Rock 'n Roll Road Trip

The best road trips are done with friends...because they help pay for gas.

Last Wednesday, My brother (Brandon) and two friends (Granter & Jeremy) loaded into my ’04 Civic and we set forth on our journey to see the Foo Fighters. All four of us are pretty big fans, and had yet to see them live, so this trip was destined for epic proportions.

We left Fredericton bright and early (7:30am) and it wasn’t long before granter was snoozing in the back. And let this be a lesson to you when traveling with 3 other guys: when you fall asleep, a picture being taken is the least of your worries....Granter got off easy this time (we couldn't find a marker):


2 hours in, he had already waived his bladder’s say in pit-stop frequency.

We were making record time, as I refused to stop until I needed gas. We were already into rural Quebec before we made our first stop, and the dude pumped my gas for me. Good thing, too...it cost me about $1.30/L.

Once in Montreal, we checked into our dorm - masquerading as a hotel – and made our way to some eats and then back to our room to relax before the show.

Jeremy made the mistake of buying a case of beer in the city, where Quebec’s cheaper booze price is non-existent, apparently ($30 for a 12-pack of Bud is not my idea of a deal) although, to be fair, it was still cheaper than buying at the Bell Centre...

We decided to measure our small living quarters with the two tallest members of our posse on opposite ends of the floor:


My Bro ( 6’2”)+ Jeremy (6’1”) = Very few secrets kept during our stay.

We arrived to the show early to catch the openers and get a sweet spot on the GA floor. FYI: this is a concert going rule: you want close-proximity to the stage; go early. Otherwise people punch you in the neck for trying to step in front of them.

After a $10 Molson Export, it was time to enjoy the first act:

Fucked Up were great, but their screaming, underground style wears on you after while, at least it did for me. There were small sections of the crowd who ate it up, and the bands front man made sure to jump in the crowd and show his appreciation for it.


Great musicians and great performers; just not my cup o’ tea.

The crowd was starting to build a little as the newly reformed Montreal pop-punk band Doughboys hit the stage.

Doughboys had their time in the late 80’s.early 90’s and enjoyed a bit of success in Canada. (Their song Shine was the theme for Much Music’s The Wedge) before breaking up in 1997. They’ve reformed and plan to release a new album at some point. But first, they are opening up the Foo Figthers’ Canadian shows. And boy were they impressive.



I loved this band. They had their hometown excited and the band themselves seemed rejuvenated. A lot of times, the openers get over looked because of anticipation for the Headliner, but I can honestly say Doughboys had me hooked form their first song; the energy in the building alone was worth it.

I will say, though, as they closed their set and announced “Foo Fighters are up next”, It was hard to contain the excitement.

After a break to set up the stage, the lights went down and the video screens lowered to the stage to conceal the band as the opening lines of Bridge Burning echoed through the Bell Centre and the sold-out crowd erupted. Dave Grohl & Company came out swinging; and kicking; and screaming.



From Bridge Burning they went into Rope, The Pretender and My Hero before Dave finally addressed the crowd. He informed us that it had been a long time since they’d played Montreal and that they had “a lot of making up to do”. That’s when I caught this video:




“We have a lot of F---in’ song, you know that right?” – Dave Grohl

The band played for a solid two hours before leaving the stage to thunderous applause; and they played just about everything you could hope they’d play, both old (This is a Call) and new:




After all of this, an encore was inevitable.

After getting us to focus attention on a backstage camera featuring the band members egging us on, Dave appeared at the back of the room, atop a riser connected to the catwalk.



He did two songs solo before the band joined him in the middle of Times Like These. I got video of Wheels:





The band capped the night with Everlong, and everyone left satisfied. 2.5 hours and 24 songs later, I’d seen my favourite band perform, and you couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. Hell yes, I’ll see ‘em again someday.





Click HERE for more Foo Fotos

-Crash-




**By the way, we took our time leaving Quebec the next day. We walked around Montreal for a bit, but the highlight of the way back was definitely stopping at Le Madrid.



Apparently the place is closing down at the end of the month, so we took full advantage of our time at the place of Dinosaurs & Monster-Trucks:



Click HERE for more pics of our Pit-stop