Oztix | News | We Got Into That Surprise Dave Grohl Gig Last Night & It Was 'The Best Tuesday Gig You'll Ever See'

Yesterday, we shared the plight of our reporter Mick, who was trying his darndest to get into the surprise Chevy Metal show last night, featuring the likes of Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins. Good news, he made it in!

"Just so you know, we’re a cover band," Taylor Hawkins announces this up front to settle any expectations. After all, when Hawkins, the drummer from Foo Fighters is joined by his long-time cohort, Dave Grohl, on stage we might not know what to expect, but the band is a ‘70s dirt rock cover band formed by singer and bassist Wiley Hodgden (The Birds of Satan). Taylor is now a regular member of the group, but the guitarists seem to be rotated around. Tonight, having flown 26 hours to be there, Brent Woods joined the line-up from London.

Oh, and then there's Dave Grohl. "I’ve been auditioning for this band for ten years! They’re my favourite band in the world!" Grohl, of course, is the main man of the night. His ABBA shirt is worn seemingly un-ironically and suits the theme of the night.

The band rip straight into Bitch from The Rolling Stones and then switch it up into The Knack’s My Sharona. We are treated to a mix of '70s tracks, some of which the crowd may have been a bit mystified by. The hottest ticket in town on a Tuesday night saw The Oxford Art Factory filled to the brim with a mix of old-school, new-school and industry folk. Having lined up for two hours earlier in the day only to be put on a waiting list, I received a text at 6.37pm granting admission to the gig. It was a lucky break and worth the effort and a cheeky twenty bucks in the end!

The music is tight, loud and raw. The talent on stage is obvious as they seem to be playing perfectly in sync despite a certain lack of rehearsal time. The singing duties are mostly performed by Hodgden who covers Sabbath’s The Wizard and The Vapors' Turning Japanese perfectly, but Hawkins takes over on The Faces' Stay With Me and most notably switches places with Grohl on a huge highlight of the night, Mercury and Bowie's Under Pressure. Grohl relinquishes the sticks quickly. "I'm so glad I don’t have to do that any more!"

The night is two hours of fun from a self-proclaimed 'wedding band on crack' and with the calls of 'play something Aussie' coming from the crowd, Grohl proceeds to name-drop a number of Aussie acts, including Midnight Oil, INXS, The Hard-Ons, Angels, Hoodoo Gurus before finishing the night with two tracks from "…the best Aussie band there is." Riff Raff and Let There Be Rock round out the best Tuesday night gig you'll ever see. If only Foo Fighters would play this venue one day.

Having spent over six hours on my feet, I make my way home. It was all worth it.