Foo Fighters and U2 both cancelled performances following the attacks that left Paris in ruins and its people in mourning.
Paris’ quiet Friday night was disrupted by six separate violence attacks. One of which occurred at Le Bataclan theatre, where Eagles of Death Metal were performing when more than 100 attendees were taken hostage, many of which were shot, before before police stormed in and stopped the siege. The band, who were in mid-performance when the gunmen burst through the doors, were later found safe in another location.
The death toll currently sits at 132 people, with more than 300 others injured. Among the dead were the band’s Merchandise Manager Nick Alexander, music journalist Guillaume B. Decherf and International Product Manager for Mercury Records Thomas Ayad.
With respect to all of the victims, Foo Fighters cancelled the rest of their European tour.
They released a statement saying:
“It is with profound sadness and heartfelt concern for everyone in Paris that we have been forced to announce the cancellation of the rest of our tour. In light of this senseless violence, the closing of borders, and international mourning, we can’t continue right now. There is no other way to say it. This is crazy and it sucks. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was hurt or who lost a loved one.”
U2 also cancelled two performances in Paris scheduled to be broadcast over the weekend. They visited the theatre to pay their respects among the other mourners.
According to The Mirror UK, they also released a statement:
“We watched in disbelief and shock at the unfolding events in Paris and our hearts go out to all the victims and their families across the city.
“We are devastated at the loss of life at the Eagles of Death Metal concert and our thoughts and prayers are with the band and their fans. And we hope and pray that all of our fans in Paris are safe.”
We send our condolences to the victims of this tragedy, people of Paris and anyone else who was affected.
In this age of instant, and usually online, gratification, the countdown is a rarity. So leave it up to old hands like Foo Fighters to appreciate exactly the kind of sensation it can cause. The band have sent online speculation through the roof with their mysterious homepage of a slowly ticking timer, set against an unusual background of flocked wallpaper and a canine figurine.
Contention is also rife as to the exact end date of the countdown, with various sources stating times anywhere between November 22 and 24. Now, if you’ve got your detective skills on, you should know that the Foo’s hail from the home of grunge, Seattle. Working from the relevant time zone (UTC-8:00 to be precise), we can confirm that the most likely result is 8am on Monday November 23 (local time). That sounds about right for an announcement, right? Which means anyone here in Australia should be logging on around 2am Tuesday November 24 if they want to see the mystery unveiled. So that will be hard core fans only, we imagine…
A quick scan of the internet shows up a number of theories as to what exactly might be unveiled. The most popular of which seems to be that the band will release the second instalment of their Sonic Highways series. Clearly we’re not the only ones with Sherlock skills, the main reasoning behind this one is the logo displayed on the countdown page. The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed that it is not in fact any of their tried and trusted badges, but one that looks suspiciously similar to American interstate road signs which is also sparking debate as to whether Foo Fighters might launch a tour along the legendary Route 66.
Another top contender is the theory that the band will be bringing out a new album. Following a statement from Grohl at a recent show in Austin, Texas, claiming that the band “recorded five fucking new songs in your beautiful city”. Similarly, some have commented on the possibility of a live album.
And one more for you, the aforementioned canine figurine has been identified by some as a Foo Dog. A term applied to a number of asian dog breeds, and more specifically to these kind of statues, also known as “Chinese guardian lions”. For some this is a clear clue that Foo Fighters will be announcing a tour of Asia in the near future.
If you fancy your detective skills, or your supreme fan knowledge of all things Foo, take a look and let us know what you reckon it could be. Or else, put the date in your diary for the big reveal. Just don’t forget to check your time zones.
Foo Fighters are known for playing for up to three hours at various gigs, finishing with the same high energy enthusiasm as they started. As the lead singer, Dave Grohl is very proud of this. He was sure to let their fans know during a gig at Calgary, tearing apart the bands who don’t play as long in their own “two-hour concerts.”
“You don’t want one of those little hour and a half long shows do you?” Grohl said, as he pumps up the large crowd. He claims they “don’t want that shit.”
“All of those new bands that play those little two-hour concerts, you don’t want that shit. Two hours and 15, I don’t think is enough. Two and a half hours, does that sound okay? That’s not enough is it? Here’s our fucking problem. We’ve been a band for 20 fucking years, we have a lot of fucking songs, and then add my big mouth on top of that, and we’re going to be here all night.”
This isn’t the first of Grohl’s monologues between songs that have proved to be more entertaining than your usual scripted crowd-pumping dribble. Last week he decided to rick-roll some Westboro Baptist Church protesters, who were gather outside before their concert in Kansas City. He explained further before playing an acoustic version of My Hero.
“Tonight, we were sitting backstage, and someone said: ‘Guess who is coming tonight?’ And I said, ‘Who?’ They said, ‘Them.’ I said, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘Cause.’ And I said, ‘Cool, let’s go out and fuckin’ hang out with them,” he recounted.
“So we didn’t have enough time to put together the big old show that we put on last time, so we figured, you know what, why don’t we just fucking rickroll their ass? Cause nothing says love like a little Rick Astley in your life, you know what I’m saying? Never gonna give his ass up!”
“You can’t just sit there and do nothing; you got to go out and say what you want to say. So we did,” Grohl said as he began strumming the song’s intro. He dedicated the song to “the people who go out and speak their mind, to stand up for what they think is right”.
Dave Grohl has made an epic return to the stage with his band, the Foo Fighters after his unfortunate leg breaking fall during a Swedish concert last month.
The front man performed from a giant light up Game of Thrones-esque throne that replaced swords with guitars and cruel boy kings with rock royalty. While he had to stay seated for most of the performance, this made it mostly okay.
We all like to see our Mum’s as much as possible when we are under the weather, and Grohl is no exception. He went as far as bringing her on stage while he performed “For the Cows:” a tribute to her life as an English teacher in Northern Virginia.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2kcGGan3A8]
A very kind fan went to the effort to record some of the performance, which you can check out. We have also posted the drool worthy 24 song set list below for all your concert envy.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5qE9Tq0XJI]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTIRoYzwJZ0]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJqYp6C88BE]
Setlist:
Everlong
Monkey Wrench
Learn to Fly
Something From Nothing
The Pretender
Big Me
Congregation
Walk
I’m the One (Van Halen cover)
Another One Bites the Dust (Queen cover)
Owner of a Lonely Heart (Yes cover)
Cold Day in the Sun
My Hero (Acoustic)
Times Like These (Acoustic)
Under Pressure (Queen & David Bowie cover)
All My Life
These Days
Outside
Breakout
For All the Cows
Alone + Easy Target
This Is a Call
Generator
Best of You
Dave Grohl is a committed performer, and he isn’t just going to let something as unimportant as a broken leg stop him from doing just that.
The Foo Fighters frontman fell off the stage while performing during the Gothenburg leg of their tour. Two songs into the performance at Ullevi stadium, Grohl, apparently misjudging the distance he needed to jump onto a ramp, fell into the security pit.
“I think I just broke my leg,” announces Grohl in a fan video, ever cheerful despite the extraordinary amount of pain he must be in. “I think I really broke my leg!”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeUrSm4_cpk&w=560&h=315]
Despite his predicament, Grohl promises to return from hospital as quickly as he can. He then hands over the show to drummer Taylor Hawkins, who led band in Grohl’s absence while he was being carted off to hospital.
About an hour thereafter, Grohl returns to stage on a stretcher with a cast on his leg the assistance of two medics. He’s set down on a chair, before he proceeds to continue with the show for another two hours.
After the events of the day, the Foo Fighters tweeted this pic of Grohl’s leg:
Thank you Gothenburg. That was amazing. pic.twitter.com/BXvuxIfVEv
— Foo Fighters (@foofighters) June 12, 2015
The injury has forced the band to cancel their June 14 appearance at the Pinkpop Festival (where this man managed to perform this astounding feat), as well as their show at the AFG Arena in St. Gallen, Switzerland on June 16th.