In New York City’s Times Square, legions of teenage girls and their parents will camp out for a chance to see whatever saccharine pop star is appearing on the Today Show. In D.C., we line up for alt-rock bands from the mid-’90s, like the Foo Fighters. Front man Dave Grohl grew up in Springfield, Va., and credits the 9:30 Club with introducing him to his musical influences. The announcement that the band would, as part of the PR blitz around the D.C. episode of Grohl’s HBO musical documentary series, play the Black Cat (where Grohl was an investor) in October created a blocks-long human centipede. By 3:31 p.m., well before tickets went on sale at 6 p.m., the Black Cat tweeted that anyone who wasn’t already on line had “no chance” of scoring admission. Those early, lucky 750 people who did get in were treated to three hours of Foo. But Grohl played a much larger show at the Concert for Valor on the National Mall this Veterans Day, following the release of the new Foo Fighters album. He riled Fox News by playing Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” with Bruce Springsteen and Zac Brown (or really, for not playing “America, We Stand As One” on repeat). Grohl is riding the patriotism train, though—Foo Fighters will headline a festival at RFK Stadium on July 4, 2015, to celebrate their 20th anniversary.