Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
“We’re gonna bring you the rock and roll!” Dave Grohl bellowed two songs into Foo Fighters’ set at Lollapalooza on Sunday night (Aug. 1). This declaration wasn’t a surprise — it arrived as the band was tearing through a face-melting take on “The Pretender” — but also served as a reminder that Foo Fighters were the only rock-band main stage headliner of the 2021 festival, following Miley Cyrus, Tyler, The Creator and Post Malone at Grant Park in Chicago.
If the sound of Lollapalooza has shifted since the Foos last headlined in 2011 — along with bands like Muse and Coldplay — Grohl has remained the world’s most reliable rock band leader, ensuring a crowd-pleasing, hits-packed and highly spirited two hours to close out the weekend. Foo Fighters had been touring for over a month prior to the headlining performance, and that set was largely translated over to Lollapalooza, with a few personalized details but nothing too disruptive to the anthems. On a day that began with a major Lollapalooza act, DaBaby, being abruptly removed from the lineup due to recent homophobic remarks, Foo Fighters offered rock at its most dependable — with an inclusive message to boot (“Let me tell you something about Foo Fighters: we love and respect people in all walks of life,” Grohl told the crowd at one point).
To close out Lollapalooza 2021, here are the five best moments from Foo Fighters’ headlining set.
No Rain For ‘My Hero’
The last time Foo Fighters headlined Lollapalooza was in 2011, through a downpour: Grohl and co. played while trying in vain to stave off rain showers and watching mud cake onto their audience members. Credit to the band’s longevity and steady draw as a live act that, a decade later, they got to make up for it: Sunday night was slightly breezy but precipitation-free in Grant Park.
Grohl remarked on the clear skies and memories of rain before launching into “My Hero,” which rang out with special ferocity as the band laughed off the weather that was undoubtedly a major headache 10 years ago. Even surrounded by dramatic set highlights like “The Pretender,” “Best Of You” and “Overlong,” “My Hero” was one of Grohl’s most intense performances of the evening, triumphant in overcoming one Grant Park memory.
The Grohl Family Affair
Sunday happened to be the seventh birthday of Grohl’s daughter Ophelia, who was at Grant Park watching dad from a spot in the crowd — and as such, thousands of fans sang “Happy Birthday to You” to the blushing kid. Immediately after, Grohl’s 15-year-old daughter, Violet, appeared next to her father onstage, the frontman’s eldest child ready to rock out with some main-stage karaoke.
“She likes to listen to the same punk rock I like to listen to!” Grohl enthused, downright giddy with excitement to be joined by his daughter for the Lollapalooza special performance. Violet then took lead vocals on a cover of X’s “Nausea,” her snarl clearly influenced by that of her pops.
The Dave-Taylor Bromance
Part of the magic of watching a Foo Fighters set is gazing upon the adoration between Grohl and Taylor Hawkins, longtime bandmates with pinpoint intuition when it comes to each other’s movements. If Grohl needs to summon a momentum-shifting drum fill, Hawkins will happily oblige. When a song needs to sound more intimate, Hawkins will drop out and let Grohl handle the heavy lifting. Foo Fighters thrive on contrasting quiet-loud in concert, and it works because their most important players couldn’t be more in synch.
They make the mutual love explicit, too. Taking the mic from Grohl ahead of “Somebody To Love,” Hawkins talked about how much he learned from the Nirvana drummer, which Grohl modestly waved off. After Hawkins’ lone vocal performance on the Queen cover, Grohl crowed about his pal’s pipes. Foo Fighters have never been a one-man show, but as the big screens at Grant Park showed Grohl’s singing and Hawkins’ drumming in equal measure, the two anchors shone bright in between the flattery.
The Dee Gees’ Cameo
Midway through the band’s headlining set, Grohl told the crowd “it’s a whole new show now” as a disco ball descended. The subtle staging shift helped set the tone for an appearance from The Dee Gees’, the Foo’s new disco-inspired side project, which on July 17 released its debut Hail Satin, filled with four Bee Gees cover songs plus a rendition of Andy Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing.”
While Taylor Hawkins’ drum set — which prominently featured Barry Gibbs’ face — tipped fans off that this moment was coming, nothing could quite prepare the crowd for the band’s groovy take on “You Should Be Dancing.” Grohl said it best when he asked the crowd: “You know why? Because why the f–k not.”
