Foo Fighters - The Five Most Unexpected Live Moments
Last week, legendary rockers the Foo Fighters were announced as headliners for the Invictus Games Closing Party in London’s Olympic Park. The September concert - which will celebrate Prince Harry’s four-day sporting event for injured servicemen and women - will be the Foos’ first UK show of 2014 and will see the band appear alongside the likes of Ellie Goulding, Kaiser Chiefs, Ryan Adams and more.
Having earned a reputation for being one the most exciting live bands on the planet - and with news of a new album on the way - Contact Music looks back through the band’s career to find some of their most surprising and unexpected live moments.
1) Leeds Festival 2012 - ‘Tie Your Mother Down’
Having headlined festivals and stadiums around the world, the Foo Fighters were always going to bring something special to their main stage performance at the joint Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2012. However, nobody expected a tribute to British stadium rock giants Queen on the festival’s opening night.
During the Foos' mammoth two-and-a-half hour Friday night headline slot, drummer Taylor Hawkins took to the front of the stage to introduce Rufus Taylor (son of Queen drummer Roger Taylor).
Hawkins told the crowd: “Over the years I've got to know Queen's drummer Roger Taylor. Well his son Rufus is right there. He's fucking shitting a brick because he's got to play 'Tie Your Mother Down’!”
The band - along with the apparently nervous drummer - played a guitar-heavy rendition of the Queen classic with Hawkins channelling the late Freddie Mercury as he assumed lead vocals, much to the delight of the Yorkshire crowd.
Later that year, in another surprising duet, frontman Dave Grohl and the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach joined Neil Young and Crazy Horse on stage for a performance of Young’s classic ‘Keep On Rocking In The Free World’ at a show in New York’s Central Park.
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2) A Slice of Rock & Roll
No strangers to the odd surprise performance (earlier this year the band closed off an entire city block following an impromptu performance in New Orleans) the Foo Fighters surprised 200 diners by putting on an unexpected live show in a California pizza restaurant last December.
The band, as a warm up to their live return in Mexico, took to the stage at Redball’s Rock & Roll Pizza to perform a 23-song set that included hits ‘Learn To Fly’ and ‘Arlandria.’
According to TMZ, tickets for intimate surprise show were just ten dollars each - however it is not confirmed whether the price included supper.
_Next page: Dave Grohl vs the Westboro Baptist Church (and more)
3) Foos vs the Westboro Baptist Church
While the band have never been best known for being vocal about gay rights, in 2011 they fought back against anti-gay protesters who were picketing outside the venue for a Foo Fighters show in Kansas City.
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Having posted a parody video earlier in the year to promote their upcoming tour, the band had been targeted by the notorious Westboro Baptist Church - the group infamous for picketing the funerals of US soldiers, gay rights activists and celebrities, among others.
As protesters gathered outside the venue ahead of the show, the Foos arrived in fancy dress on the back of a flat-bed truck adorned with American flags and hay bails to perform their country-parody song ‘Keep It Clean (Hot Buns).’
During the performance, singer Dave Grohl addressed the crowd: “I don't care if you're black or white or purple or green, whether you're Pennsylvanian or Transylvanian, Lady Gaga or Lady Antebellum, it takes all kinds! Men loving women, and women loving men, and men loving men, and women loving women … God bless America!” A video of the performance can be seen here.
4) The ultimate garage band
Most bands promoting their new album tend to favour a tour of established venues (usually music halls, stadiums or bars depending on the size of the tour). However, to support their 2011 effort Wasting Light, the Foos took a slightly more intimate approach, by asking to play in the homes of their own fans.
To celebrate the new album being recorded in Dave Grohl’s garage, fans were given the opportunity to move the lawnmower and power tools aside and apply for the band to come and play a one-off show in their own garages - ahead of the band’s official summer tour.
Foo Fighters played a total of eight up-close-and-personal garage shows for fans across America, with footage from each show captured on a documentary released later that year.
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5) The Grand Return
Perhaps the Foo Fighters’ most unexpected live moment is still yet to come - as earlier this year the band agreed to play a show in Richmond, Virginia, that was orchestrated and funded by a fan-driven campaign.
As we previously reported, fans of the band made history by selling out tickets for a show that didn’t even exist, in a bid to book the band to play their city for the first time since 1998.
After a lengthy campaign by local fans to sell tickets for the show, the band took to Twitter to confirm their appearance, telling fans: “See ya soon… let's have a good time.”
Foo Fighters will play London’s Olympic Park on September 14._