Dave Grohl’s Birthday Bash At The Forum

1.12.15

So yeah… EPIC! I’ve been to a few shows over the years, and this one is most certainly up there. I’m not a huge Foo fan by nature… def appreciate them, I know they always deliver live. I was probably the only one that didn’t know the words to every radio hit (except for 90’s stuff). I avoid commercial radio like the plague, so their big hits don’t resonate emotionally that much. THAT said… it was a blast being in the crowd and watching ‘the kids’ lose their minds when they weren’t filming… or texting… or posting… or Instagramming… or Tweeting…. While I took my fair share of documentation, I spent the majority smiling and yelling. The kids these days, not so much. They need to learn to enjoy a show. “now get off of my lawn!”

This was my first visit to the updated Forum. Looks great and sounds really good! That said, I LOATHE the trip going there and getting inside… parking lot ($20!!) is the only game in town. It was POURING rain – so my far walk to the venue was soggy, but I’ll never complain about rain in SoCal…. suck it up!

But really, to have Paul Stanley come out and start the night with Detroit Rock City… hoofa!

Each guest basically did two songs then the Foo’s would do a few of their own. The stage was in the middle and rotated back n’ forth. While I know they’re great live, it’s STAGGERING how TRULY LOCKED IN they are… and for how long they go at it… and HOW MANY HITS they have. 3 hours and 45 minutes… straight. Grohl did one song by himself on electric guitar, they did Sabbath (with Zakk Wylde on guitar/vocal, Dave on bass) as a trio – and that was SICK!

All of the guests were a hoot.. quick thoughts:

* Paul Stanley – he brings ‘A’ game… total rock star. Would’ve been monumental if he came out in costume.

* Tenacious D… mighty! And Jack Black ROCKED Immigrant Song

* Slash… so cool it hurts. Band was flipping out “it’s Slash!”

* Alice Cooper… cool as all get out. Love this guy. Sounded great. Bonus points for his Coop letterman sweater. Class of ’66!

* Nick Oliveri (Queens Of The Stone Age founder) – great to see him. Rocked the vocals… sounded and looked top notch.

* Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society but started with Ozzy in the early 90’s)… might have been my favorite guest and songs of the night. KILLED the vocals on the Sabbath tunes, and wailed guitar. He’s so rock it’s ridiculous. Power trio of epic size and Dave was blasting bass.

* Perry Farrell… I lost my MIND on Mountain Song. So fun. I was the old guy jumping like a freak while the kids had NO CLUE who he was or what song was playing. Hilarious. Miss You was a bit of a dud, but still kinda fun to see them working through it.

* David Lee Roth… shaved head! Vocals, “meh”. He did some funky chat during the Panama break down. Band seemed truly tripped out when he left the stage. A bit awkward and WTF kinda thing. But that’s how Dave rolls.

* Trombone Shorty – I’ve never seen anything like it in my life! Guy is a monster… and he did a continuous horn for well over a minute at the end… he was drained and it was awesome.

* Lemmy (um, from Motorhead)… I have to think this was Dave getting him out there in front of a huge crowd for the last time. He’s a tad fragile, hands are shaky. Sounded ok but whatever.. it’s Lemmy – and Grohl was non-stop smiling that he was out there. And the night ends with a Chuck Berry song.

Safe to say I really can’t ever see the Foo’s again… they’ll never do a show like that. I have an absolute new level of respect for how truly good they are. They’re dialed in with one another, everyone holds their own (even the keyboard guy I guess). They truly don’t miss a beat but even more important, they have a BLAST doing what they do. They radiate good mojo. Always fun to see Pat Smear… he’s so damn happy!

To our friend Kelly – thank you SO much for keeping me in mind. My throat hurts, my neck is killing me and my legs are sore…. gratitude for letting me ruin myself AND for suffering with my idiocy of not being able to really remember where my car was in the pouring rain afterwards… yayza! It was good to jump around with you and Ross. As always, I’m happy that Ava Adore pats me on the head with a smile and says ‘off you go… have fun at your rock show’. Trying to FaceTime from the Forum floor is an exercise in futility but it’s always worth a shot.

#HappyBirthdayDave #FooFighters #LetThereBeRock #LolasCafeLDR

Foo Fighters Dave Grohl Birthday Bash at Los Angeles’ Forum 1/10/15

1. ‘Detroit Rock City’ (with KISS’ Paul Stanley)

2. ‘Do You Love Me’ (with KISS’ Paul Stanley)

3. ‘All My Life’

4. ‘Rope’

5. ‘The Pretender’

6. ‘My Hero’

7. ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ (Queen cover with Tenacious D and Slash)

8. ‘Immigrant Song’ (Led Zeppelin cover with Tenacious D and Slash)

9. ‘Congregation’

10. ‘Walk’

11. ‘School’s Out’ (with Alice Cooper)

12. ‘I’m Eighteen’ (with Alice Cooper)

13. ‘Cold Day in the Sun’ (with Taylor Hawkins on vocals)

14. ‘Monkey Wrench’

15. ‘Two Headed Dog’ (Roky Erickson cover with Nick Oliveri on vocals)

16. ‘Learn to Fly’

17. ‘White Limo’

18. ‘Arlandria’

19. ‘N.I.B.’ (Black Sabbath cover with Zakk Wylde)

20. ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ (Black Sabbath cover with Zakk Wylde)

21. ‘Times Like These’

22. ‘Outside’

23. ‘Mountain Song’ (with Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell)

24. ‘Miss You’ (Rolling Stones cover with Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell)

25. ‘Something From Nothing’

26. ‘This Is a Call’ (featuring Trombone Shorty jam session)

27. ‘Best of You’

28. ‘Panama’ (with Van Halen’s David Lee Roth)

29. ‘Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love’ (with Van Halen’s David Lee Roth)

30. ‘Everlong’

31. ‘Let It Rock’ (Chuck Berry cover with Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, Slash and Zakk Wylde)