The Foo Fighters celebrated Dave Grohl’s 57th birthday Wednesday evening, the only way fitting for one of the world’s biggest bands: With an old-fashioned rock and roll show.
“We don’t really have much of a plan tonight,” Grohl told a sold-out crowd Wednesday evening, standing on a revolving stage in the center of Los Angeles’s Kia Forum. “This is loose shit. We come out and play some loose ass rock and roll. That’s how we do it.”
The show — the group’s first show in LA in over a year — was part-birthday-celebration part-benefit-concert, with proceeds from the evening going to Hope the Mission and Los Angeles Mission, both of which are focused on helping the homeless.
Fans sang happy birthday to Grohl between songs, and as Grohl introduced the band early in the set, guitarist Chris Shiflett cheekily played the riff to the Beatles’ “Birthday.” Keyboardist Rami Jaffee played the more traditional “happy birthday” melody, with a couple of roadies bringing out a cake onstage as well.
The show was about what one would expect from a raucous Foo Fighters concert, a two-and-a-half-hour, high-octane, high-volume sprint. Grohl screamed, screeched and ran all around the stage, the guitars filled the arena with feedback noises, and the band hosted a temple of rock worship. At one point during “No Son of Mine,” they broke into a brief interlude of Motorhead’s thrashing metal classic “Ace of Spades,” with Grohl exclaiming “that’s for Lemmy” immediately afterward.
The concert came a week after the band revealed that guitarist Pat Smear had broken his foot and would miss some upcoming shows. Filling in for him Wednesday night was Beck and Saint Vincent guitarist Jason Falkner, who seemed to fill in seamlessly with the group for the night. Even in his absence, Smear’s presence was felt both figuratively and literally, as his face was the image on drummer Ilan Rubin’s drum kit. The band dedicated their first song of the night to Smear, opening the show with “My Hero.”
“You know that motherfucker’s watching,” Grohl said after finishing the track. Fitting to his foot injury, later in the evening they dedicated the song “Walk” to Smear as well, extra poignant as Grohl sang the chorus of “learning to walk again.”
Wednesday marked the band’s first time at the Kia Forum since the venue hosted the Foo Fighters’ tribute to late drummer Taylor Hawkins back in 2022, something Grohl acknowledged before paying homage to his bandmate again with a solo performance of “Under You” while the rest of the band walked off stage.
The Forum gig was also the Foo Fighters’ first show in L.A. since Rubin took over as the band’s newest drummer, replacing Josh Freese. Rubin got to showcase his chops throughout the night, including during a few extended instrumental jams and in a beautifully frenzied drum solo capping the band’s performance of the hit “Monkey Wrench.”
Grohl seemed contemplative Wednesday night, thanking his band, family and extended crew several times during the show, celebrating 30 years of Foo Fighters concerts.
Just before the encore, the band finished with classic “Best of You,” only making it halfway to the backstage area before coming back for two more songs. “At my age, that’s a long fucking walk,” Grohl joked as the band all climbed back up to the stage.
They started the encore with “Exhausted,” the final song off the group’s 1995 eponymous first album, and finished on a classic, ending the night with signature song “Everlong.”
With the one-off show done, the band will play again next week at UTAS Stadium in Australia, before coming back stateside at Welcome to Rockville in Florida in May.