The Night I Got Kissed by a Rock Star (Chickenfoot concert review)
From illoluv.com:
Of all the concerts I’ve been to in my life, this one comes out at NUMBER ONE. The music was, of course, so FREKKIN’ awesome, but this one gets pushed to the top for “the incident” and what was to follow.
sidenote: Make sure to read Daniel’s post too! He talks more about the music and has all the pictures we took PLUS the vids!
Let me first say lay down a little background. I loved Chickenfoot before I even heard their music! I heard that Sammy Hagar had put together a new band and was going to release an album, which was enough to get me excited, but when I heard who his band members were, my excitement soared to new heights. Michael Anthony of Van Halen on bass, Joe Satriani on guitar and Chad Smith of RHCP on drums! I don’t think I’d been this excited about an album for a very long time. I got it a few weeks ago and have been listening to it non-stop. Sammy NEVER disappoints, and the band-member combination is AMAZING. (check out the first single, “Oh Yeah” if you haven’t heard it yet!)
Anyway, onto the good part… (Read the rest)
Last night was the Chickenfoot concert in Kilafors, Sweden. It was actually a part of the 3-day long rock festival called Rockweekend. But we went up only for Chickenfoot. It was a muddy mess, but it worked out well. They had two stages and they alternated stages for each band. We figured out which stage Chickenfoot would play on, and we were able to secure spots FRONT and CENTER against the fence. I was so excited I could barely contain myself as we watched them set up the stage. And once they came on stage and started playing I knew already that this was going to top anything else I’d seen this year so far (7 concerts, I think).
Of course they were AMAZING. I knew they’d be good. I’ve seen Sammy before (Michael Anthony joined him on stage the time I saw him too), and it was by far one of the BEST shows I ever went to. I’ve seen RHCP live twice. Those were two INCREDIBLE shows. I never saw Joe Satriani before, but my GOD can that man play. And I saw him play close up too!
Anyway, about halfway through the show is where it gets GOOD. Chad is very generous with his drumsticks. He tosses them out to the crowd often, grabbing new ones to play all the time and then chuck them out at his leisure. Every time one came out into the crowd it became a frenzy to try to grab it. A few fell onto the ground in front of the fence where I stood, but when security guards would pick them up to hand them into the crowd, I never got a chance.
One of those that landed on the ground landed about 2 feet from me. I watched as the security guard picked it up to hand it to someone. I reached for it but he handed it off somewhere else. At that very moment something whacked me HARD in the head. It HURT! I thought it was a beer bottle (which wouldn’t make sense since they weren’t selling beer in glass bottles there). But I couldn’t see what it was that hit me. I could feel the welt immediately, and I asked Daniel if it was bleeding. It wasn’t. That’s when I looked up at the stage and looked at Chad Smith. He was pointing at me and then at his head and mouthed “Are You OK?” I smiled and nodded and then he mouthed “I’m so sorry!” and then gestured about how he just threw it and it hit me. That’s when I realized it was a drumstick that hit me! I was so thrilled that Chad Smith was actually speaking right to me that I forgot about the pain on my forehead and got right back into the show. Little did I know that it was about to get about a THOUSAND times COOLER!
Chad continued to toss a couple of sticks in my direction which never made it to me. At the end of the song he got up and walked to Sammy’s mic. He told the crowd that he had thrown a drumstick that hit me in the head. Then he asked me if I was OK. I nodded. He asked if I was bleeding. I shook my head. He asked if I had a bump, I nodded and said “a little!” And then he said “Do you want me to some down and kiss it?” And I said YES!
Of course, I did!!!
So he jumped down off stage (with help from security since it was about 6 feet high), walked over to me, handed me a drumstick, kissed my forehead and asked if I was OK. OF COURSE I was OK, Chad! You just kissed me! Then I asked him how his arm was (because Chickenfoot had been canceling a bunch of shows before this one due to an arm injury of his). He said it was fine and explained how he just threw that drumstick and saw it hit me. I can’t quite remember everything that was said. It’s a bit of a blur! I was flying at that moment, and he was holding onto me and grabbing my hand for the whole short convo. When he left to go back to the stage I could barely keep myself standing from the shock of it all. People around me were asking if he really did hit me and all I had to do to answer them was show them the welt on my head. After that many people expressed to me that they wished it was THEM who had been hit (all guys though, since I was the only girl is a sea of guys in the front. Somehow I don’t think the same thing would have happened for them LOL). For the rest of the show Chad would point at me and acknowledge me, which was very cool.
