Foo Fighters Rock Hollywood Bowl Debut as Gustavo Dudamel Departs
Dave Grohl appeared unsure whether anything could ever be this good again as he took the stage for a unique Foo Fighters concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday.
Not only did the musician and his Grammy Award-winning band perform at the storied venue for the first time ever, but they did so with accompaniment from the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Leading the full orchestra was departing conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who celebrated his farewell weekend with the L.A. Phil at the Bowl before his tenure as music and artistic director of the New York Philharmonic begins next month.
“Tonight, we’re going to play as many things as we can before we have to stop,” Grohl told the crowd during the 15-song set. “We usually play for three hours a night, but tonight, we picked the best songs that we can perform with our friends in the L.A. Phil and Mr. Gustavo Dudamel. Some of these you may have never heard before, so sit back and enjoy.”
Indeed, the rock band dusted off some deep cuts to go along with staple singles “Times Like These,” “All My Life,” “The Pretender,” “My Hero” and “Best of You.” Also included within the set were such tunes as “Razor,” which the band had not performed live since 2006, and “Home,” which they last played in 2007.
Gustavo Dudamel (third from left) joins the Foo Fighters at the end of their Hollywood Bowl performance.
Courtesy of L.A. Phil
“Gustavo, how you doing?” Grohl asked at one point of Dudamel, who has led the L.A. Phil since 2009. The former Nirvana drummer went on to quip about the orchestra and choir, “So I figure we just get 14 more buses and take them on tour for the rest of our lives. Good plan?”
As he has done lately, Grohl dedicated the performance of “Aurora” to late drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died in 2022 at age 50. “He would have loved this,” Grohl said with a fond laugh about his longtime friend and collaborator.
Foo Fighters, who are currently on tour in support of recent album Your Favorite Toy, ended the night with their standard closing song and signature hit “Everlong.” This particular rendition included a fireworks show.
“I wish that we could do this every fucking night for the rest of our lives with all of these amazing people,” Grohl said ahead of the final song. “What an honor to be invited to this hallowed ground, this special place, to be able to give Gustavo one more big rock show before he has to leave this wonderful city. And then to share this experience with all of you guys, it’s so amazing.”
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