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Foo Fighters - Tower Records - Rockville, MD - 5/16/1997

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  Foo Fighters Congressional Plaza Tower Records Parking Lot Rockville Maryland 5/16/1997 https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/foo-fighters/1997/tower-records-rockville-md-23d4781f.html   With this Saturday marking the day of the first Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts I felt like I had to write about the first time I saw him playing in the Foo Fighters (actually his first performance as a Foo).  Previously I saw Taylor slaying the drums for Alanis during her “Jagged Little Pill” tour with Radiohead opening and I remember hearing him shine.  When I heard that Taylor was joining Dave and the guys I was excited to hear them and then I found out they were playing my hometown Tower Records(RIP) for free.  The concert was on a Friday afternoon and my mom said I could skip school as it was prom night (pretty sure it was my gf at the times prom) and I didn’t ever ask to skip school for a concert (Thanks Mom). Got to the parking lot about an hour before the concert was supposed to start and milled aro
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L7 at the Black Cat 8/18/95

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  L7 at the Black Cat 8/18/95   As I noted in a previous blog I saw two of my all time best shows on back to back nights.  First was the Foo Fighters when I got to spend a long time talking to Dave, and then the next night I got to see L7 at the same venue.  The old Black Cat was a dive but it was our dive! Small, intimate, and oh so very hot and humid. After a fabulous night my friend Rachael and I headed back down to DC and hung out by the club hoping to meet the band before the show.  The staff at the venue said that the band had not arrived yet as they were playing a set in Philly during the warped tour earlier in the day.  We grabbed dinner and set up at the front of the line.     After a while, we saw a Cadillac (or other old school car) drive up loaded with L7! The girls parked right in front and piled out of the car.  We shyly said hi as they we walking toward the venue.  Donita, Jennifer, and Dee stopped right away and Suzi took off because she had to pee.  That ride from Phil
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Voters For Choice Benefit-Pearl Jam, Neil Young, L7 January 14, 1995

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  Pearl Jam, Neil Young, L7- Voters for Choice benefit Constitution Hall, Washington DC 1/14/1995   https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/pearl-jam/1995/dar-constitution-hall-washington-dc-13d65d99.html   https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/neil-young-and-crazy-horse/1995/dar-constitution-hall-washington-dc-5bd35f20.html     The minute my friends and I heard about this show we knew we had to go.  During this timeframe, Pearl Jam was in an ongoing battle against service fees that ticketmaster added on to all tickets and was booking shows independent of them.  So it was not like we could go to the local mall and sleep outside to get tickets.  It was announced that they were doing a drawing where if you sent in a postcard and it was selected you would have the opportunity to purchase 2 tickets.  My friends and I sent in hundreds of postcards and you guessed it NONE of the cards were selected.  We were gutted but we went to Tower Records (RIP) and picked up an issue of the City Paper (also RIP) and wh
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John Frusciante-Live at Angel Orensanz Foundation NYC 3/15/2001

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https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/john-frusciante/2001/angel-orensanz-foundation-centre-for-the-arts-new-york-ny-43de2373.html This review is very near and dear to my heart.  I went to a small liberal arts college in Allentown, PA.  My roommates and I were/are HUGE Red Hot Chili Peppers fans.  We started listening to John Frusciante’s solo albums as well.  His early stuff was very experimental and were recorded at a time when he left the Peppers due to drug addiction and not wanting to be in the limelight anymore.  As time went on, he rejoined the Peppers while still maintaining his prolific solo career.  Then we heard that he was putting out a new album called “To Record Only Water For Ten Days” and my roommate Bryan and I had to get it on release day.  When we got to the car, we put it in the cd player and were blown away.  This album became a must play in our apartment.  A few weeks later I saw that John was coming to NYC to play in an old church.  I was able to get 4 tickets and the g
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Nirvana, The Breeders, Half Japanese Bender Arena Washington DC

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https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/nirvana/1993/bender-arena-washington-dc-6bd67e8a.html https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-breeders/1993/bender-arena-washington-dc-73801691.html   On a cool day in November 1993, My friends and I met up at American University in the afternoon of the concert.  We always tried to arrive early for general admission concerts as we wanted to get as close to the front as possible.  After many hours of waiting and many bathroom breaks, the door opened, and we made a mad rush for the front of the stage.  We made it and were front and mostly center.  To paint a picture, this arena had virtually no airflow or ventilation.  Hotter than Hades is probably generous.  So as the place filled more people started to push to get closer.   The night prior to the concert I spent the night at my best friend Kevin's house we were watching Headbangers Ball on MTV (yes they actually played videos back then).  This awesome video came on by a band called The Breeders.  W
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Foo Fighters and Shudder to Think

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  Foo Fighters as “surprise guest” to Shudder to Think My friends and I missed out on getting tickets to the Foo Fighters show at the Capitol Ballroom (RIP) and were really bummed out.   Then we saw Shudder to Think who was opening that show was playing the following night at the black cat with a “surprise guest”.   We knew it had to be the Foo Fighters as Dave owned part of that club.   My friend Rachel and I got tickets on the off chance we were correct.   Rachel had attended the Mike Watt show at the black cat that had Dave grohl on drums and Eddie Vedder on guitar.   She got to meet them! Unfortunately for me I had an appointment that night and didn’t get to go. We decided to go down very early to the possible foo fighters gig and hang out incase it was them.   Rachel knocked on the door and a familiar looking guy opened it.   She asked if Dave was around and the guy said he was soundchecking but would come out after.   I was like there is no way he will come out.   Boy was I w
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2nd Show: Aerosmith and the Black Crowes

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 setlist: Aerosmith Concert Setlist at Capital Centre, Landover on July 28, 1990 | setlist.fm The Black Crowes Concert Setlist at Capital Centre, Landover on July 28, 1990 | setlist.fm I absolutely loved the Aerosmith album Pump and had heard a decent amount of their earlier stuff so I was so excited to be able to see them live.  My sister took me to this show and our seats were side view not far from the stage.  This tour had the Black Crowes opening and I was blown away.  This was my first "hard rock" concert and the two bands did not disappoint.  My memories are a little sporadic but looking at the setlist, I was able to flashback! Highlights of the set were "what it takes", "Dream on", and "sweet emotion".  Seeing Steven Tyler sit down to his huge piano and belt out "Dream On" with everyone in the crowd singing at the top of their lungs brought out goosebumps.  Joe Perry shreading had my jaw wide open.  I was in awe of the music tha
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