Yet Another Reason Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters Rule

I was trying to decide whether to write about the latest housing news (actually a "victory" for the good guys!), or a charity golf tournament that I would actually like to play in (for more than the beer and free hotdog).  Then I came across a story I had to comment about.

By now, it should be no surprise that I have a bit of a thing for Foo Fighters and their fearless leader Dave Grohl - seen here in full caveman rocker mode.    Well it seems that someone finally sought fit to spread their hilarious tour rider out to the interweb, courtesy of smoking gun.  I hope this doesn't turn out to be fake, because I have seen a few different versions of it at different sites, but given what I know about Dave Grohl and the band's general sense of humor, it seems legit!!

This is a masterpiece of Tour Rider journalism.  It is sarcastic, pays homages to the excesses of 70's Rockers, contains hilarious coloring book pages and some valuable lessons on roadie hygiene and the pitfalls of "sweaty meats". 

Each band member takes a funny turn at teaching the venue catering staff some great tips and makes it fun to learn by providing mazes, puzzles and band image clip art to color!  Just so we know that Foo Fighters haven't lost their edge, they also require a rock-band-worthy amount of alcohol!  What are the guys and their guests drinking? Lots of the usual suspects Coors light, Guinness, Corona, local microbrews, wine and champagne, Jager, Crown Royal, Sky Vodka and mixers.  Regular guy drinks (if regular guys are getting hammered before they go on!)  I also like that they request that the family room be "near, but not necessarily next to the band room".  The whole thing is also sprinkled with random gems like "Chewbacca did not get a medal at the end of Star Wars, which is a travesty!" 

Basically, I've got my ticket to the show at Nationwide Arena in September and can't f'***ing wait!!  The new album, Wasting Light, is an instant classic.  It is recorded old school and sounds incredible.  Their best offering yet and that is hard to do.  Full album review coming soon, I just can't stop listening to it long enough to write about it yet.  

Peruse the excerpts of the Tour Rider including the hilarious Catering Visual Enhancement and Activities in addition to the written excerpts linked above.  It is a great look into the life of a touring rock band and provides unique insight into the minds of the one of the biggest best rock-bands out there. It is also comforting to know that my favorite band is also one of the cleverest.  LONG LIVE FOO!!!

Music is what life sounds like. - Eric Olson

OK, it's hard to find a quote about music that doesn't sound trite and hasn't been repeated a million times.  I went with Olson because this is one of the shortest quotes I could find and he had obviously thought about this subject for a long time before he came up with this gem!  I couldn't write this blog without including regular entries about music - what's new and cool, who everyone should listen to at least once, something obscure or something the doesn't work for me.

My favorite kind of music is --------------- anything that is good.  Classic Rock, Metal, Hip Hop, Reggae, Classical, 70's Soft Rock, it barely matters what genre if it's smart and has soul and originality.

Take this song that you might be familiar with: 

Its as good as it gets and so far ahead of its time I don't know how he came up with it - we'll just assume drugs for now, the point is this is a great song no matter what music you like.  Hendrix is just one in a series of geniuses that were able to make music that touches millions of lives.

As a pretty stoic guy, "expressing myself" isn't the first thing on my list of things to do. For me music is an emotion.  Music bring emotion to the room.  It takes you back to how you felt at a specific moment in time.  It uplifts, angers, saddens, delights, invigorates and exhausts.

I leave you with another quote.  As a lawyer, I was surprised and impressed to see several quotes about music by Oliver Wendell Holmes  .  Quite the jurist and apparently "got it" about music.

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons.  You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes