Shania Twain joins Foo Fighters at Austin City Limits Music Festival: 'Take it, Shania!'
AUSTIN, Texas − You kinda figured ‘ol Dave Grohl would pull a fast one.
Famous for onstage surprises, he and the Foo Fighters welcomed fellow Austin City Limits Music Festival headliner and country legend Shania Twain up to sing “Best of You” just after her concurrent set across Zilker Park wrapped Saturday night.
“She took a golf cart all the way up here,” Grohl said of Twain, who wore silver sequins and fire-red hair.
It was loose and fun, with lots of “Take it, Shania!” moments where Grohl would suddenly cede the spotlight and she’d do that great “Has someone taken your faith? It's real, the pain you feel” breakdown.
Beforehand, through 18 songs, and more playful riffing via half-baked covers of “Sabotage,” the longtime act relished its role as an inter-generational genre bridge and as preachers of the sonic gospel. Grohl has spoken about the need for rock to be relatable and accessible to fans − the punk royalty present in this band is astonishing − and as an arena mainstay seems to live for breaking decorum and inviting strangers up to play guitar, which he famously did in Austin back in 2018.
But dear Dave, please never play “My Hero” as a ballad again. You do that a lot and it’s excruciating.
“My Hero” is a vague and corny song that would get laughed out of a Train brainstorming session. Gavin McGraw would be like “No thanks, I’m good.” Yet it also has the best drum intro in rock history, propelling its seventh-grade-level guitar tabs.
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The Foo Fighters are a drummer-first band, after all. The emotion and joy of their music comes from behind the kit. The Foos are drummer royals who have featured the best since 1995. Drum nerds can tell the difference between Grohl’s punk-paced pummeling and songs featuring the late Taylor Hawkins, who was a Neil Peart disciple and expanded the pocket to make it rich with fills, rolls and splash.
Too bad the Foo Fighters played “My Hero” as a lighters-on, sway-with-your-bestie send-up, dedicating the 1997 rock single to their manager of 33 years, whose birthday Grohl said it was. Somber feels. No intro.
Reader, this reporter booed.
The band lost longtime drummer Hawkins when he suddenly died in 2022 while the band was touring South America. He was honored with “Aurora,” a 1999 B-side that Grohl told fans was Hawkins’ favorite. Also, he said, the first they wrote together.
And it was during “Breakout,” also from 1999’s “There Is Nothing Left to Lose,” that the new guy proved he was a ringer, playing a technical, clanging solo. That’d be Josh Freese, a session guy who played drums on “She Hates Me” by Puddle of Mudd and Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life.” (As well as live with Bruce Springsteen, Guns N' Roses, Lana Del Rey, The Vandals and Sting.)
Grohl called him “the man that made this possible.”
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Hawkins was celebrated but proceedings were intentionally joyful and dad air-drumming exuberant. Again, a celebration of rock’s muscular catalog.
“I need to know who you are before we go any further,” Grohl said, testing onlookers with time-tested guitar riffs by Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica.
He concluded, “I think we’ll get along just fine.”
“What’s up ACL, it’s been a while? I feel like last time I was here I had a broken leg,” Grohl said early, calling out the 2015 ACL appearance wherein he performed on a big Foo-branded throne amid an in-season injury.
Saturday marked the Foos’ third ACL headlining slot since 2008. This one closed with “Everlong,” a love song so good (that also runs on fast, hard drumming) it rivals anything Grohl’s played on. It's centered on gratitude, which is why it's so memorable.
“I don’t wanna sing alone,” Grohl said, one of many singalongs he courted the crowd to join. “It’s not Beethoven. It’s pretty easy.”
Foo Fighters' Austin City Limits Music Festival setlist:
"All My Life"
"The Pretender"
"No Son of Mine"
"Learn to Fly"
"Rescued"
"Walk"
"Times Like These"
"Breakout"
"Sabotage" (Beastie Boys cover)
"Blitzkrieg Bop" (Ramones cover)
"Whip It" (Devo cover)
"My Hero"
"This Is a Call"
"The Sky Is a Neighborhood"
"Nothing At All" (with "Blackbird" cover)
"These Days"
"Aurora"
"Monkey Wrench"
"Best of You"
"Everlong"