by Martin James
The 1997 world tour kicked off in the UK at Cambridge’s Corn Exchange on May 19. In the days that followed Foo Fighters took in Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Nottingham Rock City, Leeds Town and Country, Glasgow Barrowlands, Manchester Apollo and the Guildhall in Southampton, ending the UK leg with two dates at London’s Astoria.
In their review of the first night at The Astoria, The Times declared the Foos to be “a thrilling dose of assault-rock ’n’ roll at its finest”, while arguing that Grohl appeared to have developed a “commanding stage presence.” It was certainly true that he had moved on from the endless hair flailing and goofing around that marked out the earlier shows. His interaction with the audience became more effective and his movements less frenetic. On stage it was becoming more and more the Grohl show. Not even Pat Smear could match his growing aura.
Midway through the UK leg of the tour, The Colour And The Shape was released in the US. The following week, the second single from the album, ‘Everlong’ was released, featuring B-sides that were recorded live at the BBC for an April 1997 session and on May 25 at Manchester’s Apollo, again for a BBC Radio 1 broadcast. Released as another two CD set, Part 1 featured ‘Drive Me Wild’ from the BBC Evening Session and ‘See You’ from Manchester. While Part 2 found ‘Requiem’ being lifted from the session and ‘I’ll Stick Around’ being taken from the live show.
The band opened the US leg of the tour on June 7, following a one-day stop off in Paris to play at L’Arapaho. The first date of the US tour was at Randalls Island in New York to play the second Tibetan Freedom Festival. The tour would take in dates in Mansfield, Irvine and New York before landing in Washington on July 9, at the 9:30 Club for a homecoming show that brought all of his family and old friends out to see the Foo Fighters show.
Hyperactive as ever, Grohl darted from person to person, smiling and generally acting the congenial host. Constantly by his side was his mother, who has remained supportive throughout the years, turning up to numerous Foo shows – just as she had with his previous bands. Grohl was centre stage and loving it.
“I always shoot myself in the foot when I play in Washington,” explained Grohl at the gig. “Because I call everyone I know and tell them to come down and hang out, and I’m so excited to see everybody, but then of course there’s not time to spend with everyone, and by the time I go on I think, ‘My God, my whole soccer team from when I was in fifth grade is here and I haven’t had a chance to talk to them.’ But that’s the way it goes and I hope people understand.” (11)
It was clear by this stage that Grohl had metamorphosed into an enigmatic band leader (“I don’t like to say that,” he argues. “Foo Fighters wasn’t my band. It was my demo tape, and that became the band”) and a skilled interviewer. His handling of the press would find him disarming awkward questions with a smile, followed by a polite refusal to answer any questions he didn’t like. These usually revolved around the inevitable questions about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.
Two things were immediately apparent. When Grohl wanted to talk about something, he was a funny and enthusiastic interviewee. Bring up any subject that he didn’t want to discuss and he’d stop talking altogether. Surprisingly he never came over as moody, or belligerent, just a professional man who had drawn a line through the past and was living very much for the present.
On July 26, the Foos’ touring machine flew to Yamanashi, Japan for the Fuji Rock Festival. A hugely popular gig with bands, due not only to the fantastic crowds but also the breathtaking festival site at the foot of Mount Fuji, the show was the epitome of organisation. People were bussed into the location, their tickets checked with utmost efficiency and speed, while the stage management itself ran like clockwork, each change-over handled with speed and the absolute minimum of fuss.
Furthermore the security was second to none. There was no blagging your way past Japanese guards who stood by the backstage entrance. Without the correct pass you could have been the lead singer in the headlining band and you still wouldn’t have got past. Backstage itself was strictly limited to band and crew only – this being one festival that didn’t turn into an industry schmooze from beginning to end.
Foo Fighters were booked to play alongside Prodigy, Rage Against The Machine, Beck, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day among others. However, this year’s Mount Fuji Festival was to prove to be a particularly memorable one.
