Howlin' Wolf
New Orleans, LA
May 3, 2004
story & photos by Ritchie Champagne

When Axl Rose’s faux Guns N’ Roses dropped out of their scheduled headlining slot at the 2004 Rock In Rio festival in Portugal, the Foo Fighters volunteered to fill that vacancy despite having been off the road since the previous September. With a show this high profile, it makes perfect sense that the band would book some warm-up gigs. One of those found the Foos on the Wolf’s cramped stage playing to a sold out packed house of fans and radio station contest winners. Anticipation was high as the Foos had completely bypassed Louisiana on their One By One tour, drawing fans to this show from four hours away and further.

Initially, the crowd was very vocal, roaring its approval when they hit the stage, opening with One By One's opening track: All My Life. As usual, the band was a dichotomy: Dave Grohl and drummer Taylor Hawkins were very animated while bassist Nate Mendel and guitarist Chris Shifflett were more subdued, seemingly lost in their instruments.