The Keen and Average Teen.

So yesterday was probably the best day I've had in my entire life. Ever. If you know me at all, you know music is a pretty freaking big part of my life. Especially Foo Fighters. Here's the story...

It was a cold and rainy morning in the dumb city of Jackson. Although I do like cold-and rain. I was miserable though, first of all because I felt like 'poop', second of all because it was Monday, and third of all because I was almost positive I wouldn't be going to the Foo Fighters concert in Detroit. Or anywhere else, for that matter. I got ready for school. I went to school. I came home. Simple, stupid, everyday activities that get boring VERY quickly. I did my homework, I was happily surprised that I didn't have much. My dad comes home and tells me to finish it up, so I'm all like, "Okay." But on the inside, I was like,"Why do you want me to finish so quickly?" Hopeful but pessimistic about why he was telling me to finish so quick, I finished it. "Dad, I'm thirsty," I said, wanting a Dr. Pepper. "Alright, let's go get some then. Mackenzie, are you staying here?" he asked my sister. "Yeah. Mom said that you and Marisa were going to do something while her and I do something," she replied. I suddenly became much more suspicious. So my dad and I walked out to the car. If I had known where I was going for sure, I wouldn't have dressed so... uglyish. I purposely dressed worse than usual that day because it was lounge day at school. But anyways, we got into the car. He has a coupon hoarding problem, so I figured the papers he was holding in front of my face were.... well.... coupons. I say, "*laughs* Why are you showing me your coupons?" He doesn't say anything, so I lean over to get my seat belt on. And when I turn back, he's still holding them in the exact same place. I say, "What the crap?" and inspected them closer, for it was evident that he wanted me to observe them. I see the words 'F-O-O F-I-G-H-T-E-R-S' spelled out on them. I read the rest. They were tickets to the concert at the Palace! I was quite surprised that my reaction wasn't more.... reactional? Is that even a word? But yeah. I seem to react more when fantasizing about things happening then when they actually do happen. I don't know why. So I just said "Ohhhhh!" with a very odd look on my face. Not that that's unusual or anything. So we go to Subway to get something to eat. We got there t approximately 4:19 p.m. Early, I know, but the concert was supposed to start at 7. So we wait in line FOREVER even though there were only 2 people in front of us. When we finally got our food and cups and crap... I go to get my Dr. Pepper. My dad had to pee or something, so I went to get his iced tea for him. I fill it up with ice and walk over to the iced tea machine. It was completely empty. My dad comes back, and he's all irritated because we had to wait long enough for our subs, and now we had to wait for her to brew some freaking tea. It took her longer to come over there then it actually took the tea to brew. Finally it was done, and we got the tea and ate in the car. We were there until, like, 4:45 or something. Too long. We start driving down there, and I'm so internally excited that it takes me forever to eat my sub. We were almost halfway there when I finished it. But soon after I finished my sub, we hit this giant array of cars, all stuck in traffic. It was rush hour in Novi, a suburb of Detroit. Perfect. We were both stressing out now, because we both figured we'd be too late to see Rise Against open for them. That traffic jam delayed us almost 15 minutes. But we finally got there, around 6:58. I think they delayed the start a bit due to the traffic, because nobody was playing when we got there. I see the t-shirt table and I start freaking out, because that's when it hit me-I was at a Foo Fighters concert. There was a huge line, but we didn't care because we wanted t-shirts, they were only $25, and they'd probably be out if we waited until it was over. So we do that. Then we go in, after passing through the row of men with metal detectors that were scanning everybody. On the way there, I had developed a very strong urge to urinate. So I went to the restroom and urinated. I'm sure you wanted to know that. Not. I come out, and my dad is registering for radio contests. I entered too, for the heck of it. Then the radio station guy asked me what my shirt said. I was wearing a hoodie over my "To gnome me is to love me" t-shirt with a lawn gnome on it. So I unzip it and let him see. "Awwww!" he says. "Cute." I say, "Thanks," with a smile and hurriedly catch up with my dad, who had already left to find what entrance into the concert area we were supposed to enter. We enter and take our seats. Mariachi El Bronx had just finished playing, but there weren't too many people in there yet. Then they take away his gear, and set up Rise Against's. I had already liked Rise Against prior to the concert, so I was excited for them, too. In the meantime, my dad was messing with his iPod. I started messing with mine, but not paying too much attention to it. I was keeping a keen eye on how Rise Against's crew was setting up the stage. More and more people just kept flowing in. Eventually, Rise Against finishes setting up.... we about 10 more minutes, and the lights dim down. There were a bit more people in the area now, it was about 70% full. Then Tim McIlrath comes out, and the band starts playing. They were great, and if I was that excited for them, imagine how pumped they got me for Foo Fighters. I'm pretty sure that's the opening act's job, though. Nobody was standing up for them (except for the people without chairs), and Tim said, "You know, I don't mean to sound all biased when I say that the audience in St. Louis was standing up! Just saying..." and some more people booed to St. Louis, even though it wasn't like they could hear them over in St. Louis, and stood up. Haha. I liked that guy's sense of humour. And, of course, his band.

