At their Aug. 3 stadium show in Denver, Foo Fighters did something they’ve never done before and played part of a Tenacious D cover. Later in the night, the band welcomed Wolfgang Van Halen back to their stage for a bit of Van Halen‘s “Hot for Teacher” right after “Monkeywrench.”
Foo Fighters’ Tenacious D Cover
Grohl’s connection to the Tenacious D duo of actor Jack Black and Kyle Gass runs deep. Not only did he do the voice of Beelzeboss in the 2006 film Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny, the rock legend is credited with playing drums on the group’s four studio albums.
Despite these close ties, the commercial success of Tenacious D and Foo Fighters’ affinity for playing cover songs, this was only the third time they’ve paid homage to the D onstage. In 2000, the group jammed on “City Hall” and “Double Team,” the only two previous instances of a live Tenacious D cover, per setlist.fm’s records.
In Denver, Grohl strummed his acoustic guitar, signaling the beginning of a couple of stripped down tracks ahead in the set. The stadium immediately recognized that the frontman was playing Tenacious D’s “Tribute.”
After playing a bit of the intro, Grohl leaned into the mic as Rami Jaffee plays the accordion and jokes, “You thought I was going to play a Tenacious D song, didn’t you?” He then continues and starts to sing some of the lyrics before joking that he doesn’t actually know the song.
Watch fan-filmed footage of the moment directly below. Head further down the page to find Foo Fighters’ entire Aug. 3 setlist and additional video of Wolfgang Van Halen guesting onstage.
Foo Fighters, “Tribute” (partial Tenacious D cover) — Aug. 3, 2024
The Tenacious D Controversy
The timing of this unprecedented cover is noteworthy as Tenacious D sparked controversy onstage in Australia the day after an assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump at a campaign rally.
Black presented bandmate Gass with a birthday cake onstage and Gass expressed a birthday wish, referencing the attempted assassination while stating, “Don’t miss Trump next time.”
The unscripted remark sparked outrage, many viewing it as an insensitive at best and a plausible call for more violence at worst. Black, who publicly endorsed Joe Biden for re-election before the President dropped out of the race, later issued a statement, claiming he was caught off guard by Gass’ comments and in no way condones political violence.
Gass, too, issued a statement regretting his improvised line, but then deleted that same statement from his social media pages later in the week. The musician was reportedly dropped by his talent agency as well.
READ MORE: Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass Deletes Apology Post About Controversial Trump Comment
For the time being, all of Tenacious D’s plans have been put on hold with all tour dates suspended.
Wolfgang Van Halen Joins Foo Fighters
After Foo Fighters finished playing “Monkeywrench,” drummer Josh Freese began playing the drum intro to Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher” and MammothWVH’s Wolfgang Van Halen rushed onstage, guitar in-hand and ripped through the flashy opening guitar bits.
“Hot for Teacher” was one of the songs Wolfgang played at the tribute concert for late Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins, too.
Watch the recent performance footage below.
Wolfgang Van Halen Plays Snippet of “Hot for Teacher” With Foo Fighters — Aug. 3, 2024
Foo Fighters Setlist — Aug. 3. 2024
01. “All My Life”
02. “No Son of Mine” (with snippets of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”)
03. “Rescued”
04. “The Pretender”
05. “Walk”
06. “Times Like These”
07. “Generator”
08. “La Dee Da”
09. “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”
Most Played Cover Songs By 50 Big Hard Rock + Metal Bands
Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll