By Mary Ouellette

On February 18th, Dave Grohl marches his rock n roll army ~ collectively known as the Foo Fighters ~ into the DCU Center as their tour makes its one and only scheduled New England performance to a sold out house. Along for the ride are opening acts Against Me! and System of a Down front man Serj Tankian.

The Foo Fighters released their sixth studio album, “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace,” on September 25 of 2007. It debuted at #3 on Billboard’s Top 200 and has since gone gold, further ensuring that the band will have a permanent place in rock history. “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace” has also earned a Grammy nomination for ‘Best Rock Album’ and ‘Album of the Year;’ and the first single, “The Pretender,” is up for ‘Best Rock Song’ and ‘Best Hard Rock Performance.’ Although the Foos could fill their mantles with Grammys from albums past, they have yet to walk away with the coveted ‘Album of the Year’ accolade. Could this finally be the year of the Foo?

And what is a Foo anyway and why are they fighting? Much speculation has been made about the name of the band and its origin. ”Foo fighter” is a term that actually dates back to World War II and was used by the Allied aircraft pilots flying over Europe to describe mysterious, out of the ordinary aerial occurrences, at the time often speculated to be UFOs. Modern enthusiasts explain them as secret weapons used by “the” enemy, but what those sightings actually were remains a mystery to this day. Grohl chose this moniker based on his interest in UFOs and the paranormal.

Four Fun Foo-Filled Facts:

? Dave Grohl played all the instruments and sang on their debut album before recruiting a full band
? Rashida Jones (AKA Karen from The Office) appears in the Foo Fighters’ latest video for “Long Road to Ruin.” She is just the latest in a slew of actors (including Jack Black ) and actresses to make a cameo in a Foo Fighters’ video.
? Drummer Taylor Hawkins sings and plays drums in his side project called Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders
? In 2004, after learning that George W. Bush was using the Foo Fighters’ song “Times Like These” at his rallies, Grohl opted to support John Kerry and played at several of his rallies. Grohl has yet to support any of the current candidates in the presidential race

One thing is certain, the Foo Fighters will leave their mark on the DCU Center and everyone lucky enough to have gotten tickets to the show!