The best of Taylor Hawkins

 

The music world is in shock. Taylor Hawkins, dead at 50, leaving behind a wife, kids, bandmates, family, friends, and fans. The Foo Fighters drummer shone with a musical intensity and a wild energy that made him a powerful drummer, a fun interviewee, and the best damned singer in Foo Fighters (sorry Dave, though Dave would probably say the same thing).

I've seen Hawkins play with Foo Fighters three times, and when you're not watching Dave Grohl, you're watching Hawkins. As many people have pointed out since his untimely passing, Hawkins was one of the few drummers in the world who could drum in a band with Grohl and make you cool with the fact that Grohl wasn't playing drums.

Here is a short list as a reminder of what we have lost. Vale Taylor Hawkins.

Drumming for Sass Jordan

Hawkins' first big-time rock gig was backing award-winning Canadian singer Sass Jordan around 1992. With her bluesy vocals and Slash-alike guitarist Stevie Salas, Jordan was trying to bridge the worlds of traditional rock and alternative rock, and having Hawkins in the band certainly helped. As evidenced by the first song in this video, Hawkins hit 'em hard but was already developing his own style.

Drumming for Alanis Morissette

Hawkins joined another strong-voiced Canadian singer-songwriter after Sass Jordan, becoming the live drummer for Alanis Morissette on her mammoth Jagged Little Pill world tour from 1995 to 1997. While he didn't play on the album (did you know Flea and Dave Navarro play on You Oughta Know?) he did make it into a couple of her music videos. You can see in this live clip from London in '95 the skills that caught Dave Grohl's eyes and ears. Hawkins' hits with metronomic power, but has groove to spare and a light touch when needed. It's not his drum part he's playing but he's already making it his own. 

"Can you play Everlong?"

I have no idea what kind of "audition" Hawkins did to the join Foo Fighters in 1997, but at some point he would have had to prove his worth by playing Everlong. It's one of the toughest drum patterns in the Foo catalogue and while it's Grohl playing it on The Colour & The Shape, Hawkins has played it more - over 1000 times, according to setlist.fm. The song has grown into the definitive Foo Fighters track over the 25 years since its release, and Hawkins' ability to nail that furiously precise hi-hat rhythm and dramatic anticipation night in, night out has surely helped secure the song's legendary status. Sadly, it would be the last song he played live with the band.

Aurora

Hawkins' called Aurora one of his favourite Foo Fighters songs, partly because it was the first track for the band that he felt he really nailed in the studio. His debut album with the Foos - There Is Nothing Left To Lose - is a real reset for the band. They're a three-piece, Grohl is starting to spread his songwriting wings, and Hawkins and bassist Nate Mendel have their input, adding more colour to the Foo palette. Aurora is a highlight of the album, and live it became a monster, as evidenced by this massive seven-minute version from one of the most epic shows they ever did on one of their many Australian visits. The last two minutes are among some of Hawkins' finest work.

Have A Cigar

The first time Hawkins took lead vocals on a Foos track is on this Learn To Fly b-side (remember b-sides?). It's an awesome cover of the Pink Floyd classic, and the band does a great version, giving it a suitably early '00s distorted update. The song was a staple of Foo Fighters' setlists in 2000 before being dropped forever, but it gave us a taste of Hawkins' vocal abilities and greater things to come.

Cold Day In The Sun

Hawkins' first original for the Foos was this tune, which is not only a highlight from the acoustic disc of their 2005 album In Your Honour but it's one of the best songs on either disc. Released as a double A-side with No Way Back, it was originally written by Hawkins some four years earlier. That middle eight is killer. On the Skin & Bones tour, Hawkins unleashed his inner Phil Collins/Levon Helm/Roger Taylor by singing from behind the kit, but later on the song became a chance to get Hawkins out front (and Grohl on the drums). But watch the start of this video from Skin & Bones and your heart will break all over again for the connection between Grohl and his soulmate.

The Pretender

Picking a single Foo Fighters' track that showcases Hawkins' phenomenal drumming is impossible, but The Pretender is a good start. It's one of the more elaborately arranged Foos songs, and Hawkins' plays an integral part in giving the song its free-flowing dynamism. His footwork early on is cool, and as the song shifts from bit to bit, Hawkins' continually finds the best groove to propel it along. My favourite bit is the "boom cha-cha" he drops with less than 15 seconds to go - the song's practically done, but he's still digging up new feels to bring it home. 

Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders

In between Foo Fighters albums, Hawkins squeezed in records and tours under the name Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders. He put out three albums in 13 years, and guests on the records included Grohl, Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor, The Cars' Elliot Easton, Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan, Eagles' Joe Walsh, Heart's Nancy Wilson, and Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell. The songs range from straight-ahead rock to the slightly proggy (see above) and the utterly nuts - check out I Really Blew It.

