Dave Grohl has always quietly loved dance music, even lacing Nirvana‘s Nevermind with parts borrowed from disco drummers. He showcased that funkier side at a school benefit Saturday night at the Los Angeles club Avalon Hollywood, busting out a rocked-up cover of LCD Soundsystem’s “Daft Punk is Playing At My House” — his first-ever performance of a song by that New York band.
“If you listen to Nevermind,” Grohl told Pharrell during an episode of From Cradle to Stage in 2021. “I pulled so much stuff from The Gap Band and Cameo and [Chic’s] Tony Thompson on every one of those songs … that’s old disco.”
Grohl played the benefit with a band that included Foo Fighters keyboardist Rami Jaffee, Foos engineer John Lousteau on drums, and bassist Wiley Hodgden, who used to play with the late drummer Taylor Hawkins. Luke Spiller of the Struts joined Grohl for a duet on Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” and Lisa Loeb came onstage to help him sing Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream.” Grohl also covered the Knack’s “My Sharona.”
In 2021, the Foo Fighters unveiled a side project known as the Dee Gees, releasing Hail Satin, a set of Bee Gees covers. Their album that year, Medicine at Midnight, was unusually danceable for the group.
Grohl reunited with his Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic, along with Pat Smear, at the FireAid benefit concert, where they performed with guest vocalists including St. Vincent, Kim Gordon, Joan Jett, and Grohl’s daughter Violet. In February, the same trio joined forces with Post Malone for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at Saturday Night Live‘s 50th anniversary celebration.
Last month, Grohl contributed drums to “I Feel Alive,” a track featuring Jack Black for the A Minecraft Movie soundtrack. He also popped up at Coachella’s second weekend, joining the Los Angeles Philharmonic for orchestral renditions of “The Sky Is a Neighborhood” and “Everlong.”
