A glimpse into the life of Rock greats

Now this wasn't the first time for the M/SF/T crew, but it was the first time since Covid, and since the loss of the beloved drummer Taylor Hawkins...

A few days prior to the Foo Fighters biggest AUS show ever, M/SF/T co-owner Chris Chong received a message from old friend, Chris Shiflett.

He had invited the team to come watch his solo show at The Great Club, Sydney. Unfortunately due to the late notice, we were unable to attend, but we made plans to surf the next day, as has been customary of the past decades worth of Aus tours for the band. 

At 11am a blacked-out van pulls up and in walks Chris Shiflett, casual as always for a musician of his status. After some catch ups and hugs, we then take a couple of softies out to surf the worst Queenscliff you've ever seen... 

Over lunch, Chris ever so casually asked if we would been keen to attend the Foo Fighters show the next night. Like we would have anything better to do, right?!

We arrived at the Accor Stadium box office and are handed our passes, a little unsure of exactly where they will get us. After stumbling around the stadium for 30 minutes we found the AAA dining haul. The same area Chris and the rest of the band would have eaten no less than a few minutes earlier, BUT we got lost, so we ate with their roadies. 

We then stocked up on beers at the lounge before making our through endless corridors to the back stage area.

We walked up the ramp and stood side of stage, just meters away from the band. And WOW, the crowd. In his recent book 'The Storyteller' Dave Grohl describes stadium rock as "an out of body sensation, an other worldly experience that becomes oddly addictive". This was our little glimpse into their lives as one, if not the most prolific band of our generation, and the addiction of the energy from the crowd could be felt already. A ginormous sea of fans screaming every word back and clapping in unison as Dave orchestrated them.

As the Foo Fighters belted through three hours of hits, you quickly realise you know just about every word to every song from their catalog that spans across three decades.

Multiple times between songs, Chris would quickly dart over to us, check we had beers, then return rocking to over 70,000 fans. 

After a whopping 25 songs the show was over, and a row of blackout vans, much like the one Chris arrived in the day earlier, were parked as close to the stage as possible. All being loaded with hot meals, champagne and even personal masseuses, ready to instantly transport the band out of the stadium whilst the remainder of us shuffled out of the arena at a snails pace.

What an experience!

Thank you Chris Shiflett, thank you Foo Fighters.  

Until next time hey...