Grohl recalls why: “Oh my God… It was us and the Chili Peppers, Beck, Green Day, Prodigy… a ton of really great bands and on the first day a fucking typhoon hit. The show went on and I’m on the stage, the rain’s coming in sideways so hard I can’t open my eyes. I’m standing in a puddle, holding an electric guitar, with about 60 million watts of power running through everything, thinking for sure I was about to die. They had to cancel the second day because the stage was sinking into the ground. I totally fucking loved it. It was insane.” (12)
On August 28, following festival dates around Europe (including Chelmsford and Leeds) the band arrived in Seattle to play the Bumbershoot Festival. Given the fact that the gig was in the home town of Sub Pop and the grunge phenomenon, a place which both Grohl and Mendel had called home for a number of years, inevitably the show was the subject of huge speculation as to who might guest with the Foos. Eddie Vedder was a favourite.
The band’s set brought together the best moments from the first two albums with highlights coming in the shape of a resounding version of ‘Alone + Easy Target’ and stunning takes on ‘February Stars’ and ‘Everlong’. For the encore they were joined by Krist Novoselic to play versions of Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ and Led Zeppelin’s ‘Communication Breakdown’. The crowd were at first stunned and then responded with an almost deafening roar.
A few days later on September 4, Foo Fighters were booked to play the MTV Video Awards being held at Radio City Music Hall. The band was to play a three song set including ‘Monkey Wrench’, ‘My Hero’ and ‘Everlong’. Two songs in, Pat Smear threw his guitar to the ground and walked off stage. He had quit the band, literally there and then in front of the MTV cameras, only to return with his replacement in tow, one Franz Stahl! “That last song was my last with the band,” he announced to the crowd. “I’d like to introduce Franz Stahl who will be taking over. Rock on guys. FOO FIGHTERS!” Possibly one of the greatest band splits of all-time?!
Stahl had quit his band Wool to join Foo Fighters. “Ultimately it’s great to be back again with Dave, being friends in a musical sense,” explained Stahl after the show. “I think my brightest moments playing music were with Dave. I saw when Taylor joined Foo Fighters, there was a spark, an infusion of energy that reminded me of a time Dave came over to the basement to audition for Scream.”
Grohl’s reunion with his long time friend became somewhat overshadowed by the speculation that surrounded Smear’s departure. According to the rumours, it was due to a power struggle between Grohl and Smear. Other observers suggested that Grohl’s relationship with Louise Post of Veruca Salt had caused the friction. Grohl steadfastly dismissed the rumours as a “bunch of internet crap”.
“The rumours had been going round for a really long time.” he continued. “Pat decided he wanted to leave a while ago, but he agreed to finish out some of the touring. So we did the American tour and the European tour. Pat’s going on. He’s doing his own thing. It’s cool.”
Talking about the departures of both Smear and Goldsmith, Grohl argued that the main reason behind the changes were due to the constant touring. Grohl may have been a hyperactive guy with a love of constant touring, but the rest of the band on the other hand needed to take a break occasionally.
“Pat had never really toured other than with Nirvana – he’d never been in a band for more than a year so his career in Foo Fighters was as long as he’d ever experienced. When Pat left it was understood that we were gonna continue. When all bands start they always make a pact that if one person quits they’re gonna break up, but it never really works out that way, particularly when thin
gs are going so well.” (13)
Among the rumours that surrounded Smear’s very public resignation was the suggestion that he was totally against the Foo Fighters’ next move, playing as support to the Rolling Stones. It was an act that was totally against Smear’s punk principles. Only a few years earlier, Grohl had derided U2’s Bono for suggesting that Nirvana support them. Now he was happy to play opener for the world’s biggest rock dinosaurs. Had Grohl lost his principles in pursuit of success on the long rock ’n’ roll ladder?
However, rock historians will tell you that the Rolling Stones were originally one of the music world’s most incendiary and visceral bands; others might argue that the tag of rock dinosaur was a churlish criticism of a legendary band whose main crime was to stay together and get older.
