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

 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 around the front of the stage when I noticed some people coming out of target and saw it was Pat Smear and the guys minus Dave.  I was able to go over and talk to Pat where a friend took a picture of us talking and he signed my cd cover.  Have had the pleasure of meeting Pat a few times and he is always so friendly and genuine to talk to.  The entire parking lot quickly filled up and soon there was a hubbub as Dave came out of Tower and there was an eruption of cheers.  The band proceeded to tear through a 14 song set that included: “Monkey Wrench”, “This is a Call”, and ‘Big Me’. 

After the show ended, I hopped in my car and high tailed it home.  Showered and put on the Tux and off to dinner.  All in all a pretty awesome day.  I have attached pictures taken that day.  Not sure who took the photo of me and Pat but if you are reading this I would love to know! I consider myself lucky to have seen Taylor’s first show with the Foo Fighters and we were so looking forward to seeing them at Merriweather Post Pavilion.  RIP TAYLOR HAWKINS  





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