Shuroki Online

I had the pleasure last night to see Foo Fighters and Weezer in concert. This was actually our son Tommy’s first concert – not bad for a nine year old – and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

The show was at the Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Previously I’ve seen Duran Duran there and really like the venue for concerts. I can’t wait to see Depeche Mode there in a couple months!

It’s not the largest stadium, so many acts could never fit, but there’s not a bad seat in the house and it’s easy to get around inside. It’s also easy to get in and out of. Sure, there is the average traffic jam associated with leaving any event with large attendance, but it’s relatively painless getting in and getting seated.

The opening act was from the UK and called “”Kaiser Kings”". They had a rocky start, taking the stage with Dire Straits “”Money For Nothing”" blaring in the background, and the first song really didn’t grab me with it’s falsetto hooting – but they got progressively better as they played on. I’m not sure that I’ll run out and buy the album, but they are definitely worth a closer listen. They had a “”Weezer-ish”" retro vibe and good energy on stage.

Next up was Weezer, and they were amazing. They are so damn cool, even with their anti-cool “”image”". After an opening song or two, the introduction came “”We are collectively known as Weezer…… and we are here to rock you.”" – and boy did they!

They blasted through some songs that I wasn’t really familiar with, though they did play all of their hits, including “”Buddy Holly”", “”Don’t Let Go”", “”Hash Pipe”", “”Beverly Hills”", “”Say It Ain’t So”", and the like. At one point, they announced that they heard that Foo Fighters weren’t going to play “”Big Me”", so they learned it, and played it, and did a very impressive job with it!

For an encore lead singer, Rivers Cuomo appeared alone next to the sound booth at the back of the stadium with an acoustic guitar and played “”Islands in the Sun”". Since he was off-stage for the next song, they announced a winner for some guitar-playing contest, and a local young lady was called up on stage to play “”Undone (The Sweater Song)”" with the rest of the band. It was so much fun watching her excitement playing on stage to a packed house with Weezer.

Finally, Foo Fighters took the stage and as a complete contrast to Weezer’s laid back presentation with simple background and lighting, the Foos erupted with giant video screens, and gritting growling the title track of their latest CD “”In Your Honor”". Then they steam rolled through “”All My Life”", “”Best of You”", “”Times Like These”", “”My Hero”", “”Stacked Actress”", and all of my other favorites.

A highlight came close to the beginning, a couple songs in. I had no idea that Dave Grohl was from this area, and he talked a little about getting a ticket on highway 50, the three different Northern Virginia high schools he attended, and stated “”I never went to George Mason, but I’ve gotten high here a few times”" then apologized to his mom and point her out and his father out sitting at the sound booth. He had them hold a spotlight on his mom and sang the first half of “”Up In Arms”" to her before mumbling “”ok, here’s the heavy part you’re going to hate”" and charged through the rest of the song as the spotlight on mom and dad faded out.

At one point Dave ran across the floor and jumped up onto the platform that Rivers used to play “”Islands In the Sun”", for a little bit of dueling guitar solo, then made his way back up on stage to jam through the rest of the set.

We had so much fun, all of the bands were so good. We were a little surprised at just how loud the Foos were and there were a number of people commenting on it as we made our way through the parking lots to our car. I heard one girl remark “”Man, that was louder than Ozzfest and they had a whole Sabbath reunion thing going on”". I don’t know about all that, but we came to be rocked and were definitely not let down!

Happy first concert Tommy – this was a night I’ll never forget and I’m very glad to be able to share that with you.
Music is such an important, emotional force, and I’m proud of how open you are to listen to all different types of bands and make your own mind up as to what’s good.