An out of the ordinary evening with the Foo Fighters

The Foo Fighters’ Back and Forth documentary will delight more than just hard core fans

It was a rare mid-week night out for me and Stacey. Even more rare because we went to a giant-ass Cineplex to catch a movie. Are forty-something parents supposed to do this kind of thing? We bought a pair of tickets to see Back and Forth, the terrific documentary on the life of the Foo Fighters. It was the first time I think I’ve been to a satellite broacast of a movie, although I know that this kind of show is commonplace with big wrestling and ultimate fights.

The documentary was a pretty good tale of the band’s 17-year history. You heard from all members of the band, both current and past musicians, on their part in the big world of Mr. Grohl. You don’t get a lot of dirt on these guys, with the exception of the description of drummer Taylor Hawkins’ drug addiction. What you do get is a real flavour for the thrill Grohl and his band members feel creating their big rock sound.

Dave Grohl is like so many kids from North American suburbs raised on records. He worships bands like Queen and Led Zeppelin, but maintains a close connection to the American hardcore post-punk sound. One of the best moments in the film is when he invites Bob Mould, a music legend known for his work with Hüsker Du and Sugar, as well as lately as the composer of The Daily Show intro. Mould is a powerhouse figure but his scene cutting some vocals with Grohl is as low key as a neighbour dropping by to borrow a skill saw. Grohl can hardly contain his inner fanboy during it.

Stacey and I were particularly thrilled to see footage from the very first Foos’ tour in 1995 in support of Grohl’s cassette demo debut. They played the Commodore Ballroom in support of headliner Mike Watt, who was riding high on a hit titled Against the 70s sung by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. It’s a killer song and Vedder had his own f**k band in the evening’s line-up called Hovercraft. Vedder played the drums, and didn’t sing a note that evening back in September 1995, if I recall correctly. It was a bummer as Vedder really added to Watts’ song.

I had only known my soon to be wife a couple of years by that time, and as we sat in the Cineplex we both smiled at seeing Commodore Ballroom footage from the show we attended shown in Back and Forth.

The highlight of the whole evening though was seeing Foo Fighters play the entire new album Wasting Light live. Their performance was recorded on April 5th, just eight days earlier. It was recorded in a studio with no breaks. Just end to end the whole record. I couldn’t stop rocking back and forth in my seat during the performance.

While I don’t know what others feel about seeing “live” rock concerts via satellite in a comfy auditorium with great sound (and no dense pot smell and drunks), but I kind of liked the experience and wonder why more bands don’t try performing this way.

We’ve already downloaded Wasting Light from iTunes, grabbing the “deluxe edition” with some re-mixes. Stace has already listened to it a dozen times at least. It’s another really good rock record by Dave Grohl and his great band. Be sure to check out Back and Forth if you’re a fan of the rock documentary form.