Sunday, December 31, 2017

jamming in the san bernardino sun

Most people who hang out with me know that I despise the Forum and I hate Dodger Stadium, each for various reasons that inconvenience me. And there are a very select few musical acts I will go to those places to see in concert. Yet there is one single band I've seen at both places... and that fact should explain why I trekked to god-forsaken San Bernardino in October when it was a billion degrees outside for Cal Jam 17 at Glen Helen Amphitheater.

That band had an idea... and I and 65,000 other sweaty people joined in...



The parking was a nightmare -- we ended up on the other side of I-15 and had to walk a mile each way to the venue. (How about some shuttles next year Dave?). And I already mentioned it was a billion degrees outside in October. But other than that, for an outdoor, all-day music festival, the event was actually pretty well organized. There were tons of food and beverage stands, water stations to fill up water bottles, and a bit of shade here and there.

We arrived around 2:30 so my friend Lisa could see/hear Royal Blood on the main stage while we cooled down with shaved ice. Then we went in search of cooler temps and found them (after waiting in line for 20 minutes) inside the air-conditioned tent housing the Foo Fighters Rock n' Roll Museum,  which was packed with two decades of memorabilia -- everything from the "footos" in the "Big Me" video to Dave's throne from the Sonic Highways tour and the cast that necessitated said throne...



                     
Dave's motorcycle throne from Love Ride 2016


The "White Limo"



The knitted band name from the "Run" video

Wigs that aged the band in the "Run" video

"Best of You" lyrics

"Big Me" video's famous "Footos"








"Wasting Light" recording chart





My favorite guitar in the world :)

Photos from the Sonic Highways recordings/shoot.

Dave's original post-op drug-enduced sketches for the "throne"

After spending an hour in the air-conditioning, we went to get dinner, then settled into seats for the night's top three acts: Cage the Elephant, Queens of the Stone Age, and my beloved Foo Fighters, who played until past midnight with many, many special guests.

Enjoy this sampling (and be thankful I spared you the train wreck of Liam Gallager trying to sing "Come Together" with the band and Joe Perry -- that was almost 3 months ago and my ears still hurt)...

Foo Fighters "La Dee Da " w/ Dave Koz and Allison Mosshart @ CalJam17

 Foo Fighters and Rick Astley "Never Gonna Give You Up" @ CalJam17

 Foo Fighters "Dirty Water" w/ Inara George @ CalJam 17

 Foo Fighters and Joe Perry "Draw The Line" @ CalJam17

No comments:

Post a Comment