Clearly Grohl had very different principles with Foo Fighters than he had had with Nirvana. However, these principles were not tempered by egotism or the need for stardom. He simply wanted to get his music heard by as many different people as possible. Watching the band side stage at both their Chelmsford and Leeds V97 Festival dates, I was struck by how relatively small the band actually were at this stage.
On both occasions they played the mid-afternoon slot drawing crowds of around a thousand. This was in stark contrast to the Prodigy who attracted an unprecedented crowd, rammed together as far as you could see – it was obvious that Foo Fighters had some way to go before they could compete on this level. It was important for them to escape the baggage of grunge once and for all. If the bright and overblown production on The Colour And The Shape had failed to do this, then it was down to the Foo’s vibrant live experience. Playing with the Rolling Stones would bring them to another new audience. Why not?
If opening for The Stones had come as a shock to fans of the band, then two events that drew the year to a close would have people baffled. One involved hip hop impresario Puff Daddy, the other involved bottle blond drummer Roger Taylor from pomp rock deities Queen. The Puff Daddy (aka Sean Coombes) situation came about when the hip hop producer asked the Foo Fighters’ frontman to work with him on a rock version of his theme to the movie It’s All About The Benjamins. In the end Grohl played drums, bass and guitar on two versions of the track.
A month after the release of the title track as a single, Foo Fighters were joined on stage by Queen’s Roger Taylor to play a version of ‘Sheer Heart Attack’. Thus closing the year in the same way it had begun, with Grohl playing on stage with his heroes.
So, from Bowie to Queen in twelve uneasy months. 1997 would be remembered as a year when Foo Fighters lost members but gained swathes of new fans, in spite of the prevailing anti-grunge climate. It also became clear throughout this campaign that as long as Grohl wanted the band to continue, it would do so. True, the year would also be remembered for a disappointing second album. However it wasn’t all bad. The Colour And The Shape had remained in the US Billboard Top 100 all year and would feature in those listings for the twelve months to come. A few remaining hardened critics might not yet be convinced, but an increasingly adoring public at large were showing ever more obvious signs of being totally converted.
Notes
1. Foos on the road feature by Mike Peak (Kerrang!) April 1997
2. Foos on the road feature by Mike Peak (Kerrang!) April 1997
3. Foos on the road feature by Mike Peak (Kerrang!) April 1997
4. news item, no bi-line, (Melody Maker). April 19, 1997
5. Dave Grohl feature, author unknown (Guitar Magazine) 1998
6. Foos on the road feature by Mike Peak (Kerrang!) April 1997
7. Unknown
8. Foos on the road feature by Mike Peak (Kerrang!) April 1997
9. ibid
10. Eat, Drink, Breathe (and Sometimes Sleep) Music An Interview with Dave Grohl by Fish Rock and Tim Holsopple (www.manateebound.com/features/grohl.html) 2001
11. Dave Grohl Feature by Eric Brace (www.unomas.com/features/foofighters.html)
12. ibid
13. unknown
6
THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE
Why are drummers always the first to arrive anywhere? Because they keep speeding up.
“It sucked!” exclaimed new Foos guitarist Franz Stahl when questioned about that first gig at New York’s Radio City Hall for the MTV Music Awards. “When you’re nervous and sweaty, it’s kind of hard to play, and I was so nervous I think I managed to make everyone else nervous.”
Franz had known for quite sometime that he would be stepping into the breach to take over from Pat Smear. The call had come earlier in the summer of 1997, but he went on tour to Japan instead. On his return, he was hurriedly rushed into rehearsal rooms where, after only one hour he had mastered one song, ‘Everlong’. Then, after another six days of hectic rehearsals, he was thrown into the gig arena, with an hour’s worth of songs under his belt.
“I’m still not at the point where my hand can play without thinking,” said Stahl shortly after his debut. “It’s still kind of awkward, but I have a grace period. I can fuck up for a while because I’m the new guy.”(1)
When Stahl became a Foo Fighter, he was following in the footsteps of one of punk rock’s legends. However, he joined a band that was racked with disquiet. The public face of the band had been one of an easy-going gang, who all got along like the best of buddies, who enjoyed nothing more than swapping their tour bus for a sweaty van, just to get that closeness of a gang. But it wasn’t true.
