Dave Grohl says he has Bruce Springsteen to thanks for helping him understand who the audience is. “When you look out at the audience you should see yourself in them, just as they should see themselves in you,” Bruce once told Grohl.
Grohl was reflecting about the state of the music industry and how the absence of live music is effecting the world in an Op-Ed for The Atlantic.
On the Springsteen advice he wrote, “One night, before a Foo Fighters show in Vancouver, my tour manager alerted me that the “Boss” himself, Bruce Springsteen, was in attendance (cue paralyzing nerves). Frozen with fear, I wondered how I could possibly perform in front of this legendary showman, famous for his epic concerts that span four hours. I surely could never live up to his lofty expectations! It turns out he was there to see the opening band (cue devastating humiliation), so I was off the hook. But we chatted briefly before the gig, and I was again reminded of not only the human being behind every superhero, but also the reason millions of people identify with him: He is real. Three hours later, as I sat on a locker-room bench recovering from the show, drenched in my own sweat, there was a knock at the door. Bruce wanted to say hello. Having actually stayed for our set (cue jaw crashing to the floor), he very generously thanked us and commented on our performance, specifically the rapport we seem to have with our audience. Something he obviously understood very well. When asked where he watched the show from, he said that he’d stood in the crowd, just like everyone else. Of course he did. He was searching for that connection too.
“A few days later, I received a letter from Bruce, handwritten on hotel stationery, that explained this very clearly. “When you look out at the audience,” he wrote, “you should see yourself in them, just as they should see themselves in you.”
Foo Fighters were due around now to release a follow-up to 2017’s ‘Concrete and Gold’. The album has been delayed, due to the current world situation with the Coronavirus. A new release date is yet to be decided.
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