Foo Fighters Unplugged

It's about time that Foo Fighters did Unplugged. The show has been allowing artists that are not Unplugged-worthy. They are either too focused on rap and R&B, newer artists that aren't going to last, or older artists that we just don't care about (i.e. Bon Jovi). At least Foo Fighters deserve the spot.

Dave Grohl explained a lot of songs and stories that connect with his music, which added more levels to his music. He talked about how having children impacted his music career. He talked about the trajectory of their career over the past fifteen years. He talked about how unreal it is that this that they have made it this far.

Besides the discussion part, the music was also really good. I was proud that they picked some new songs too since they are a band that can tend to focus on the same old, same old songs. The songs they picked were because of the story. THAT is impressive.

Here are the songs they played with explanation:

"This is a Call"

Dave discussed how he started the band fifteen years ago. He rented an underground studio for five days and recorded their first self-titled album all by himself. He didn't see it as anything serious. He called the band Foo Fighters because he wanted other people to see that it was made by a group--not just him.

"Big Me"

Once the band was formed and their popularity started to grow, they were approached by VH1 and other big-name music corporations to make a music video. They scoffed at the offer at first because they didn't want to become too sucked into the media. But, they soon agreed and had many pitches for music videos. The one that sucked them in first was a Mentos commercial spoof for "Big Me." The guitarist warned Dave, saying that after this, Mentos will be thrown at the stage from now on. Dave brushed that idea aside, but he was wrong. Mentos would POUR onto the stage during this song which became painful for band members.

Ten years later, after they stopped playing the song for fear of injury, they decided to play it. A full pack of Mentos soared onto the stage and right at Dave's face. He stopped playing immediately and decided that it was all end there. Dave made a speech and decided that they would burn the Mentos pack as a rital to bring it all to an end. But when he reached in his pocket, he didn't have a lighter. He asked the audience for once, and instead of Mentos packs raining down on him, lighters were.

"Wheels"



"My Hero"

This song was one of the first songs they played on tour. They only had 12 songs to play (from the first album), so they started to play this song. Whenever Grohl hears the melody of this song, he thinks of a "Valley Girl" theme song. He started to list off heroes in his life that influenced him. As a whole, the song embodies how he feels towards all of his heroes.

"Word Forward"

Grohl lost his best friend recently which made him reflect on his past. He was in a really dark period because he discovered a lot of cool things that changed his life, including music. He considered him to be like a brother. He wrote this song about moving on after your best friend passes away and there's only one direction to go--forward.

"Everlong"

When they wrote their second album, it was ready to go. But, they recorded one more song and wondered if they should include it. They wrote a demo and realized that it was pretty good--they should include it. Grohl says that without that song, they might not have lasted the 13 extra years.

When they toured with Bob Dylan years later, he asked to speak with Grohl. They discussed other things, but at the end of the conversation, Dylan asked Grohl what the song was with the lines, "will everything feel this good forever..." in which Grohl responded, "Everlong." Dylan suggested that they play that more often. That is a good song. Blown away, Grohl agreed.

So what do you think of Foo Fighters Unplugged?