So the excitement was beginning to build when I woke up on Tuesday, although no anticipation can really get going without a dose of java. I spent some time hanging out with my brother in the morning, and wonderful brother that he is, he not only took out the trash…but also pointed out that the giant luna moth on the wall would make a great photo. +1 brother point to JR!
I finally got on the road sometime after 9:00 a.m. The road between Springfield, MO and Tulsa OK is…well…the road. RV sales places, lots of Adult video store billboards. I really need to get off the interstate. Oh yeah…I forgot the trucks…lots and lots of trucks. So many trucks they were practically stacked up. ;)
I stopped in Joplin for gas and road snacks and stopped next to this night club with old cars sticking out of the roof…can’t beat that!
I was quite enjoying the lovely bursts of wildflowers along the roadside in Missouri, but once I crossed into Oklahoma, they vanished. Oddly enough, so did the road kill. For a while I pondered why there weren’t wildflowers and road kill in Oklahoma, but then I caught up to the mowing crews. I don’t know if they clean up the road kill too, but I suppose someone must. Neither duty sounds particularly appealing. I wish they didn’t have to mow down the wildflowers…but I’m glad someone picks up the gruesome mangled animal carcasses.
Another thing I noticed about north eastern Oklahoma…no crops. Miles and miles of pastureland with cows as far as the eye can see…but no crops.
I’m starting to wonder if I truly trust my GPS. I mean, it gets me where I want to go, and every time I second guess it I get burned…but other times it skips stuff, or doesn’t quite give enough warning, or uses a highway number different from what is on the signs. I suppose it’s not that different than a human navigator, subject to errors but usually reliable. Though, no human navigator I’ve ever traveled with insisted that I go right back and drive through that closed section of road. GPS doesn’t handle construction, accidents, or other detours well. Recalculating…DAMN IT!
I was hoping for more exploration/photo time, but I had to crank it to get to Tulsa in time to get ready for the gig. Unfortunately, no DSLRs allowed at the show, but my little point & shoot was allowed, so I settled into the hotel room, walked the dog, and charged up my camera battery while I showered.
So I got to the show kind of early, hung out with the crowd at the front door. The Foo fans are an interesting swath of humanity; everything from ten year olds, chicks with pink hair, to the guy you get your homeowner’s insurance from. I should have taken more photos of the crowd, but I was saving my batteries.
My seats were FREAKING incredible! I was so close to the stage that I bounced a little bit. Biffy Clyro started the show, apparently they’re massive rock stars everywhere but in the US. They were awesome, sort of a Zepplin/Weezer love child.
Motorhead…was fucking MOTORHEAD! They absolutely rocked and by the time Lemmy was all done with us, the crowd was PUMPED! Me included.
When the Foo Fighters took the stage, everyone in the place leapt to their feet cheering wildly and doing that devil-fingered fist-pump thing…like ya do. They led off with Bridges Burning then immediately shifted into Rope. To kill us all completely, then they blasted into The Pretender. I can’t recall everything they played, but we were several songs into it before Dave took a pause to chat with the audience.
Dave loves audience participation, so he forced us to sing along quite a few times and kept running down into the audience. There was a platform at the other end of the floor, and he ran over to it for the traditional Stacked Actors guitar battle with Chris Shifflet and appeared there by magic ;) at the start of the encore. From the platform, Dave told the audience that there is never a shitty seat at a Foo Fighters show!
The show was absolutely beyond expectations. They played for nearly three hours and seemed to enjoy every freaking minute as much as the crowd did. Dave ran around and told jokes, and rocked his ass off including…INCLUDING…having Lemmy up to sing Shake Your Blood! Dave gave Lemmy a big hug before the song (t’nawww) and after Lemmy said the Foo Fighters were the greatest fucking rock band ever. Who are we to argue with Lemmy?
I was thrilled when they played For All the Cows and Hey, Johnny Park. They played a couple of covers too. The one that really knocked my socks off was Tie Your Mother Down by Queen which Taylor sang! :D
There was a seriously annoying dorky couple in front of me and the whole row of hipsters I was sitting next to got irritated. I drank too much and kept having to go pee. Thanks to intermissions, I didn’t have to miss any of the show, but DAMN those arenas are HUGE!
I took about a bazillion photos! I wish I could have had the DSLR, but my little point and shoot did a pretty fine job. See?
Foo Fighters Photos here
After the show, I battled traffic and got back to the hotel. It took a little while for the adrenaline to wear off, but I was stone cold asleep within an hour. And that was the end of a totally exhilarating and exhausting rock and roll day.
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