A few weeks ago, I was planning to go to Leeds festival with my eldest daughter and her boyfriend.
The thing is: the tickets alone would have cost me a small fortune, and then I would have had to calculate the costs for boarding the dogs, our trip there and our food, etc. I would have also had to consider whether or not to bring the rest of the gang. And if not, who would mind them for those days (around 5). My sister would have taken them, but it would have meant another trip to the Netherlands. Bringing them would be an option, of course, and I'm sure it can be fun with the whole family, there is always lots of (safety) issues to consider as well. We ended up not going. Both the Leeds and Reading festivals in the UK are this weekend, with both the same bands playing, just different days.
My favourite band the Foo Fighters, my daughter's and my second favourite (yeah they're that good) Twenty One Pilots, her boyfriend's favourite band PVRIS (whom we all like), as well as Billie Eilish (yeah, we like her too) all at one and the same festival is like hitting the jackpot. I am just going to trust the universe to give me something like it again...(Eh...Steemfest, duh).
Anyways...because we weren't going, and I didn't want to be completely bummed out, I decided to get us tickets for the Foo Fighters alone, who were playing in Belfast August 19th. My 7th Foo concert...but the last one was 4 years ago, so it was about time, right?
My own photo
When I posted the news of us going to the concert on the bad social media site who's name we won't mention, my friend in Holland told me to get her a ticket too, and she'd be here on the 16th. What a nice surprise! After 15 years of rambling on and on about the Foo Fighters to her, she finally made it to one of their concerts with me.
Our child-minder was here around 11 a.m. on the 19th, and we got in the car right away since the doors would open at 4 p.m. and even though I didn't really care much for the other bands that were playing, I didn't really want to miss the chance to get as close as possible. The drive to Belfast is a little more than 3.5 hours, but with two little detours and of course some toilet stops, it's closer to 5 hours.
Unfortunately, I still haven't gotten around to get my press pass yet, so I still have to pay like everyone else LOL. Also, it's not always sure if I can get my camera inside. I didn't have any extra lenses with me, but it's always up to the person who searches my bag to let my camera slide or not. At the gate, everyone before me went through in seconds, but of course, my bag was heavier than most. The lady started to unpack my bag, where I had my camera rolled in a hoodie for protection since big camera cases always raise suspicion. She started lifting out the hoodie, and asked: "Is this a lens?" I replied: "No, just the camera, no lens." And she was like: "Oh, sorry, I felt something hard, and thought it was a lens and didn't want to break it."
She told me I could put things back in my bag and wished me a good evening. So even a lens wouldn't have been an issue this time.
We didn't get all the way to the front since a lot of people had been there for the day, and we didn't even get all the way to the front after the first security lines, but still not in a bad spot. Unfortunately, the guy in front of me was waving his arms around quite enthusiastically (who can blame him, it's the Foo Fighters after all!), so there were many moments when a good shot went out of focus because of it. Still better pictures than I had anticipated when we first got there.
But I am not going to post them just yet... I claimed 
Well, as I stated before, this was the 7th time I've seen them. Twice in Ireland now. And they never disappoint. If anything, they keep getting better. In Dave Grohl's own words: "We have so many fucking songs, we'll play some of every album."
Their performance lasted for 2.5 hours (the last one I went to here in Ireland was 2 hours 40 minutes), and the only songs I missed were 'Something from nothing' and 'Congregation' of the Sonic Highways album, which they played the last time, but not here. Shame...but then again, they had less time, so I guess they had to make a choice.
Either way, one hell of a concert again, from beginning till the end, and as a nice little extra, Dave introduced his 13-year-old (!) daughter Violet to us as one of the background singers and as 'the best fucking singer in the world'. She was indeed amazing, and what an amazing experience to be touring with her dad and his band! She definitely has some talent. I'm sure we'll hear more from her. The next day my daughter spoke to her on Twitter ;)
The band, and especially Dave Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins, are entertainers to the core and rock and roll is in their blood. There was a little boy who held up a banner saying that his name was Taylor, that he is 5 years old and this was his first-ever concert. The band had spotted him and when Dave mentioned the little guy, the crowd yelled out to bring him on stage. And so he did. Little Taylor, and his mom and dad on stage with the band! How cool is that? And all I could think was: Damn, I should have brought my five-year-old. LOL.
Anyways, I will leave you with a video of that little boy, on stage with the Foo Fighters in Belfast. Every other concert thereafter just won't be the same :)
This video is not mine, I give full credit to the owner MRJOSHHYT on YouTube.
And this is exactly one of those reasons why this band has been my favorite all the way from the beginning...
Enjoy.
