Sophomore Maddox Lee crowd surfs at a surprise Foo Fighters concert in SLO. Photo courtesy of sophomore Maddox Lee.
Last Friday, The Foo Fighters played a surprise concert here in San Luis Obispo at the historic Fremont Theater, and many San Luis Obispo High School students were among the show’s attendees.
“[The band] knew about the theater and the history, and they love San Luis Obispo, so they contacted us to see if we were available. You can’t sell tickets online [because] you don’t want scalpers. They really wanted to make sure that it was a fan experience,” said Fremont Theater manager Jenny Oppenheimer.
The Foo Fighters are known for surprising fans in smaller locations for a more personal experience with the band. Fans get to be up close with the band in a smaller venue, while in a larger area like a stadium, all but a few are in the back and not close to the action.
“The venue itself is about a 950 capacity venue, so it’s very intimate. Anybody who [went to the show got] a great experience; there isn’t a bad seat in the house for any show,” said Oppenheimer.
For many people, the band is an icon in the alternative rock and post grunge scene, so a show here in SLO was a huge surprise. There are tons of people who love the band, with famous songs like “Everlong”, “My Hero”, and “Best of You” being pop-culture classics.
“I’ve been listening to Foo Fighters since birth. My favorite song by them is probably ‘Monkey Wrench’,” said sophomore Jaron Jones.
Who had tickets to the show? For some people like Jones, they camped out overnight on the sidewalk to get tickets to the show, which goes to show just how important this concert was for many people.
“I was one of the first people. I got there at about eight o’clock, and I jumped in with these guys at the front and slept here overnight,” said Jones.
On the other hand, some people were lucky enough to use ties to the band to get tickets, or have a friend get an extra ticket, as you were allowed to get two tickets to the concert. Another cool thing about the concert is you could only buy tickets in person.
“We were fortunate enough here at Boo Boos that we partnered with Foo Fighters, and they were nice enough to include us in their campaign for this. They gave us some comp tickets and some limited merch,” said Boo Boo Records manager Malik Thorne.
The concert was an incredibly memorable experience for SLO residents and SLOHS students. Lots of people enjoyed the concert, but it also was sad that in the smaller theater not everyone who wanted to go could get tickets to the show.