Rise Against was brilliant. When they got done though, I was obviously bouncing off of the walls, because that meant Foo Fighters were next. There was an intermission for around 20 minutes or so, but it seemed like hours to me. Then finally, the lights dimmed again. I got uber excited, I felt like I was going to explode. Everybody stands up and starts screaming and clapping and stuff, and I got very hyper. Then I heard the guitar come in, and the giant screens of lights on the stage lit up, but I couldn't see Foo Fighters. I realized when the giant screens of light arose that the Foos were playing behind those. I had a super attack of hyper spasms when I saw Dave, playing his signature blue guitar and started singing Bridge Burning. He kept making the 'Dave face'(I'll put a picture of what I'm talking about on the end of this post XD), and it was proof that it was indeed Dave Grohl. <3 After Bridge Burning, they played Rope. I couldn't freaking believe it. I was at a Foo Fighters concert. After they played the first 2 or 3 songs, Dave talks to the audience. I have a poor memory, so I am unable to recall allllll of it, but I remember some parts. He said something like this, " You know, I think this is the biggest audience we've ever had in Detroit! *audience shouts in approval* We're gonna play for 3 f*****g hours tonight! Is that okay with you? *audience shouts in approval* Good, because we're going to play until we f*****g can't stand up anymore! *audience shouts in approval* You know, I hate those bands who do, like, an hour and 20 minute show..." and they resumed playing. A couple songs later, he's about to play This is a Call, and he asks, "How many old Foo Fighters fans do we have out there tonight? *some of audience shouts to indicate that they are old Foo Fighters fans* *laughs* You old farts! *laughs* This one's for you! *pauses* How many of you is this your 1st Foo Fighters concert? *majority of audience shouts to indicate that it is their first Foo Fighters concert* D**n, you all go home right now and learn the songs first! (he was using his sarcasm <3) How many of you are under 16? *some of audience shouts to indicate that they are under 16, including me*" Then I can't remember for sure what he said, which irritates me greatly, because it was to me and the rest of the people there under 16. They extended many of the songs with long but amazing instrumental parts (a part of the song was extended and vocals were removed), and it as freaking amazing. A while later, they try to prank the audience with a fake end of the concert. They just walk off of the stage, and Dave says, "Goodnight!" and they just go backstage for a bit. Either the tech people were in on it or they weren't, because they turned on the auditorium lights and everything. Some people actually left. Poor suckers. Because eventually, a camera backstage was turned on, revealing the band taking a break to eat and stuff. The audience was booing and shouting, "Encore!" ever since they had left the stage. Then Dave holds up his fingers to ask how many songs the audience wants left. He held up 1, and we all booed, 2, booed, 3, somewhat booed, 4, less booing, 5, booing, then he starts with his middle finger up alone and proceeds to indicate 6. Everybody cheered. So Dave comes back out and plays an acoustic version of Long Road to Ruin. It was amazing, I've always loved that song. Then he started playing Times Like These, when the band magically appears (behind the giant screens again, which rose up-again) and starts playing with him. It was truly an amazing experience. In the middle of the show, he pauses and looks/sounds all serious. People got all quiet. He says, "This is a song called I Should Have Known." and starts playing. Some people sat down, and many looked sad and/or nostalgic. It was the song about Kurt. The band didn't do any fancy stuff to elongate the song, it still pains them to think about Kurt. I remained standing to show my respect for Kurt. You know, like how you stand during the national anthem? It was really intense, for everybody there. It was a soft spot of Dave that intrigued me. Pat Smear, another guitarist in the band, also knew Kurt. And being that the 20th anniversary of Nevermind, Nirvana's blowup album, was less then week away from that show, you could tell that everybody there was already feeling nostalgic, even if they weren't around then. Like me.

SETLIST: Bridge Burning • Rope • The Pretender • My Hero • Learn To Fly • White Limo • Arlandria • Breakout • Cold Day In The Sun • Stacked Actors • Walk • Generator • Monkey Wrench • These Days • I Should Have Known • Skin And Bones • This Is A Call • All My Life • Long Road To Ruin • Best Of You • Times Like These • Dear Rosemary • Breakdown • Tie Your Mother

The setlist above isn't quite accurate. There's a couple songs missing out of it or in the wrong place, but that's basically an outline of it. They ended the show with one of their hits, Everlong, which fit well, considering that the show was about 3 hours long.

Nirvana (these photos from 1990-1994, before then Dave was not in the band)

That's Dave on the far right, Krist Novoselic in the middle, and Kurt Cobain on the far left.

Dave, Kurt, and Krist at the 1992 VMAS. They won 2 awards. And, Dave is kinda making what I've affectionately dubbed as the Dave face.

Dave, RuPaul (XD), Kurt, and Krist at the 1993 VMAS.

Kurt , Dave, and Krist trying to show the world that they don't give a f**k what the world thinks about them. They hated/hate homophobes, sexists, and women. They have/had very good moral values.

Krist, Kurt, and Dave.

Pat Smear on far left, Dave and Kurt in middle, and Krist on far right.

Dave was the drummer in the Nirvana days. He taught himself to sing and play guitar for Foo Fighters.

The Dave face:

This is kinda like the Dave face I'm talking about, except it's happier than this. This is in 1992 I believe. Let's see if I can find one like I'm talking about... I didn't think it'd be so difficult D:

This one's exactly like the one above this, except this is way more recent. I'm sure I can find one!

Getting closer!

The closest I can find, which is pretty accurate to what I'm talking about!

Foo Fighters (1995-present)

In 1995, shortly after Nirvana's tragic and sudden end. I'm sad to say that I don't know who the two men on the ends are, I'm feeling too lazy to look it up. But the ones in the middle are Dave and Pat Smear.

This makes me laugh so hard! I wonder why Pat isn't in this photo...

The Foos in 2005, Dave is to the far left, I don't know who the next one is, the one in the plaid is Taylor Hawkins, and I don't kow who the one on the end is. I feel bad now. :[

Well, my internet is being really retarded and won't let me add the couple more photos I want to add. Ugh. Whatever. Dumb Firefox.

Look here for really cool, professional photos that somebody took of the Foos at the concert on Monday! He has a gallery of Rise Against's performance on this site too, as well as Mariachi El Bronx's. No seriously, you'd better look, or I'm going to cry.