But wait! There’s more!
At the end, right before the encore song, they all came to the front of the stage to bow and wave to everyone. I was screaming and hopping up and down. Then Sammy pointed to me and made a gesture with his hands symbolizing bouncing boobs. HA! I got embarrassed and started laughing, but then he did “thumbs up” and a “naughty” sign. You can see it in this video below, if you scroll forward to 5:45 you’ll see Sammy do it, then point to me, bow, and to the “naughty” gesture! Hysterical!!! A shame you can’t see me though!
Acknowledged by two members of the band! And possible even three! I noticed Michael Anthony grinning at me a few times when I SCREAMED at the top of my lungs. And near the end he screamed back at me! Possible. I could have just been imagining that one. But the other two were for real! Made my day! My weekend… MY YEAR!
Besides all of that, the concert was just KICKASS. My 2nd fav concert of all time was when I saw Sammy and the Waboritas at the Irving Plaza in NYC 7 years ago. Sammy makes his shows into parties, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that him and the band interact SO MUCH with the crowd. They always tear down that wall between us and really pull you in as part of the show. That, if you ask me, is what really separates a good concert from a GREAT one. When you feel like they are there for the fans, because they appreciate you.
I’m not going to write anymore about the music because I’m going to leave that to Daniel. He’s posted all about it RIGHT HERE! He has the rock blog and he can really express the music better than I can. He also has the pictures. Oh! Except for these… There was a professional photographer there taking pictures for a local paper. She took the ones with Chad coming down to give me the drum stick and kiss me!
EDITED to add: I found a COOL video! At 2:50 in the following video the guy zooms into Chad where he is apologizing to me while still playing the drums. SO COOL! Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtlTMyiRlfg
Chad climbing down to me (© Anna Alverhag) 
Right before (or after) he kissed me. He’s holding my head LOL (© Anna Alverhag) 
Afterwards! The welt on my forehead (left side of my head…right side in pic) somewhat visible (© Anna Alverhag) 
Chad Smith’s Funk Blaster!
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October 25th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
blah blah blah it’s VHnd not CFnd…and we are off!
October 25th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
I thought this post was bogus until I saw the pics. Very awesome!
October 25th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
What a cool story. I noticed that Chad isn’t just “tossing” the sticks randomly, in some cases he kept trying to get one to the person he intended. If someone else got it, he kept going, never missing a beat, until they got it. You could tell because he would smile from ear to ear and then give them a wink. Very cool…this is definitely a fan-friendly/fan-first band.
I was lucky enough to get one of Chad’s sticks, and Sammy not only signed my Chickenfoot LP, he got the other guys to sign it too. How cool is that?
October 25th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Wow this is so cool that you reposted this here! Thank you!
Chris b - haha! Definitely not bogus! Sometimes I feel like I must have dreamt it, but I have the drumstick sitting right here in the display case beside me to remind me!
Pete - that is so cool. They are a really great group of guys!
October 25th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I think all us Halen fans need to in $1 to buy Chickenfoot their own website! Enough already!!
October 25th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
The Foot Rocks, besides who knows if Van Halen will gives us anything any time soon
October 25th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I thought Swedish chicks were all supposed to be blonde?
Great story; no big surprise that this played out this way. I have seen no better interaction between a band and their fans than with Sam/CF and theirs.
Guess this makes 4 CF articles in a row on the website - that oughta piss off a number of “Roth or Nuthin” folks, which is a shame cause I too would love nothing more than to read both VH and Sam/CF content here. But, if I can’t have both, I’ll at least take one…
MA=VH
October 25th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Seriously guys don’t down the foot. I love VH just as much as you but they get the news because they are ACTIVE. As soon as Eddie goes on tour or releases something VH news will dominate again, but until then its the next best thing which is Chickenfoot, which I happen to love BTW
October 25th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
That video kicked hard!! Chad is a monster!
I hope they put out a live DVD. Cheers!
October 25th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Hey Diamond Doug - The Beatles have put out more new music in the past ten years. Not bad considering half the band has checked out. The old axiom was “no news is good news.” The new axiom is ” no news is Van Halen news.” At least we have the Foot.
