AUSTIN, Texas — The Foo Fighters are no stranger to the Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL), having headlined before in both 2008 and 2015, but their return to Zilker Park this year is the rock band’s first since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Dave Grohl and the band are known for their live shows full of loud, crowd-pleasing “are you ready to rock?” riffs. But behind the rock spectacle has always been a theme of powering through grief – first with the band’s formation after the death of Kurt Cobain and now after the death of Hawkins.
No doubt that theme ran through the band’s two-hour set on the American Express Stage on Saturday night – a journey through their biggest hits, featuring snippets of other big rock songs, a dedication to band manager John Silva on his birthday, a tribute to Hawkins and a surprise appearance by Shania Twain.
The band came on a couple minutes early, as singer-songwriter Noah Kahan was still finishing his set on the opposing T-Mobile stage, creating a few minutes of overlap as the Foo Fighters’ loud rock music overpowered Kahan’s folk pop across the field.
“You guys want some raw f------ rock ‘n’ roll tonight?” Grohl said to cheers as the band opened with “All My Life.”
The band delivered their typical high energy rock set, driven by Grohl’s charisma and engagement with the crowd.
As they played on through “The Pretender” and “No Son of Mine,” the Foo Fighters sprinkled in bits of Van Halen, Metallica and Black Sabbath riffs and veered into some longer jams but always kept it tight and ready to come back to the big rock choruses. More snippets of covers popped up when Grohl introduced each band member, including Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “Whip It” by Devo, a band drummer Josh Freese has played for since 1996.
The band’s biggest hits were spread throughout the set, starting with “Learn to Fly” early on. Grohl dedicated “My Hero” to Silva, his manager since his Nirvana days, for Silva's birthday on Saturday.
Around 90 minutes into the set, the band played “Aurora,” a song they have played every show this tour in honor of Hawkins. It was Hawkins’ favorite song, Grohl said.
“He was born in Texas,” Grohl said of his late friend and bandmate.
As the band wrapped up, Shania Twain had already finished her set on the Honda Stage at the opposite end of Zilker Park, and – surprise! – she made her way over to join the Foo Fighters on stage to sing “Best of You” in a highlight of Saturday night's set. Grohl said the surprise, of course, had been planned all along.
Then Twain was gone, but the band stayed. There was no need for the typical encore – they just kept the excitement going and closed with “Everlong,” wrapping up this year's first Saturday of music.