Foo Fighters on Sunday gave fans a look inside their Studio 606 in Los Angeles with Preparing Music For Concerts, a free global livestream event featuring the debut of new songs, energetic performances of fan favorites like “Monkey Wrench”, behind-the-scenes footage, and more. The pre-recorded livestream event—a loose, easy-going band scrimmage presented in black and white—also revealed Josh Freese as the new drummer for the Foos when they hit the road for their first tour since the sudden passing of drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022.
The question of who would fill Hawkins’ massive shoes lingered as the band’s 2023 touring schedule grew to encompass much of the year with a mix of high-profile festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Boston Calling, Riot Fest, Austin City Limits, and more alongside a number of headlining shows. Foo Fighters’ 2023 tour begins on May 24th in Gilford, NH. For a full list of upcoming tour dates, head here.
The stream began with the five tenured members of Foo Fighters—Dave Grohl (guitar, vocals), Nate Mendel (bass), Pat Smear (guitar), Chris Shiflett (guitar), and Rami Jaffee (keys)—chatting and telling tour stories in the studio as a series of red herring drummers arrived to join them. Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith rolled in first, drumsticks in hand, but he just wanted to find out who was blocking his car in the parking lot. The next knock on the studio door introduced another notable drummer, Motley Crue‘s Tommy Lee, but he was just bringing in the takeout order from PF Chang’s. Tool‘s Danny Carey was the third drummer to make a cameo, but he wasn’t there to play drums, either—he just wanted to let Grohl know that he had finished grooming his poodles.
A faux-annoyed “Excuse me!” from off-camera finally broke the jovial tone as Josh Freese, seated behind the drum kit, implored the band to actually “play a song.” With that, the latest iteration of Foo Fighters dove into its first full performance with a rocking run through 2002’s “All My Life”.
Josh Freese previously performed with his new Foo Fighters bandmates during last year’s all-star tribute concerts for Taylor Hawkins in London and Los Angeles alongside a slew of guest drummers including Taylor’s son, Shane Hawkins, Travis Barker (Blink-182), Brad Wilk (Rage Against The Machine), Rufus Taylor (The Darkness), Nandi Bushell, and more. His name was among a long list of rumored candidates for Hawkins’ seat behind the drum kit including Atom Willard of Angels & Airwaves and Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam (who quickly shut down the notion).
Fans can watch the Foo Fighters Preparing Music For Concerts stream featuring the introduction of drummer Josh Freese and a full live performance here. The stream is available on-demand until Wednesday, May 24th at 3:00 p.m. ET. Check out the full setlist from the performance below.
Setlist: Foo Fighters | Studio 606 | Los Angeles, CA | Aired 5/21/23
Set: All My Life [1], Rescued [2], No Son of Mine [3], Under You [2], Workin’ for a Livin’ Jam (Huey Lewis and the News), The Sky is a Neighborhood, Nothin at All [2], Monkey Wrench, Aurora
[1] Preceded by Josh Freese introduction skit featuring Chad Smith, Tommy Lee, Danny Carey
[2] First time played
[3] Featured Black Sabbath “Paranoid” tease
Notes: Pre-recorded performance on an unknown date; Presented as a “global streaming event” called “Foo Fighters: Preparing Music for Concerts,” which premiered on Veeps on May 21st, 2021. First full performance with Josh Freese on drums.
View this post on Instagram