On Sunday, the Foo Fighters closed out Bonnaroo with a 19-track set that featured great songs, guest appearances, a tribute to late drummer Taylor Hawkins, and some fun covers, including an excerpt from the 1994 Beastie Boys classic, “Sabotage.”
“Damn, let’s do it — go, Nate, go,” frontman Dave Grohl said onstage to the crowd in Manchester, Tennessee, signaling to bassist Nate Mendel to begin playing the opening track. As the introduction stormed into the first verse, Grohl jumped in, doing his best Ad-Rock impersonation.
The band made out a few lines before Grohl pulled the plug, saying “I can’t rap and I don’t know the song, even though I love it.” Then he told the crowd, “Next year we’re going back to Bonnaroo, we’re going to play the fuckin’ Wha-What Stage and we’re doing a whole Beastie Boys set, how about that?” Watch a video of the performance below.
advertisement
The cover appears to have been part of a “mashup” the Foo Fighters were doing on their ongoing 2023 tour, playing snippets of the covers while Grohl humorously struggles to remember the lyrics, or just makes up his own. Along with “Sabotage”, songs like Devo’s “Whip It” and Nine Inch Nails’ “March of the Pigs” are included, both fitting given that the band’s new drummer, Josh Freese, has drummed for both Devo and NIN in the past.
Another song the band included recently is a humorous version of Michael Bublé’s “I Haven’t Met It Yet,” with Grohl-penned lyrics like “I don’t know the fucking words/ I don’t know this song/ You might know that/ But I don’t/ I was supposed to.” I fuck it up / But I don’t care And, of course, his version of the big hit line: “I haven’t bothered you yet. “
Another Foo Fighters starring highlight happened at Bonnaroo when they brought in Hayley Williams from Paramore to sing “My Hero.” The moment was complete for Williams, who previously covered the song for the 2006 movie Superman Returns.
advertisement
If you’d like to catch some fun Foo Fighters covers for yourself, you still have a chance to see them on their 2023 tour, which will include headline dates and stops at San Francisco’s Outside Lands, Chicago’s Riot Fest, and Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival. Get your tickets here.
In 2020, Grohl shared a full version of “Sabotage” as part of his book Hanukkah sessions With producer Greg Kurstin.
subversion foo in ru # Tale #warriors # my eyes pic.twitter.com/8fp8tDGJlK
advertisement
– Velvet Jones (@velvetjonesing) June 19, 2023