October 25th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Great to hear stories like this from a band that realizes they are blessed enough to have fans that allow them to do something they obviously love.
Meanwhile some stats from camp VH:
1. Irving Azoff “announced” a VH tour for 2010 on Sept. 9th. No confirmation/comment from the band for over 6 weeks after that announcement was made.
2. VH still hasn’t updated their website since April.
3. Facebook and twitter? Nothing much there. Last tweet was Oct. 1st.
I love VH…always will. But I’m done being their sucker that they can always count on to open my wallet for another rehash of 25 year old material. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - any concern for fans left VH with Michael Anthony and Sammy.
October 25th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Is it just me or is this site becoming the Chickenfoot news desk?
October 25th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Perhaps VH just don’t care…
October 26th, 2009 at 3:05 am
Please, enough already. Stop with all this Chickeshit news. This is the VAN HALEN NEWS DESK! Get it? If you’re a bit slow just look at the top of the fucking page, it says so in REALLY BIG LETTERS. I’m sick to death of hearing about an insanely talented band containing two members who’ve participated in a massive part of Van Halen’s history and who’ve produced a great album and made the effort to bring that great music to their fans and look like they’re having the best of times doing it. I’m sick of seeing interviews where they come across as pretty decent guys clicking together and producing music that’s not only great to listen to but is great in it’s own right and not simply a retread of any of their other massively successful bands. I’m sick of guys producing real rock in this age of pre-planned, pre-packaged ‘product’ music. And I’m really, really sick of hearing about these killer gigs!* Come on guys, seriously! I want silence or the sound of tumbleweed blowing through here, interrupted only by the occasional squeaking sound of Edward squeezing every last pip out of his loyal fans with another plug for picks, straps, ‘T’s, sneakers or another tired retread of the once might Van Halen’s past glories. Just in case you’ve forgotten, this is a competition, OK, and our side is looking pretty shabby at the moment, so turn off that bloody spotlight! Besides, we don’t need all this Chickenshit filler when we’ve got earth shattering news such as Ed’s 17 year old son deciding it would be, like, way cool if dad had a Twitter account…
* Joking aside, that’s the one I’m genuinely sick of - I knew I should have gone to see them when they came to London. That will teach me! Hope they come back soon.
October 26th, 2009 at 5:45 am
I hope the haters just back off and realise that its cool to hear things about Sammy and Chickenfoot. At least they interact with the crowd, they really let you interact with them back.
I know I say this all the time, but I also love them because they came to England! They come to Europe too, which is more than Van Halen have done since the III tour in 98. Thats 11 years! There are so many parts of the world that love Van Halen but they only seem to do tours in North America, which I don’t think I’ll understand. They always say something about a “heavy and complicated stage set”, but I’m sure enough people would see Roth with Van Halen to fill out Wembley Stadium or the O2 Arena. Those places are effing huge, big enough for Van Halen. If Muse can sell out in minutes, then VH can too.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:28 am
This is sooo cool! Something similar to this happened to me with Tommy Lee at the last Crue concert I went to..she must’ve had a blast.
I want to see Chickenfoot live…I hope they come around here sometime!!
October 26th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Haters won’t back off. I like both bands. No, Chickenfoot does not compare to VH, however they only have one album out.
If VH cared they would be telling the fans what was going on. Ed would be releasing music in some form (1998!?! was the last full album), what that says to me is the VH could care less about the fans. Don’t jump all over me about it. Ed is my favorite guitar god of all time, Al, one of the best drummers of ALL time, and Dave, hands down the best frontman ever.
Chickenfoot is cool. Are all the songs great? No, I like about half of them, but better than many CD’s I’ve bought in the last 10 years. I never got to see them live, which is a bummer.
