SamSungDay 15

I first heard Foo Fighters via ‘Monkey Wrench’ and, like many 6 or 7 year olds at the time, I heard it as track 16 on my Mum’s Triple J Hottest 100 1997 CD. Come to think of it, I feel those two disks heavily shaped my musical influences! Good purchase Ma! As for you Triple J, have a listen to it again and think about what you’ve done. Naughty! We’re all very disappointed in you.

Anyhow - I wasn’t a Foo-head from then on, I just liked the song a lot. I listened to it over the years, skipping straight to that track if I needed a little inner rage time. I didn’t follow them beyond this song for so long. Sure, I liked all their stuff when I heard it, but I wasn’t a nutter for them - I never recognised the devil in ‘Tribute’ or suspect there was any Nirvana in Foo Fighters based on sonic experience alone; but then, all of a sudden, around a decade after that Hottest 100 CD entered our home, I became a Foo Fighters fanatic.

It was probably around the time that ‘Best Of You’ came out (which I think Ma and I watched on Rove the day before it was released in Australia), I bought the album, along with ‘The Colour and the Shape’ and found myself sitting at the dial-up internet station watching every Foo Fighters clip I could find. My favourite was ‘Low’ because of its absurdity and the presence of Jack Black (which, in those days, could have seen me off to war if he was donning an appropriate top hat and pointing at me), but ‘Everlong’ was a close second. What a catchy song that still had guts - plus, I thought the clip was just gold!

When my first ever pub gig was approaching and I discovered that learning songs I really liked was the easiest way to fill the 3 hours (and I also discovered that I probably couldn’t pull off too many The Living End or Metallica numbers with my grandpa’s guitar), Fooies just made sense. By that time, ‘Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace’ had come out. I learned a bunch from that and their back catalogue, some of which still get a work out, on occasion, but ‘Everlong’ was one of the first and still goes on every set list. It’s one of those great songs to play and disappear into. People dig it and ya feel that, or they don’t and you don’t have to care because you’re not even there anymore; you’re off having fun with wild hair, axe murderers and big hands to slap wankers in the head with.

I’ve still got posters in my music room and listen to anything they/Dave releases. Mr. Grohl’s musical word is as close to gospel as it gets for me, because of one important statement. In an interview, with regards to playing live shows, he said “Just have fun”. I try to remember that as often as I can. Playing music is the best thing, if you’re that way inclined. Playing to people who enjoy it is bloody magic! Having said that, if all that gets to happen is we get to play, then we PLAY.
   • Dave Grohl - Play (Official Video)  

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TeeNote: Still a helluva souvenir from that time we seen Fooies and they were the size of ants.


#samsung #cover #foofighters #davegrohl #everlong