Foo Your Listening Pleasure

Here’s how legendary alt-rockers Foo Fighters made us sit up and listen when they were in town recently for their first gig here in 21 years.

 

- Jonathan Fam

For the uninitiated, a playback session, sometimes called a listening party, is what happens when a group of journos gather in a room, usually the record label’s office, to listen to a soon-to-be released album. But what makes today’s playback sesh truly special is not just because we’re one of the first few people in the world to listen to the Foo Fighters’ new album Concrete and Gold or that it’s happening at a function room at the Mandarin Oriental. What really makes today spesh is that the rock legends will meeting us after for a quick chat, even though they’re slated to play at the National Stadium just hours later (see box). Now this is a listening party.

But first, we have to surrender all bags and recording devices. And yes, that includes our mobile phones. This is to ensure that nothing gets leaked onto the Internet, you know, like a Games of Thrones episode. But… but… What if we get bored and want to play Candy Crush halfway through? Instead, we’re given a note pad and a pen to jot down our thoughts and whatever bon mots the Foos decide to spew.