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Faithful fans line up for tickets to see Foo Fighters
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
NILES
Heather Pazak was in line for tickets to Saturday’s Foo Fighters performance at Record Connection before the concert even was announced.
Pazak, of Pittsburgh, had her lawn chair in place in front of the record store in Pine Tree Place Shopping Center in McKinley Heights just before 8 a.m. Wednesday. Joining her moments later were Amy and Emily, also huge Foo Fighters fans who did not want their last names used because they had to play hooky from work to score the tickets.
The Foo Fighters will play a one-hour concert at noon Saturday in an empty storefront in the plaza, just a few doors down from Record Connection’s tiny shop. Only 150 people will be let in.
The band is led by Dave Grohl, who lived in Warren when he was a small child. After he moved with his mother to Maryland, Grohl visited his father in the city during summer vacations while growing up.
The Foo Fighters’ appearance is in conjunction with National Record Store Day, an event designed to promote independently owned record stores.
The first 150 fans who enter Record Connection when it opens today at 10 a.m. will get the tickets. Each person who wants a ticket must preorder the Foo Fighters’ upcoming vinyl record release “Songs from the Laundry Room,” which will cost $25. There will be no phone or Internet orders.
There is a limit of one ticket per customer, and each customer must provide a valid photo ID at reservation and at check-in. Tickets are nontransferable.
The Foo Fighters already were going to be in Northeast Ohio Saturday because the band is scheduled to perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony that night in Cleveland.
As of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday — just three and a half hours after the concert was announced on Record Connection’s Facebook page — there were seven people in line in front of the store with the goal of camping out overnight for tickets.
By 8 p.m., there were about 85 people camped out in the line that started at the record store door and continued down the sidewalk.
Pazak, the fan from Pittsburgh — her Pennsylvania license plate reads FOO F1TR, had bought herself a reclining lawn chair from Walgreens and a red fleece blanket, too, that looked like a Christmas leftover. But it was warm. The low temperature was predicted in the 40s.
She had had a strong inkling about the concert through fan research, and contacted her friends, Emily and Amy, who live in central Ohio and western Pennsylvania, respectively.
“We had a feeling something was going to happen,” Pazak said. “‘Cause Dave Grohl is from here and he supports Warren. And he’s going to be presenting at the Rock Hall an hour away. So we rolled in.”
The three met in front of the store at 8 a.m., but they have been friends for years.
“I met them four years ago in a similar line for Foo Fighters tickets in D.C.,” said Pazak.
Emily has the same FOO F1TR license plate as Pazak’s, except on an Ohio plate. The two cars were parked next to each other at the Pine Tree Plaza parking lot Wednesday.
“I’ve seen small shows, but never this small — 150 people, are you kidding me?!” she continued.
Pazak said people have asked her how she can stand staying overnight in lines waiting for tickets, but she said she enjoys the experience.
“It’s the camaraderie you have in the line,” she explained. “It’s a strong community.” They look out for each other, she said.
The record-store owner brought in portable toilets for the parking lot, she said, and everyone makes sure everybody has what they need.
“We have pizza delivered,” Pazak said.
“We are one big Foo Fighters family,” said Doug McCauley of Niles.
Dave Karr of Cortland was also prepared to sleep on the sidewalk.
“I’ve got a lay-down chair in the car and a blanket,” he said. The thought of the chilly night coming on didn’t bother him.
“It’s rock-n-roll! If it was in the 20s, I’d be sitting out here for that,” he said.
Cameron Konop of Hermitage, Pa., had only a camp chair. He’d left the house so fast after the announcement about the album sales came at 10 a.m. on social media, he said, that he didn’t bring much with him.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said.
Record Connection owner Jeff Burke said Saturday’s concert will be the biggest thing that’s ever happened at his store.
“It’s a historical event,” he said inside his shop Wednesday. “People will be talking about this for a long time.”
Burke, who has owned the shop since 1980, has had rock stars make appearances at his store in the past, including Great White, Quiet Riot, Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs and Fred Schneider of the B-52s.
How did the show happen? “We got lucky,” said Burke, referring to the fact that Record Store Day fell on the same day as the Rock Hall of Fame ceremony.
It all started a few months ago. “A gentleman came in the shop one day and was asking questions and taking photos,” said Burke. “He also bought some stuff.”
Burke didn’t know it at the time, but the gentlemen turned out to be a scout sent by John Cutliff of the Foo Fighters management team.
Cutliff called Burke two days after the visit and asked him if he would host the Foo Fighters.
“I almost had a heart attack when he asked me,” said Burke. “My knees buckled.”
Cutliff promised that the concert would be a full rock show, with the full band, a stage and professional lighting and sound.
“He said, ‘We’re going to give your town a rock show,’” said Burke.
Saturday’s event will be a daylong affair that will feature other vinyl and CD album sellers, and other vendors. Angela Perley and the Howlin’ Moons, a regional Americana rock band, will perform at 4 p.m.
Contributor: Staff writer Jeanne Starmack