The Foo Fighters were farging fabulous. Fine musicians, totally on, acoustic foo… ten great songs in the set including a pile of them from the soon to be released “Skin and Bones” CD. Petra Hayden Haden (late of “That Dog”) joined them on violin, mandolin and vocals… her mandolin work was extraordinary. Acoustic is kind of an understatement of course. The instruments were acoustic but so wonderfully amplified that they blew my ears out. The keyboard player (Bobby Chaffee Rami Jaffe) played piano, of course, but also keytar, organ and the accordion.
Set list?
- Times like these
- Marigold
- My hero
- Big me
- Next year
- See you
- Another round
- (Taylor Hawkins track number nine)
- Skin and Bones
- Everlong
There was a brief intermission and then an industrial music assemblage of older men in hats and a pedal steel guitar player took the stage and jumped into a song called “Maggie’s Farm.” The keyboard player (who occasionally swapped out on harmonica) was a thin guy in a black suit with red trim wearing a flat brimmed zorro hat with silver conchos on the band. The drummer wore some kind of brimless middle eastern looking thing. The three guitarists wore classic fedoras. (The lead guitarist had the best one). The pedal steel player needed no hat. He was younger with a full head of hair. They played another fifteen songs before they were through.
The pedal steel was all about air horns halfway through the set when they played Highway 61. More about this later I think. I better go to bed now. Tomorrow is a work day and this whole experience was almost too fun to blog.
Update: Denny Freeman, the lead guitar last night in the Bob Dylan Band was wearing a classic homburg with rolled brim.
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bmo 11.01.06 at 1:50
all you citizen journo types are obsessed with the hats. you have to get by the hats.
Bruce 11.01.06 at 7:23
yes, bmo, but this is a fine observation: “The pedal steel player needed no hat. He was younger with a full head of hair.”
Along the same lines, when was the last time you saw The Edge without a hat?
Exactly.
Frank, so older men can still rock? Who knew…
bmo 11.01.06 at 8:13
well, bruce, let’s face it, hair is a hat, of sorts, a hat: hair for those with none, I suppose.
But let’s face it, there’s more to Shania Twain than her hair.
I guess The Edge just wants to keep that big brain of his warm.
I’m thinking about taking on a hat again, better than taking up a pipe, or a walking stick or a cape, but I’m just not sure there is a hat for me - apart from the tin foil jobbies. See, then the focus would be on the hat, always on the hat, look at me, look at my hat. Look at my shaved head.
Actually I think I’m wrong, maybe we need to focus on the hats more. See these as more than just tics or affectations.
Right, that’s it, I’m spending the day out looking at hats. Branding opp.
Frank Paynter 11.01.06 at 9:29
as the hat juggling in “Waiting for Godot” undoubtedly was inspired by the Marx brotehrs’ “Duck Soup,” so here the hats, the costumes of the band were undoubtedly inspired by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi in “The Blues Brothers.”
madame l. 11.02.06 at 5:40
petra hayden is charlie hayden’s daughter interestingly enough. and part of a triplet.
Frank Paynter 11.02.06 at 6:56
Thanks for that info, Leslie. Here’s a link to a recent Amy Goodman interview with Charlie
HaydenHaden. Petra and her sisters are mentioned.gabriel 11.02.06 at 7:59
the keyboardist playing with the Foo Fighters is Rami Jaffee, from the Wallflowers. You might have heard of their frontman.
enjoyed reading the blog, first time.
madame l. 11.03.06 at 1:25
this old dog says: oops, that should be Haden. nice interview.