MY ADVENTURES WITH DAVE GROHL & THE FOO FIGHTERS
Out of the Wishing Well
Coming Soon! A Documentary Film by Josh Shuman
THE EDITING ROOM FLOOR
A few stories had to be cut...
Paladino's
Tarzana, CA - Summer 2001
Summer 2001. I found myself 3000 miles away from home. I was a film and photography major doing a summer internship at a visual effects studio in Santa Monica. I grew up in the burbs so a place like Los Angeles was a totally new experience for me.
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By the end of the summer I was tired, burnt out from Hollywood, heartbroken and ready to make the trek back home. I was a few days away from leaving when out of the blue one of my Foo Fighter friends called me and said:
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"JOSH!!! The Foo Fighters are playing a few warmup shows under a FAKE band name before they head to Europe - and I have the details!"
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I immediately told my friend that I was homesick and not interested in staying the one extra weekend needed to attend these shows.
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There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. "JOSH!!! You're staying - otherwise - you're going to regret this!"
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He laid out the details.
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The Foo Fighters were set to play at this tiny dive bar in the valley called Paladino's. I was reluctant, but after twisting my arm some more he convinced me to stick around (I'll Stick Around!) When the day came, I drove out to Paladino's. The place was a ghost town. There were no hordes of fans. No roadies or equipment being hauled around.
And definitely NO Foo Fighters....
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Just a dead dive bar in the middle of a tiny shopping plaza. It wasn't even open.
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Suddenly, a car rolled into the tiny parking lot. It was the Foo Fighters tour manager Gus Brandt!
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I couldn't believe it! And to think...this was the first of two secret shows!
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Foo Fighters in a small club for the first time in years!
While waiting outside for the doors to open, the Foo Fighters tour manager, Gus Brandt, was having a conversation with the bar manager. He was a little worried about the lack of security!
The opening band was a cover band
That's right! The opening band was the AC/DC cover band Bon Fire. They were actually pretty awesome! The red guitar you see Dave Grohl playing here belongs to the guitar player of Bon Fire.
I helped secure the stage that night
Gus was panicking a little bit because there were no bouncers by the stage. A few times during the night a random person would try and bum rush the stage. Each time Gus would come running out from Taylors drum kit to shove them off. A few of us helped tackle and pull these people off the stage. Each time we did, Gus yelled "thank you!" as loud as he could over the noise of the band.
Dave Grohl remembered me
I had met Dave the previous summer and when I bumped into him inside the club, he looked at me and said, "What the heck are you doing way out here!" When I told him the rest of our little group was flying out the next day and were going to be at the Troubadour show, he smiled and laughed!
Hundreds of people and MTV filled the parking lot
When I first arrived, the area was dead. There might as well been tumble weeds blowing around. I had no idea the level of chaos until I left the club. Outside were hundreds of people trying to get in! MTV was there trying to capture some of the action as well. It was like like a Foo Fighter war zone! Paladino's has since closed, but here is what's left of it!