The departure of Goldsmith had made this abundantly clear. Not so much through his absence, but via his replacement. When Taylor Hawkins, joined he gelled immediately with Grohl. So much so that people started joking that they had been separated at birth.
The two drummers shared the same passion for music, the same hyperactive sense of humour and above all the same level of energy for pursuing the dream of being in a band and making music. The drum duo quickly started to act like a unit that was almost separate from the others. It wasn’t a conscious thing, just something to do with chemistry.
“Taylor and I are best, best friends in the world,” Grohl would later admit. “He is like my brother. He is my best friend I ever had in life. He’s the greatest guy in the world. As friends we communicate by not even having to speak at times. Other times I reveal to him more than anyone. We’re really close, so when it comes to doing drums… He’s a phenomenal drummer, just amazing. So, when I write songs, I can hear sort of what’s going on in my head as far as the rhythm or the accents or drumming in general. I don’t want to impose on him. I don’t want to go, ‘This is exactly how it should go.’ You just try to relay the accents. ‘Feel that right there? Look at how I’m strumming the guitar. It’s a kick drum that should be right there ‘cause I want to catch that thing.’ I’ll say things like that.” (2)
Mendel, the philosophical one, was able to assimilate the new band dynamics into his worldview. Smear on the other hand didn’t have the same nature. And, as it turned out, his departure hadn’t been as amicable as that MTV speech had suggested. Indeed, his input in the Foos recording was even called into question.
Grohl later said, “We were between a rock and a hard place then. We were under his thumb. There are some songs he didn’t even play on that record (The Colour And The Shape)”. (3)
So when Franz rejoined his old friend, it wasn’t a case of rekindling the Scream flame. That belonged very much in the past. It was more a case of fitting in and finding a way to work with an altogether new beast.
“At this point, I have a good idea of what my role is, but I haven’t fully melded into being a member of the band yet,” said Stahl. “But I can’t wait to start recording and writing songs, leaving my mark on tape and playing my own parts. It’s been a while since I’ve really been working with people. In Wool, we would all bring things to the table and hash them out, and I think it’s going to be like that in this situation. And I think there could be even more all-around input. But, in truth, I’m not thinking about that much either right
now. I’m really just trying to mesh in as a member, not create any waves, and learn the music.” (4)
It was to prove to be a hard task. Stahl would find a strong link with Mendel and, when they were on the road there was always his brother Pete to hang out with, who was a part of the Foo Fighters’ crew at this stage.
Grohl’s admiration for Stahl had not diminished in the years since Scream. He still regarded Stahl as one of the guitarists he admired most. “When we started this band, had Franz and Pete not been in Wool, Franz would have been the guitar player (for Foos). When Wool broke up, I knew someday I’d be playing with him again… I’ve spent more time with him than with any other guitar player in my life. He taught me so much about playing, and on top of that he’s a great songwriter and an amazing vocalist. “It might sound mean, but this version of the band is absolutely the best. I’m really looking forward to hitting the road with these guys.” (5)
Foo Fighters started 1998 in much the same way as they had left 1997; on the road. Grohl’s excitement at his latest version of the band translated into increasingly fired up shows, with Stahl’s guitar work proving a tighter, and at times more aggressive foil for Grohl’s melodies. It was clear that the four piece were enjoying playing together.
What was also apparent was how the loss of Smear had forced Grohl to become more dynamic onstage. In many ways, Smear had been a crutch for Grohl to hide his insecurities behind. In his mind the renowned guitarist was the focal point of the band. It was a situation that suited him. He still suffered from stage fright and harboured huge doubts as to whether he could cut it as a frontman. With Smear firmly planted in his mind as the Foo Fighter everyone was looking at, he could overcome his nerves and doubts by subconsciously living in Smear’s shadow.