Foo Fighters made history on Friday night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live when the band performed two of its new singles live for the first time. The songs, “Waiting On A War” and “No Son of Mine“, come from the band’s forthcoming album Medicine At Midnight, out on February 5th via Roswell Records/RCA.
Though the two singles were already on streaming platforms, this marked the band’s first live performances of the tracks. Ironically, Foo Fighters debuted the album’s lead single—”Shame Shame“—live on air on Saturday Night Live while the album was simultaneously announced to the world.
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While the first performance of “Waiting On A War” didn’t offer much deviation from the studio version, it offered an interesting glimpse of how all the parts came together. With the addition of a stable of backup singers, all of the pieces of the acoustic-focused single came together in real-time. Although much of the song meanders behind Dave Grohl‘s acoustic guitar and circular lyrics, the final minute provides the rocking tension-and-release that fans have come to expect from a quarter-century of the alt-rockers.
On “No Son Of Mine”, the action gets underway immediately with the opening Motörhead guitar riff that serves as a guidepost for the whole song. Foo Fighters power through with three-and-a-half minutes of solid rock that shows—while they may experiment with tracks like “Waiting On A War”—the band is not changing the secret formula.
Watch Foo Fighters perform “Waiting On A War” and “No Son Of Mine” live for the first time on Kimmel.
Foo Fighters – “Waiting On A War” – Jimmy Kimmel Live
[Video: Jimmy Kimmel Live]
Foo Fighters – “No Son Of Mine” – Jimmy Kimmel Live
[Video: Jimmy Kimmel Live]