 |
| If this photo was as overexposed as its subject, it would be unusable. |
When he drummed for Tom Petty on Saturday Night Live after the sudden dissolution of Nirvana, I reveled at the energy he brought to the proceedings. Much like millions themselves had wondered what it might be like if the Terminator was governor of California just before voting him into office, I momentarily lost myself in thoughts of Grohl becoming the next drummer for the Heartbreakers.
Grohl was offered the gig, but turned it down to pursue his solo project, Foo Fighters. I bought the album and played it until the plastic melted. What I loved about the album wasn't it's coolness, but the songs.
By the second album, though, Grohl vision had begun to change. With success came a streamlined look and sound. This was no longer just one man running around a recording studio playing every instrument, singing every word, it was now a band and that band was, for lack of a better word, boring.
The reason we knew the names of everyone in Nirvana wasn't because there was only three names to remember, but because they made us care enough to know their names. Foo Fighters, not so much. Truth be told, I can name three members of the current Foos line-up, which is still probably more than most who consider themselves fans of the band.
The reason I mention any of this is because the fine folks at Dave Letterman's show have announced that the Foo Fighters will be the show's final musical guest.
Nothing against the eternally-likable (in short doses) Dave Grohl, but enough is enough.
Even the inhabitants of Nebula 5, a far-away planet much like our own, are getting tired of Grohl as our decades-old TV signals finally reach their planet. Keep in mind, they're just finding out about Nirvana. I kind of want to warn them that its gonna get a whole lot worse before it gets better, but my words would never reach them in time.
Now, I was cool with Grohl's loving showcase of the legendary Sound City recording studio featured in the documentary of the same name until it devolved into a showcase for him and his music. Grohl, of course, had been born too late to partake in the greatness of the classic rock '70s, but by injecting himself into the story of a recording studio that was, itself, a shag-carpeted holdover from rock's most romanticized era, he co-opted their coolness as his own. Trust me, the story of this iconic studio could have been told without the need for a jam session between the Foos and Paul McCartney.
Of course, that gave Grohl the idea for the TV series and album "Sonic Highways", which would allow he and his band to glom onto the coolness and rich musical tapestry of every great musical city in the country - including Chicago - thereby aligning themselves once again with vintage rock history with which they have absolutely no connection otherwise.
"Hey, let's go to Chicago, set up in Steve Albini's recording studio, spend a good half-hour detailing the former Big Black leader's storied career as one of the key architects of the Chicago punk scene, and then cut to Butch Vig producing yet another homogenized Foos song in Steve's studio!"
And now, for many, the enjoyment of Dave Letterman's last show will be sullied by this band's appearance, showing up just in time to co-opt all of the coolness of the event for themselves.
Whether Letterman requested them personally or not, considering the number of great musical moments that have taken place on his stage over the last four decades, there just has to be a better, more fitting choice.
Madonna playing guitar maybe?