Beyond The Parks

Published on
Image description
So I know what you are asking yourself, why is a "theme park" site writing about a concert? I come here to see pictures of rides, and parks, and dirt and wood. What's the deal? 

The deal is, we like lots of different stuff. But honestly, we do a lot of non theme-park stuff, and we don't always write about it. But we're making an exception for this one because it was just that awesome. 
Written by Gregg Condon 
(Click on any of the images below to see a larger version)
I've been on this planet for 39 1/2 years. In that 39 1/2 years I've been to a lot of amazing concerts. Like A LOT. Rush 12 times. The Rolling Stones. Lolapalooza 1994 (when it was still amazing). Rod Stewart. Elton John. Tool. Paul Simon. Weird Al Yankovic (yes, he puts on an amazing show, you should see him). Primus. Paul McCartney. 2012 Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Induction Concert. Nine Inch Nails. Radiohead. Morrissey. Guns N Roses (the good version). Bon Jovi. Aerosmith. Green Day. Dave Matthews Band. Depeche Mode. Rage Against The Machine. Metallica. 

You get the idea. 

Out of all of the bands I've seen, I could literally count on one hand my remaining "Bucket List" (active) bands. Those would be the likes of Muse, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Genesis and Foo Fighters (as far as mainstream bands are concerned. I won't bother you with the bands you've never heard of). The reasons I never got to see any of these bands live are way too involved and unnecessary for this particular article. =)
Picture

Even though we were at the "back" of the stage, they played "In The Round" so everybody was at the back at some point.

Picture

We got to see all of the special guests come out first

Picture

"It's gonna be a long F'ing night". And boy was it.

Picture
So when a "surprise" Foo Fighters show was announced last week, with actual reasonable tickets ($65 for all tickets, with ticketbastard fees) we jumped at the chance. 

What followed was an epic night of music, special guests and pretty much one of the most epic concerts we've ever seen. 

When the band came out, Dave pretty much announced that it was going to be an Epic night, that we shouldn't plan on going home for a LONG time and it would be a night we wouldn't forget. He was right. 
Picture

Rotating Stage of awesomeness

Picture

Who would have ever thought the drummer from Nirvana would turn into one of the best Rock N Roll frontment

When the show started, right off the bat they brought out Paul Stanley from KISS to sing Detroit Rock City and Do You Love Me. As you'll see from the setlist below, they weren't messing around. 

  • Detroit Rock City (KISS) w/ Paul Stanley
  • Do You Love Me (KISS) w/ Paul Stanley
  • All My Life
  • Rope
  • The Pretender
  • My Hero
  • Happy Birthday w/ Jack Black and thousands of people (for Dave's Bday)
  • Tie Your Mother Down (Queen) w/ Tenacious D and Slash
  • Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin) w/ Tenacious D and Slash
Picture

Happy Birthday Balloons coming down

Picture

You can kind of see Jack Black rocking out

  • Congregation
  • Walk
  • School's Out (Alice Cooper) w/ Alice Cooper
  • I'm Eighteen (Alice Cooper) w/ Alice Cooper
  • Cold Day In the Sun
  • Monkey Wrench

Now a cool thing about Monkey Wrench, it contained one of the most awesome crowd participation moments ever. I'm usually not one to take a lot of pictures or videos at shows (most of these were taken by my wife) but I'm glad I got this one. Dave really had the audience in the palm of his hand and it shows here. 
  • Two Headed Dog (Roky Erickson) w/ Nick Oliveri
  • Learn To Fly
  • White Limo
  • Arlandria
  • N.I.B. (Black Sabbath) w/ Zakk Wylde
  • Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabbath) w/ Zakk Wylde
Picture

Two Headed Dog

Picture

Crowd Participation at it's finest

  • Times Like These
  • Outside
  • Mountain Song (Janes Addiction) w/ Perry Farrell
  • Miss You (Rolling Stones) w/ Perry Farrell
  • Something For Nothing
  • This is a Call
  • Jam w/ Trombone Shorty

Another note about this Jam, it doesn't even come remotely close to describing how awesome this moment was. If you saw the Sonic Highways Documentary (and if you haven't, why not) then you'll know who this guy is. If not, check out the video below, this guy is amazing. 
At this point it was about 11:30pm, they'd already been playing for over 3 hours, and you'd think it was coming to an end. You'd be wrong. 

  • Best Of You
  • Panama (Van Halen) w/ David Lee Roth
  • Ain't Talkin' Bout Love (Van Halen) w/ David Lee Roth
  • Everlong
  • Let It Rock (Chuck Berry) w/ Lemmy Kilmister, Slash and Zakk Wylde
Picture

Best of You!

Picture

David Lee Roth. Charisma is still there even if the voice has aged a bit.

The show started at around 8:25 and they played until about 12;15am. And everything about the show was amazing. Sure, some of the special guests didn't sound great (David Lee Roth) but the moments were amazing. Even my wife who doesn't really like KISS or Alice Cooper or even know who Motörhead is was thoroughly entertained. Plus she got to stare at her musical crush for 4 hours. 
If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter and Instagram. 

If you have any comments, please share them below. 
2 Comments
mcjaco - 11 years ago
I've been a Foo fan for years. Finally, finally saw them back in 2012 at Milwaukee's Summerfest. To say I was emotionally and physically exhausted after that show is an understatement. 3 1/2 hours straight of face melting awesomeness. One of the best live shows I have ever seen, and like you I've seen alot.

Van Halen (7x), Sting, Henley, Billy Joel, Tonic, Vertical Horizon, Lenny Kravitz, Blues Traveler, Sheryl Crow, Clapton, U2, Bryan Adams, Collective Soul, Everclear.......

I have tickets for the show at Wrigley in August and cannot wait.
Gregg - 11 years ago
I'd LOVE to go to the show at Wrigley, and the RFK one they are doing in July. But I don't think it's going to happen. Hopefully we'll be able to find tickets for the show back here in September.