22 May 2011

THE MUSIC AND PRESTON BLACK Foo Fighters, Austin City Limits, September 29, 2008


From THE DEVIL AND PRESTON BLACK:

     I took a deep breath.
     Maybe it was cliché to start soft and let it build, but that was what worked. "Stairway", "Everlong", "Two Step". I didn't really see myself having a choice. So I sang the first verse a capella. Just like Ernie Currence sang in his kitchen, except in tune. I slapped my knee with my hand. "I never knew my mom or a dad. No, I never knew my mom or dad. Didn't know when I was born, didn't know when I'd die, didn't know nothing about the how or why. Preston Black didn't know his mom or dad."
     The ironic thing was the way they ate it up. Their attentiveness was obvious, because I'd seen a lot of crowds who could give a shit. And I wondered how many of them believed my story, and how many of them thought it was bullshit, but liked it anyway.
     I continued a capella, but this time Katy played, squeezing out a dissonant drone from her fiddle like fingernails down a chalkboard. She twisted the minor key, giving the song a gothic stain.
     "Preston Black couldn't quench his thirst. Preston Black couldn't quench his thirst. But he'd go to the bar every night and be dry again by the morning light, Preston Black couldn't ever quench his thirst."
     Katy built on the song's melody, playing notes complementary to mine but never the same note. Her tones and my words filled the space above the crowd with strange, new chords. Smothered them with noise.
     While Katy played I turned around and eased the Twin's volume up. I looked for the sound guy, maybe trying to tell him I was about to drop bombs. When he nodded I got ready for the next verse.


Buy the THE DEVIL AND PRESTON BLACK on Amazon.

Download the show at Sugarmegs.com

Foo Fighters

HD Digital Broadcast on KEDT-TV (Austin City Limits)
Captured on Motorola DCH 6416 Digital Video Recorder
Transferred via Zoom H2 (line-in via RCA jacks) at 44.1 kHz, 16 bit

Zoom H2 > wav file > Sony Soundforge 8.0 > Traders Little Helper > flac

Sony Soundforge was used to split the large wav file into tracks and to fade in at the beginning and fade out at the end. TLH was used to correct sector boundary errors and to convert to flac.

This show was originally broadcast on PBS Soundstage on January 17, 2009 but was recorded on September 29, 2008.

01. Young Man Blues 5:31
02. Skin and Bones 4:55
03. My Hero 5:30
04. But Honestly 5:35
05. Everlong 9:48
06. Monkeywrench 1:48
07. All My Life 4:31
08. Aurora 9:24
09. The Pretender 4:59
10. Interview 1:17

Band Credits
Dave Grohl – vocals, guitar
Taylor Hawkins – drums, vocals
Nate Mendel – bass
Chris Shiflett – guitar, vocals
Jessy Greene – violin, cello, vocals
Drew Hester – percussion
Rami Jaffee – keyboard, accordion, piano, mellotron
Pat Smear – guitar

A Turbo Music Production

Please do not remaster or convert files to MP3 or any other format with the intent to redistribute them. Please share this content freely in its original format.

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