Last night I went to the premiere of Back and Forth, the very good James Moll-directed Foo Fighters documentary. And since we had picked up our SXXpress passes for the show, we were given wristbands for the Stubb's after-party.
And what a ridiculously good party it was. The movie was great, and the band was really unbelievable. They became one of my favorites by the time the night was over.
I can't tell you how awesome it was to see them playing Wembley for 85,000 people on the big screen, and then an hour later watch then play live in the yard of a glorified barbeque house. Dang I love this town.
Here's a great review:
The beauty of South by Southwest is that you never really know what each night has in store for you. Sure, you can map out some type of schedule weeks in advance, detailing exactly where you should be at what time, but you better be ready to toss those plans should something better come up.
That was the case for this critic when the 25th annual SXSW opened on Tuesday in Austin, Texas. I had no idea when my plane landed that day, nor for several hours after I checked into to my hotel, that I'd spend a good portion of the night watching the Foo Fighters in concert.
But plans changed -- for thousands of festival-goers -- once word leaked that the Foo Fighters were going to perform a "surprise" concert at Stubb's Bar-B-Q. So, there we were, the lucky ones that actually managed to gain admission before the gates closed, watching a platinum-selling band that has headlined stadiums in a cozy outdoor venue built for approximately 1,800. What a rush.
Head Foo Dave Grohl and his fellow Fighters were in town earlier that day to watch the new documentary on the band, "Back and Forth," which was receiving its world premiere during the film portion of SXSW. Attendees at the film screening were invited to an "after party" at Stubb's -- and, at that point, everyone knew what the entertainment would be.
Still, there was a collective sigh of relief from the crowd at Stubb's when Grohl and company finally took the stage just after 9 p.m. The vocalist-guitarist,who originally came to fame as the drummer in Nirvana, was obviously still giddy after the well-received film screening, held just a few blocks from Stubb's.
"Hey," the 42-year-old frontman shouted to the crowd. "We are (expletive) movie stars!"
With that intro, the five-piece band launched right into "Bridge Burning," the first track from its forthcoming seventh studio album, "Wasting Light," which is due out April 12. The group would play all 11 tracks, in order, from "Wasting Light," and the results were mighty impressive. As the Foos charged away with their mighty three-guitar attack, it was easy to imagine four — maybe five — of these new songs as major radio hits. The best of the bunch were "Bridge Burning," "Dear Rosemary" and "I Should Have Known."
As Grohl strummed the last line of track 11, "Walk," he announced to the crowd: "And that's the new album."
And then came the two words that signaled even greater times ahead: "This isn't."
With that, the group proceeded to play 11 more songs, the vast majority of which can be found on 2009's "Greatest Hits." The band seemed to get stronger as it continued to roll through such fan favorites as "Times Like These," "Learn to Fly" and "Monkey Wrench" during what turned out to be close to a 100-minute set.
They closed the show with a cranking rendition of Everlong!
They gave Austin a gift last night. LOVE!!!
