Foo Fighters Perform Tenacious D Cover Amid Controversy

At their Aug. 3 stadium show in Denver, Foo Fighters delighted fans by doing something unexpected—playing part of a Tenacious D cover. Later in the evening, the band welcomed Wolfgang Van Halen onstage to perform Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” right after “Monkeywrench.”

Dave Grohl’s connection to Tenacious D’s actor-musicians Jack Black and Kyle Gass is well-known. He voiced Beelzeboss in their 2006 film Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny and played drums on all four of their studio albums. Despite these ties, Foo Fighters have rarely covered Tenacious D songs live. According to setlist.fm, they have only done so twice before, in 2000, when they jammed to “City Hall” and “Double Team.” Denver marked the third instance.

During the Denver show, Grohl picked up his acoustic guitar, signaling the start of some stripped-down tracks. As soon as he began playing “Tribute” by Tenacious D, the stadium crowd instantly recognized the song. Grohl then leaned into the mic and, as Rami Jaffee played the accordion, joked, “You thought I was going to play a Tenacious D song, didn’t you?” He continued with some of the lyrics before amusingly admitting he didn’t actually know the song fully.

The timing of this cover is noteworthy given that Tenacious D recently sparked controversy during a show in Australia following an assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump. Onstage, Black presented Gass with a birthday cake, and Gass made an offhand remark, “Don’t miss Trump next time,” referencing the attempt. The unscripted comment provoked significant backlash, seen by many as insensitive or even inciting further violence. Black later issued a statement distancing himself from the comment, clarifying he does not condone political violence. Gass, too, posted and later deleted an apology. Reports indicate that he has since been dropped by his talent agency, and all Tenacious D tour dates are currently suspended.

After Foo Fighters finished “Monkeywrench,” drummer Josh Freese started the drum intro to Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher.” This was the cue for Wolfgang Van Halen, who rushed onstage, guitar in hand, and launched into the unmistakable opening riff. Wolfgang had previously performed “Hot for Teacher” at the tribute concert for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

Fans captured these special moments on video, adding to the memorable nature of the night.

Here is the Foo Fighters’ setlist from the Aug. 3 show:

1. “All My Life”
2. “No Son of Mine” (with snippets of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”)
3. “Rescued”
4. “The Pretender”
5. “Walk”
6. “Times Like These”
7. “Generator”
8. “La Dee Da”
9. “Breakout”
10. “[Medley] “Crazy Train” / “Eruption” / “Thunderstruck” / “Sabotage” / Keyboard Solo / “Blitzkrieg Bop” / “Whip It” / “March of the Pigs” (Band intros)
11. “My Hero”
12. “The Sky Is a Neighborhood”
13. “Learn to Fly”
14. “Arlandria”
15. “These Days”
16. “Tribute” (Tenacious D cover) (partial; acoustic, Dave on guitar, Rami on accordion; first live performance by Foo Fighters)
17. “Skin and Bones” (acoustic, Dave on guitar; Rami on accordion)
18. “Under You” (Dave solo acoustic)
19. “Nothing at All” (with a snippet of The Beatles’ “Blackbird”)
20. “This Is a Call”
21. “Monkey Wrench” (with Wolfgang Van Halen) (playing a snippet of Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher”)
22. “Aurora”
23. “Best of You”

Encore:
24. “The Teacher”
25. “Everlong”

Source: Loudwire, Setlist.fm