October 26th, 2009 at 10:08 am
I posted here a about month ago telling my story about how I was introduced to Chickenfoot while I was out dancing with my girlfriends for a 21st B-Day in Studio City CA. The DJ made a dance mix of Sexy Little thing and I asked him who it was and he told me it was chickenfoot. I later bought the CD and I really liked it considering I am not at all a hard rock fan. Anyway I was able to get tickets and saw them at the Gibson Amphitheatre and I was mesmerized at how fun this concert going thing is. Sorry for rambling on but my point is this, after I discovered Chickenfoot and learned the history behind who these musicians are and what they did, I also discovered what and who Van Halen is and I love Van Halen now too! I just find it so lame hearing some of you getting mad because there seems to be more coverage of one band versus the other. Now I know it’s a VHND website but I can honestly say from my experience that if it wasn’t for chickenfoot I would have never ever bothered to get into Van Halen. Call me stupid, naive or shallow, but for the longest time I thought Van Halen was just another trendy pop rock band from the eighties that came and went and boy was I totally wrong about everything I thought I knew. Anyway, I think it’s all good and everybody wins. Don’t hate the payers… Hate the Game! LOL!
Ciao~
Aileen
October 26th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Karl’s post is the BEST! He should post it every time there is a new story on VHND. Wonderful British sarcasm.
BRILLIANT!!
October 26th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I love great music. Needless to say, I love VH and the Foot.
Why would anyone hate on seeing Foot news here?
It’s not “bumping” VH news, because there isn’t any VH news. (See van-halen.com for proof of that.)
So why are you upset at seeing Foot news on the VHND? I applaud the VHND for keeping things up to date. And if you read the heading, it says VH, Sammy, CF news, etc.
I think what gets people upset is that they see news on Chickenfoot and it reminds them that VH isn’t doing anything “right now”. However, when VH does something, I’m sure everything will be covered brilliantly here as it always has been.
What’s better? News of what VH alumni (Sam & Mike) are up to (making music, and putting on kick-ass concerts) or a blank page with the occasional “news item” about products you can buy from Eddie and company?
Since it does say at the top of this page “the latest news on VH, Sam, CF, etc.” then I would respectfully suggest it isn’t the Chickenfoot news that’s in the wrong place. This content is simply truth in advertising.
If it’s VH-only news, then check out van-halen.com. I promise you there is no news about Chickenfoot there. Come to think of it, there’s no news of ANYTHING there since April, if memory serves.
What do you CF haters do…visit espn.com and complain about coverage of teams you don’t like too? I just don’t understand what the fuss is about.
October 26th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Karl
Nicely said.
October 26th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
You people need to stop the hate on here. And enough with the comments of ‘This is not a chickenfoot site” Blah blah blah. Yes, this is the VAN HALEN News Desk. And if you read what it says in the home page, “The nets best source for Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Sammy Hagar and Chickenfoot news”. Yes, the Chickenfoot is a new addition because there are 2 past members of the band as part of it. Remember in 2004 when Sammy rejoioned the group and they had news about the tour. Im sure there were some posts about David Lee Roth. Were all you people there saying “This is not the DAvid Lee Roth News Desk,” ” We should pitch in for Dave to have a site of his own.” Exactly! Nobody said shit! If you do not care for Chickenfoot then skip the Article. Wait for a VH update.There are many people on here who either like Chickenfoot or respect the Foot. All you are doing is shitting on them. Anything Anything with Chickenfoot is VH related due to past members and should be a part of this site like it or not. Props to VHND for keeping this site up! If it is true about a VH tour in 2010, im sure we will be swimming in VH news then. Until now, lets at least be glad we can hear a little something about Sammy and Mike to feed our VH Appetite!Cant wait for next year!
October 26th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
boy you hear mikes bass and vocals but no mike lame!
October 26th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Pete
Well Said!!!
October 26th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
it’s ashamed what an unappreciative person evh has become.
October 27th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Karl
you sound like the kind of guy I would enjoy sitting down to a pint with. Keep up the great posts!
October 27th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Thanks Rob, I’ll accept a pint off anyone! And let’s hope there’s a jukebox there that has both Chickenfoot and Van Halen on it! Cheers!
October 27th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Agreed…KARL…you’re an interesting cat for sure. I think a bunch of you would be very interesting to sit down for some draft beer with. It would be a pleasure to be around people as passionate about this music as I am, whether we agree or disagree! (Actually, it’s the one’s that would disagree that would probably be the MOST interesting!)
Cheers!
October 27th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
I was hit in the head with a drumstick at a Chickenfoot show, and I didnt get a kiss! =(
October 28th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Cool story! Sounds like you had a great time. I saw Chickenfoot recently at the Boston Pavillion. It was a great show! Joe Satch got hit in the head by one of Chad’s drum sticks. It looked like it hurt and Joe was checking for blood. Joe looked pissed!