Singing with The Doors

If you haven't seen this clip yet, it's an absolute treat. Hawkins does his very best Jim Morrison out front of a band featuring The Doors legends Robby Krieger and John Densmore. It's a suitably swaggering performance, but when he hits that scream at 1m55s, it's uncanny. Hawkins' love of old school rock ran deep - see also his old school rock covers band Chevy Metal.

Bob Quit His Job

Following in the footsteps of his best bud Grohl, Hawkins eventually made a record where he played pretty much every instrument. The result is the EP Kota, which is all Hawkins bar a few choice cameos (including fellow Foos Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett). A joyously fun collection of glam rock songs written by Hawkins, it includes the swaggering lead single Range Rover Bitch and the sexy shifting rhythms of Southern Belles. But the highlight is this deliriously ecstatic stomper that Hawkins beams in direct from some of the weirder parts of the '70s. If you've never heard this, you are in for a treat. 

La Dee Da

Concrete & Gold is the under-rated masterpiece in the Foo Fighters back catalogue, and Hawkins' drumming is a massive part of that. That heavy metal swing in Run is a real highlight, as is his gallop and groove in Make It Right, and the sizzling drag of his hi-hat in his boppy patterns in The Line. But the hands-down winner is the inside-out beats of La Dee Da. I've listened to this song dozens of times and it continues to fuck with my head. He's dropping a beat at the start of each verses right? And then in the middle of the verse? Where's the one? What is going on? It's some tricksy proggy shit and I love it. But my favourite song on this gem of an album is...

Sunday Rain

This delicious slice of '70s AM radio gold is the sleeper on Concrete & Gold and it features Hawkins doing his best Don Henley impression. It's a killer vocal performance but also a genuinely great song with the kind of outro that could go on forever and never get old. Also, how rad is that pink kit in the above clip?

Under Pressure

Foo Fighters' go-to party trick in recent years has been busting out some crazy covers at their live shows with Hawkins on vocals. Just prior to his death, it was Queen's Somebody To Love, but before that they were delivering a spot-on rendition of the Queen + Bowie classic Under Pressure. This version with Rufus "Son Of Roger" Taylor on drums is very cool. Look how much fun Hawkins' is having, but also, check out the vocal range on that motherfucker. He will be missed.

Belfast

This is a version of a review appearing on ABC Radio across regional Victoria on March 17, 2022.

(M) ★★★★★

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Cast: Jude Hill, Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds, Judie Dench, Lewis McAskie, Colin Morgan.

"Milk? I thought you got the milk."

In the past decade, Kenneth Branagh has shown he can do pretty much anything as a director. Having mostly left the Bard behind (aside from the little-seen biopic All Is True), Branagh has tackled superheroes, fairy tales, spies, and whodunnits with a fair amount of success.

These big-budget Hollywood-friendly flicks share Branagh's deft hand with drama, light touch with a laugh, and eye for spectacle. This is true too of Belfast, even though it couldn't be more removed from his other recent films unless it was an animated western. 

Based on Branagh's own upbringing in the titular city, the story provides a child's-eye-view of The Troubles. Branagh stand-in Buddy (Hill) tries to understand why the Catholics and Protestants of his neighbourhood are at war with each other, and the impact living in Belfast is having on his family.

 

Aside from being a poignant look at The Troubles and those caught up in it, Belfast is a beautiful essay on innocence, belonging, community and family. There's an honesty and simplicity to the way the story is told, befitting of its young guide. In Buddy, the film has a naïve core that's never manipulative - it just feels real and honest. Much of this is due to Branagh's steady hand, the beautiful black-and-white cinematography of Haris Zambarloukos, and the wonderful performance from 11-year-old Hill, who is a revelation.

Dornan and Balfe are also great as Buddy's parents, as they try to do the right thing by their family in the face of war, depression and recession, without forsaking the city and community they feel is part of their very beings. They're ably assisted by the grandparents, Hind and Dench, who add gravitas and humour to the mix.

The humour is important. Not only does it lighten the heavy load of the film, but it helps capture the Northern Irish charm, spirit and heart in the face of adversity. Belfast is as much a love letter to a lost youth and a loved city, as it is a snapshot of The Troubles. You will laugh out loud throughout this film, just as you'll be wowed and even moved to tears.

Branagh's lived experience obviously shines through in this, but its his ability to distil it into a moving and enjoyable film that's perhaps more important. There are some bravura moments and some beautiful shots that capture the intimacy of a childhood home and community torn apart by religion-fueled insanity.