Dave Grohl Performs From Foo Fighters Throne at July 4 Concert
Sometimes it may seem like Dave Grohl is superhuman, so when he announced that the band would be making their July 4 North American tour kickoff, not many questioned it. Yes, the rocker had fallen offstage and broken his leg. Yes, Grohl was ordered by doctors to shut down the band's remaining U.K. tour dates while he recovered. And no, Grohl is not an exceptionally fast healer. But as the Foo Fighters frontman stated during the band's performance at Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium, "I'm not missing this show for the world."
And so the frontman came up with a truly awesome compromise for playing the show while still keeping his injured leg elevated and out of action. He designed a Foo Fighters throne with some pretty cool production value and performed while seated throughout the gig.
As Grohl revealed during the performance of "Big Me," he broke his leg while falling off the stage and was asked to take time off. But July 4 marked the 20th anniversary of the first Foo Fighters album and the Washington, D.C. area is where the frontman grew up, so the date and show held significance to him and he wanted to perform. After taking some Oxy for the pain, Grohl sketched out an idea for his throne, complete with "guitar arms" for decoration with "lasers and s--t shooting from the top" and a speaker cabinet below his seat. "I was as high as a kite when I drew that," laughed the singer. Grohl details it all in fan shot video featured below ahead of the performance of "Big Me" that was dedicated to his road crew.
As for the show, it was a hits filled set that opened with traditional set closer "Everlong." Included in the performance were "Something From Nothing," "Congregation" and "Outside," satisfying the need to promote their current Sonic Highways disc. There was also an acoustic section with "My Hero" and "Times Like These" back-to-back, followed by the band's lone cover of the night -- the Queen / David Bowie classic "Under Pressure."
And as it was the 20th Anniversary of the band's self-titled debut, the show included a section of tracks from the classic disc. Beginning with "For All the Cows" that included a guest appearance by Dave Grohl's mother and continuing through "Alone + Easy Target" and "This Is a Call," the band paid proper homage to the album that started it all.
Check out fan-shot footage and the set list from the special July 4 show below.
Watch Dave Grohl Discuss His Injury, Throne + Performance of "Big Me"
Watch Foo Fighters' Show Opener "Everlong" + the Unveiling of Dave Grohl's Throne
Watch Foo Fighters Perform "The Pretender"
Foo Fighters July 4 Washington D.C. RFK Stadium Set List
1. "Everlong"
2. "Monkey Wrench"
3. "Learn to Fly"
4. "Something From Nothing"
5. "The Pretender"
6. "Cold Day in the Sun"
7. "Congregation"
8. "Walk"
9. "Big Me"
10. "My Hero" (acoustic)
11. "Times Like These" (acoustic)
12. "Under Pressure" (Queen & David Bowie cover)
13. "All My Life"
14. "These Days'
15. "Outside"
16. "Breakout"
17. "For All the Cows"
18. "Alone + Easy Target"
19. "This Is a Call"
20. "Generator"
21. "Best of You"
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