The Light Flexing
For a band that welcomed full-capacity live music back to Madison Square Garden, and as a result became the face of live music’s return (which now seems threatened once again with the rise of the COVID-19 delta variant), there seemed to be knowing smiles on the band members’ faces about their rightful slot closing out the 30th anniversary of Lollapalooza — and the first major large-scale festival to come back.
As the only headliner to get a full two-hour set (compared to the 1 hour and 15 minutes the other three artists were allotted), Grohl let the audience know, “We’re just getting warmed up,” about 45 minutes in — i.e., when other headliners would usually have just a half hour left. He also made it clear why the band was worthy of the extra time, explaining that its discography spans 235 songs. Which is why each time he asked, “Do you want one more?” he flashed a knowing smile — fueling the idea that the Foos would have to be dragged offstage before calling it quits. But by 10 p.m. sharp, the band took its final bow and gave attendees a gift almost as fulfilling as an encore: an early Sunday night after four long days.
Share
Advertisement
Aerosmith played their first live shows in three years, with Dave Grohl on the drums and special appearances from Johnny Depp, Guns N’ Roses, Liv Tyler and more.
The two shows were billed as ‘California, Dream On: Aerosmith & Friends’ and took place at the Hollywood Bowl in California on October 29 and November 1. They were the rock giants’ first live shows in three years, following Aerosmith abruptly bringing their touring days to an end when frontman Steven Tyler injured his larynx.
Before they took to the stage to close out the first night, there were performances from Eric Church, Heart, Billy Idol, Sammy Hagar, and Godsmack’s Sully Erna, and backing musicians included Nuno Bettencourt.
The Black Crowes also performed a brief set – breaking out covers of four Aerosmith songs – as did Guns N’ Roses, who were direct support for Tyler and co and performed covers of ‘Nobody’s Fault’, ‘Last Child’, and ‘Seasons of Wither’.
Aerosmith were then introduced to the stage by the frontman’s daughter Liv Tyler and fellow actor Alicia Silverstone, who both featured in the band’s ‘Crazy’ music video back in 1994. They played a six-song set featuring their biggest hits ‘Toys in the Attic’, ‘Back in the Saddle’, ‘Sweet Emotion’, ‘The Train Kept A-Rollin’, and ‘Dream On’, and were joined by Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl on drums for the majority of the set.
Johnny Depp came out as a surprise guest and played guitar on ‘The Train Kept A-Rollin’, and original drummer Joey Kramer came out for the final song, joining his bandmates as they closed the night out with ‘Walk This Way’.
On night two, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello and Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale came together to cover two Aerosmith tracks, ‘Kings And Queens’ and ‘Round And Round’, while Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez joined up with Richie Kotzen for covers of ‘Draw The Line’ and ‘Nobody’s Fault’.
Other performers opening for Aerosmith included Billy Idol again, Train’s Pat Monahan, Grace Potter and Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson. The Black Crowes and Guns N’ Roses returned to play brief sets, and Aerosmith played a similar set to the show prior, but also broke out a cover of The Beatles’ ‘Come Together’.
Johnny Depp and Dave Grohl didn’t take part in that show, and the drummer for that show was their recent touring drummer, John Douglas.
MC for both nights was comedian and actor Bill Burr, who told the audience at the first gig that they would be the band’s “final two shows in Aerosmith’s history”.
At the second night, however, Tyler seemed to refute the comments and said: “So Bill Burr said these are our final shows, huh? Doesn’t he know that you can’t get rid of Aerosmith? In fact, at the end of the fucking world, there will only be cockroaches, Aerosmith, and, I guess, Bill Burr.”
Check out more footage from the two shows below.
While Aerosmith have rarely played live since bringing their touring days to an end, Tyler has made a few live appearances in the time since – including a brief performance at the final Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath show ‘Back To The Beginning’ in 2025.
He also joined forces with Yungblud for the collaborative EP ‘One More Time’, made an on-stage appearance with him and Joe Perry at the 2025 MTV VMAs as part of a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, and also dropped both a country remix of the EP with Lainey Wilson, as well as a ‘Desert Road Version’ with actor Steve Martin.
As for Grohl, the Foo Fighters star recently appeared alongside Jack Black, Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen and more at Tom Morello’s inaugural his Power To The People festival, played a rare opening slot for AC/DC – also joining them on stage for their headline set – and also opened up about how he first met late drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Share
Advertisement
