Finding Foo

It was yet another day of Web Design World in Seattle. Today was also a great day for ideas, all the more to drive my team nuts with when I get back, although after this afternoon, I don't ever want to hear the word "accessibility" again.. yikes.

Once I got out of the afternoon sessions, I was tired... my brain was full and too many web ideas were swirling in my head. So my evening plan was simple: relax, take it easy and do something I hadn't done before. So after heading out of the convention center, I decided to walk down to the Space Needle to go check out the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, a museum that shares space with the EMP (Experience Music Project) in the world's funkiest looking building.

The museum is very well done, filled with all manor of Sci-fi geekiness. I had a good time checking out all kinds of Star Wars memorabilia, as well as stuff from every other science fiction movie in the universe, all lumped together in a variety of multimedia displays. From E.T. to Battlestar Gallactica, to Aliens, to full size T-800's from Terminator, this place had it all, displayed in a fun way. After finally leaving at closing time, I was starving and desperately needing food.

By about 9:15, I had worked my way back towards my hotel. I had just picked up my dinner.. food to go, as I just wanted to get back to my hotel room and relax, with time left in my evening to soak in the hot tub upstairs. As I was walking down the street, dinner in one hand, camera in the other, I passed the Paramount Theater, 2 blocks from my hotel. It became quickly obvious that something was going on tonight. Surrounding the theater were 4 large tour busses, and 3 semi trucks that signal the arrival of a big show. That's when I passed a guy on the corner who yelled "you want tickets?"

I said "to what?" to which he replied "Foo Fighters!"

My brain stopped momentarily.. "The Foo Fighters are playing... HERE... TONIGHT?!" I thought to myself... But then my brain quickly turned back on with the realization that tickets to these things, especially from a guy standing on the corner.. were VERY expensive. But I was curious..

"How much?" I yelled back.

"$50 a ticket" was his return. Not even a temptation... sure it would be a good show, but I knew I would have a very difficult time explaining that expense to my wife! So I said no thanks and continued on.

But the guy was apparently getting desperate. "Ok, $20!" he yelled. For a second, my brain went "$20 for a concert! That's less than I paid for concert tickets in high school!", but again, my financial brain took over and said "noooo, better not."

Finally, he yelled "Man, I just need these gone. $10!" At that point, instinct kicked in and I immediately said "You're on!" Out came my wallet and a $10 bill, and suddenly, I was going to see the Foo Fighters.

Now, things suddenly got tricky as there I was with a Foo Fighters ticket in one hand and my to-go dinner and a digital camera in my other hand.. two things that just don't go with concerts. So I made the sprint to the hotel to dump my stuff off and head back to the theater. By the time I got there, the show had already started, but I had only missed a couple of songs.

What I didn't realize when making this spur of the moment decision, was how well I spent that 10 bucks. For one, I had a FANTASTIC seat, dead center, right in the middle of my row. Second, this was not a normal Foo Fighters rock show. They were not in their typical sold out arena.. they were in the little Paramount Theater. Turns out this was meant to be a smaller, more intimate gathering, as they were doing an all acoustic show.. one of my favorite things to hear!

And what a show it was!! Due to the acoustic format, the band was much bigger than normal: Instead of the 4 guys in the group, there were 9 all together on stage. Amongst the musicians added in were are violinist named Petra (who bears a striking resemblance to Natalie Merchant in both looks and voice) who did vocals on 2 songs. Also joining the band was Joe Walsh's drummer, who call really "thrash on the triangle" as Dave Grohl put it.

What I just found amazing was during the encore. It was so simple.. Dave Grohl came out, standing alone on the stage with his acoustic guitar in hand. By himself, he played and sang two songs, "Best of You" and "Everlong", two typically very heavy songs. But he did them solo, and they sounded INCREDIBLE! The full band joined in 3/4ths of the way through Everlong to finish the show in style.

So my "quiet", "simple" night turned out to be quite an evening, cool sci-fi sights, and great music! Now, I just need to get some sleep so I can start again tomorrow, to finish the conference and catch my flight home.

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July 14th UPDATE: While surfing through YouTube, I found several videos that show what this concert looked like and highlight two songs. Ok, the video was NOT shot at my show in Seattle, but the night before in Vancouver. But it still gives a glimpse at what things looked like, as they had the exact same setup and setlist. Click to watch "Next Year" (The Ed Theme) and "Everlong".