Saturday Night Special: Dave Grohl’s RocknRoll Birthday Bash

A few days ago all was abuzz online about a special announcement of a last minute show the Foo Fighters were putting on Saturday night at the Forum in Los Angeles to celebrate Dave Grohl’s upcoming 46th Birthday. Tickets were all set at the fair (!!) price of $50 with $10 from each ticket going to charity…Impressive! They were set to go on sale that night at 7pm….and I was gonna try like hell to score one.

As per the usual Ticketmaster clusterfuck whenever something big goes on sale, I got repeated error and “sold out” messages but kept trying. And….I got one!! 1st level off the floor, 5th row up. Yes!!
It was a rainy Saturday in LA, so needless to say, the traffic to get into the parking lots was a nightmare. I was hoping and counting on the show starting late. Got to my seat about 8:15 and was ready for a night of the Foo Fighters.
The band came out about 8:30 to wild applause and excitement. Dave welcomed us and explained that because it was HIS Birthday show, he had invited some special friends and guests to help him celebrate. He warned us that we were going to be there for a while. Sounds good to me!
Turned out to be a Who’s Who in Rock concert. What a party!

For the next 3 1/2 hours, we were surprised and entertained over and over again in addition to a killer Foo Fighter concert of old and new hits, some of my faves being “Hero,” “Everlong,” “Monkey Wrench,” and “The Best of You.” This year marks their 20th anniversary and I will always hold such fond memories of the early days of their career. The Foo Fighters are just really cool guys who happen to be spectacular musicians. It would be impossible not to like them. And in between their sets and Dave chatting with the crowd just like we were hanging out at his house, we were graced with sooooo many awesome and memorable guest appearances. I would almost hold my breath each time Dave would announce his next “special friend”. SO COOL!

In order of appearance:
**Paul Stanley of K. I. S. S.
He sang a hard edged, guitar heavy “Detroit Rock City” that was deliciously crunchy. Sounded damn good and he isn’t looking too bad either.
**Jack Black & John from Tenacious D along with SLASH from Guns N Roses joined in to sing Happy Birthday to Dave in Jack Black fashion, then burying him in a shower of brightly colored balloons. AWESOME.

Followed by a full on Jack Black version of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.” TOO MUCH! Loved it! Dancing and gyrating on stage. Punctuating his vibrato. He is one talented nut! Omg he cracks me up!!
**Alice Cooper came out, cool as a cucumber, and had the crowd reminiscing about the last day of school each Spring while singing along with “School’s Out”. Rock on!! I’ve always heard good things about Alice Cooper as a person and we all know what an intelligent individual he is. Who would have thought all of that coolness was hidden behind the makeup all those years ago? Only one thing was missing tonight… the snake.
**Nick Oliveri from Queens of the Stone Age graciously entered, giving Dave a big Birthday hug, and belted out “Two Headed Dog” like no one else could possibly do. His voice is like no other, but I was secretly hoping Josh Homme would make an appearance!
**And then came Zakk Wylde from Black Label Society…this dude isn’t fucking around. He is HARD CORE. Channeling Ozzy circa 1970 as he knocked us on our asses singing “N.I.B.” As Dave Grohl said, Zakk Wylde is one Bad Mother Fucker. And he’s not kidding.
** The one and only Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction who was looking extremely dashing as he skipped around the stage singing “Coming Down The Mountain,” and playfully stumbled through his part of the lyrics to Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.” Hey, give him a break, they had like two days to prepare and Taylor didn’t know his part either. Haha! But we all whistled/sung along with the chorus anyway. It was all in good fun.

During a Foo Fighter segment Dave Grohl wanted to see everyone’s cell phone lights. The audience complied immediately and virtually lit up the venue. He then told everyone to turn them off and BAM! Just like that…lights out. He even had us repeat the pattern…just because. Can you imagine wielding that kind of power? Even if just for a second. Mind boggling.

But I digress…back to the list of special guests and friends.
**Trombone Shorty comes out and starts a jam session competition with Dave. Trombone vs Guitar. Oh my God. That guy is the most insane horn player I’ve ever heard. INSANE.
**Dave Grohl’s Bucketlist guest was none other than….THE DAVID LEE ROTH, AKA DIAMOND DAVE. Holy shittttt!!
At this point I was out of memory on my iphone (grrrrrr….) but I was screaming my head off as he pranced around kicking and dancing while he sang “Panama” and “Ain’t Talkin ‘Bout Love.” Damn. I love Van Halen! Was David Lee Roth THE ULTIMATE Rock God of the 80’s or what?? He’s a TRIP.
LOVE HIM!!
**And last but definitely not least… Dave’s dream of playing on the same stage as Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead came true! And the almost mythical character known as Lemmy appears on stage wearing his typical Lemmy gear of western shirt, cowboy hat and skin tight jeans tucked into his bright white cowboy boots. What a sight!! He sang Chuck Berry’s tune “Let It Rock,” which ended the show on such a high note!

What a dazzling night of outstanding talent, camaraderie, and musicianship… all for the love of Foo Fighter Founding Father and all around good guy, Dave Grohl.
The Birthday celebration of a lifetime, for certain. As Dave said, it even beat out his birthday spent at Medieval Times five years ago. Hahaha!! Happy happy Birthday Dave! Keep on ROCKIN and loving life!! Thanks for the invite to a once in a lifetime birthday party! I may have lost a little more of my hearing last night, but I had a damn good time!