Foo Fighters Concert Report

The Foo Fighters concert at the Austin City Limits has been one of my best musical experiences. The crowd, the band, the instruments, the sounds, the stage, the lighting and the amazing balance of hard rock melodies and slow-tempo songs created a night to remember. Although I was there to have some fun, I actually recognized many of the main themes that we’ve discussed in class such as the commercialization of rock, the counterculture and aesthetics of the event, and the musical connections between the Foo Fighters and many other bands from the past.

It was October 2nd, 2015 in a Friday evening when The Foo Fighters appeared in the Samsung stage at the Austin City Limits Festival. The Austin City Limits is a large, open-air music festival

First, the people attending the concert were of ages that went from their late teens to their early thirties. The people were wearing all types of clothing, although I noticed several people wearing what a lot of people would classify as metalhead clothing (not the majority of the whole audience). These particular people were wearing black shirts, black pants and some boots. Many of them had really long hair, which is certainly the classic stereotype of a rock fan. This type of clothing and hair style didn't exclusively pertain to the crowd. Most of the Foo Fighters' members were wearing black or dark clothing. The clothing was similar among the band members except for Taylor Hawkins' shorts. Hawkins and Grohl reminded me of the early British-Invasion band members who had long hair like The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin. I found it interesting that many decades after; band members of today's rock bands still consider the long hair style a synonym of Rock & Roll. One characteristic particular thing that caught my attention was that it didn't matter what type of person it was; when there was a guitar solo or an explosive moment of emotion people would start doing the sign of the horns. I think that many of these people appropriated this sign as a way to become part of this subculture of these "metalheads". The air in the environment was a combination of sweat and the smoke of a cigarette. Several people were smoking, even Pat Smear (rhythm guitar) was smoking on stage. Many Rock & Roll artists have had problems with the use of drugs and their addiction to them. Some of them have died because of it. In this case, Smear might be or not be addicted to smoking cigarettes, but it certainly shows that people in this musical genre have been directly related to the use of drugs. This trend is not an exclusive problem of the artists, but the fans are also affected by this. The person next to me