Wasting Light

Oh...was it Halloween? I was too busy hanging out with the Cage the Elephant, Foo Fighters, and Sam Roberts to notice any vampires, ghouls, or witches. My bad.

Friday morning, bright and early at 6am, the weekend started (even though work came in between for a few hours), when I got to take in Sonic's 7th annual Halloweenie roast. I never knew breakfast could be so magical until they decided to make it a can of pop, full-size chocolate bar, and hot dog. All for the low low price of free.

That night was to be the "greatest rock show in the city of the year": Foo Fighters. They took to the stage at about 9pm, just after Cage the Elephant played an energetic set, and Mariachi El Bronx played Edmonton for the first time ever.

M.E.B was good...for a mariachi rock band...The guitar was amazing (there were 3 of them after all), along with a violin, drum kit, and two trupets. However the singing did nothing to impress me. I actually enjoy their intrumental songs a bit more. The singing wasn't awful by any means...it just didn't seem right with that type of music.

Oh...Cage the Elephant. I wonder if they'll ever get any of the recognition from concert goers like they deserve. I haven't been able to see them headline a show just yet, but I feel like that would make the night go a lot differently. This time, it was like deja vu, reminding me of when they opened for the Black Keys earlier in the year. The arena wasn't very full when they started their set, and even the people who were there didn't see too into it. Granted they are quite an intense band, especially singer Matt Schultz, but that should only add to the whole experience...right?! Since when did it become the norm to only want a band to come out, say nothing, play some songs that sound just like they do on the radio or album, and walk away, again saying nothing? I love the energey that CtE puts into each show, and the fact that Schultz is willing to get up there and scream, and almost always be so near to tearing his shirt off in angst.

Foo Fighters to the stage on schedule and played for 2.5 hours. I don't have much to say, since they are a well-tuned machine and know exactly what/how/when to say things to a doe-eyed audience. They played classics like "Monkey Wrench", "All my life", "Best of you", "This is a call" etc, and ended their 45 minute encore with "Everlong". The only complaint I could think of would be that they didn't play ENOUGH of songs I personally wanted to hear like "D.O.A" or "For all the cows", but you can't win em all can you. Their extros to some songs were quite heavy and long, and depending on the person could've rocked your world, or been a lullaby. I was glad to get my money's worth for an expensive ticket, but didn't expect any less from this generation's greatest living musician, Dave Grohl. It would've just seemed odd if they played an hour and left without a few witty comments and banter.

Stay tuned for part II of this post for Halloween weekend: Sam Roberts. I thought you'd appreciate a double feature. Well...I hope. It'll be up in a jiff! (Time me for a jiff. I'll beat it)

PS - NOV04. For those waiting and holding their breaths for the Sam Roberts post....keep holding on. It'll be up tomorrow. Yes. Its after my latest post....Shhh.