“This is our last show,” Dave Grohl announced at the outset of the Foo Fighters‘ set Wednesday night at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood. There was an awkward silence as the invited audience waited to see if there was a punchline coming or not. And there was: “Because now we’re fucking movie stars,” he declared.
Whether they have a Beatle-esque future in film comedy remains to be seen, but their first feature, “Studio 666,” is certainly light-hearted, in its own satanic way — think of it as “Help!” goes to hell — with a willingness to subject producer-stars who are playing themselves to a bloody body count not often seen since “Penn and Teller Get Killed.”
The after-party concert at the Fonda followed a premiere down the street of the horror-comedy, which has all five Foo Fighters members in starring roles, along with smaller parts or cameos for Whitney Cummings, Will Forte, Jeff Garlin, Lionel Richie, a host of demons and a disemboweled raccoon. The premiere took place at the… well, where was it, Dave? “At the fucking Mann’s TCB… what did it used to be called?” he asked. It was at what is now known as the TCL — not TCB — Chinese Theatre (formerly also known as Grauman’s and, yes, in a distant era, Mann’s).
“Did you like it?” Grohl asked the Fonda audience, then responded, “You’re a little too enthusiastic, I have to be honest. It’s all about Rami and Whitney, that’s what it is, isn’t it?” he added, referring to a love scene in which keyboard player Rami Jaffee strips down to his underwear to get it on with the comic actress, although erotic pleasures are not where their flirtation is ultimately headed in the often gruesome comedy.
Back at the Chinese, Grohl said, “I honestly couldn’t wait to show up on set every day and drink a fucking Rockstar Energy drink and then spaz out like I was possessed by the devil.” Introducing the film before the screening, he gave props to director BJ McDonnell, saying, “He tried to direct us. Gave it his best shot. Imagine try to get the Foo Fighters to act.”
“Just to sort of bring us back down to earth and make sure that we don’t become big-headed fucking Hollywood movie stars, we thought we’d play a couple songs for you,” Grohl announced once the crowd from the Chinese had been properly shuttled-bused to the night’s second destination. It was destined to be more than just a couple, with the singer-cum-leading-man promising, “This could be the shortest set we’ve ever played or the longest night of your life. It’s up to you.”
The result was somewhere in-between — a just-right 75-minute set that hit on the band’s most reliable classics, a couple of choices from their latest album, and covers of Tom Petty’s “Breakdown” and Queen’s “Somebody to Love.” The latter was sung by drummer Taylor Hawkins in a frontman role, while Grohl reverted to his old drummer role and even getting some soloing in, with Hawkins being obliged in his demands to hear “triplets” (plenty followed) and “some of that Nirvana shit.”
The band looked remarkably recovered after the fates that befall some of them in the film. Without giving too many spoilers away, let’s just say we see what would have happened if “Whiplash” would have made good on its implicit threat to become a horror film.
On stage at the Fonda, Grohl alternately complimented and teased Cummings, who neglected the VIP balcony to stake out a place close to the stage in the intimate venue, as he made jibes about her supposedly not being familiar with the band’s catalog or preferring Pearl Jam. “It was a big hit on alternative radio,” he assured Cummings before launching into “Best of You.”
“This feels like a little Whitney bar mitzvah right now,” he said, adding admiringly, “That bitch was on the red carpet for like 45 minutes, I have to say. This is for you.” Grohl dedicated the next song, “Walk,” to her, then rescinded the dedication during the first verse, declaring the song “too depressing” for that.
Grohl led Jaffee to play an extended electronic piano solo during the cover of Petty’s “Breakdown,” encouraging his Benmont Tench aspirations while adding: “I don’t know if you know this: he makes the same face when he plays keyboards as he does in the fucking sex scene in the movie. And i have to live with that shit every night of my fucking life. You know that, right?”
Grohl mentioned during the Foo Fighters’ Fonda set that he would like to franchise the film — which might seem unlikely, given the high body count in this one, although a sequel with a diminished cast would not be 100% out of the question. But eventually he explained himself, imagining a series of like-minded films that could involve other bands.
After the premiere, guest Chad Smith, the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, seemed to confirm this, however jokingly Grohl may or may not have meant it. “Dave said, ‘Dude, we’re going to franchise this — what about Chili Peppers in outer space?'”
