Music

Man crowdfunds to force Foo Fighters to play a show in his hometown

by Tyler Munro

Like a halfhearted Kickstarter campaign, Andrew Coldin has started a crowd funding initiative to bring Foo Fighters to his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. And so far, it’s going pretty well: With 38 days left in the campaign, he’s raised more than $11,000.

The problem? The Foo Fighters haven’t actually signed on to play the show.

In essence, Goldin is trying to bully the band into playing. He’ll say that he’s doing it to prove the demand for a Foo Fighters show, noting on the campaign page that they haven’t played Richmond in more than 15 years, noting that Dave Grohl is from nearby Springfield. By his logic, it’s basically his home town show!

Here’s the thing: This is absurd. The campaign is selling 1400 tickets to a show that doesn’t exist yet and, worse, claiming that their plan is working because of the press they’re generating. But the Foo Fighters haven’t acknowledged it, and if they don’t sign onto the show, every dollar donated gets given back.

And because the band isn’t actually involved in this effort, the incentives are pretty basic: $50 per ticket. Pay $300? That’ll net you six! Worse, they’re unspecified, not just in date, but in actual seating location. Is this going to be general admission? What if they land in a venue with seats?

Listen, the idea is clever, creative, but ultimately full of holes. There’s a ways to go before they hit their $70,000 goal, but if they do, should The Foos go through with it? They’ve long been known for secret, intimate gigs, from playing in a Milton barn to a California pizza parlour. This, though, feels like a fan holding the band’s free-spirit hostage. [H/T Billboard]