last night.
That out of the way, my opinion and/or prior non-experience with the Foos is not the point here, just wanted to throw out there I "took one for the team", miraculously ran into nary a soul that I knew (meaning: no chatter...like, at all), and if you are a fan of FF, you will be most pleased with the results contained herein, culled from a concrete hockey barn built in the early 90's...the raw files to my ears sound much better than the actual performance as it happened.
My estimate is that there were 4000-4200 in attendance (out of roughly 5500 capacity), so they should have at least broke even if not made money...there was no opening act.
Mid-show, when Dave said that they were the most "glorified garage band in the world" - he and I were finally on the same wavelength :)
And shame on me, but the show highlights were probably the two covers...as they weren't Foo Fighters songs ;)
I've got another confession to make...(bah-doom-PAH!)...as the final droning note of "Everlong" carried thru the arena, my feet were killing me after 2 hours and 39 minutes of not moving (nearly 3+ hours overall of straight standing), so I did run back, ask for a setlist, hand it of to a very grateful lady (her hands in the included setlist pic), and was out the door, in the car and driving away most likely before they took their final ontage bow, so my apologies for that "incompleteness/fade" at the end.
My asking for the setlist may or may not make the final cut (hahaha).
As always, the real *hero* in all this is Dennis, he truly is the monkeywrench in all this...thanks and alms to him.
And also to the inimitable cps for the prompt upload.
Dr. Deep has a few more treats in line this year...nothing super special, but a couple "first times" for our Fair, and RED FANG in November, 3 days after my 50th, in Anchorage....might have to hit that one up.
Heard some other good stuff is in the pipeline as well.
It's been awhile, but it feels good to say...
-Fuck Hagar, OVER AND OUT! :)