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Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert: The Epic Setlist

By Brian Ives // Managing Editor, Beasley Media
Taylor Hawkins performs in Chile on March 20, 2022 at Lollapalooza at Parque Bicentenario Cerrillos. Hawkins is the subject of a huge tribute concert in England, taking place September 3, 2022.

A half year after the tragic and shocking death of Taylor Hawkins at the age of 50, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters gave him an epic sendoff with a huge show at Wembley Stadium in England. It’s the first of two tribute shows to the drummer: the next one takes place on September 27 at the KIA Forum in Los Angeles. There hasn’t been any announcements over whether or not that show will be broadcast.

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At the beginning of the show, Foo Fighters Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Rami Jaffee walked on stage. Grohl said, “Ladies and gentlemen , tonight we’ve gathered here to celebrate the life the music of our bandmate Taylor Hawkins. for those of you who knew him personally, you know no one could make you laugh smile dance or sing like he could. So, tonight, we’ve gathered with family, and his closest friends, his musical heroes and greatest inspirations to bring you a gigantic f—ing night for a gigantic f—ing person.”

RELATED: Taylor Hawkins Was The Foo Fighters' Secret Weapon

So, sing and dance and laugh and cry and f—ing scram and make some f—ing noise so he can hear us right now! cause you know what? It’s gonna be a long f—ing night. ARE YOU READY? ARE YOU READY? ARE YOU F—ING READY?

With that, he introduced Liam Gallagher of Oasis, and the show began.

  • Liam Gallagher

    Liam Gallagher, backed by the Foo Fighters, with Grohl playing drums, kicked off the show appropriately, with the Oasis classic “Rock and Roll Star.” The emotional concert then continued with “Live Forever.” After his performance, Gallagher went behind the drumset to embrace Grohl.

  • Dave Chappelle

    Chappelle gave a moving speech, as he introduced the next performance. He recalled hosting Saturday Night Live in November 2020, when the Foo Fighters were the musical guest. After the show, he recalled that they discussed their favorite karaoke songs were; his was Radiohead’s “Creep.” Months later, Dave Grohl invited him to sing “Creep” with the Foo Fighters at Madison Square Garden. He talked about meeting Taylor’s son Shane backstage. He was wearing skater gear, and Chappele asked if he was a skater. Shane said that he wasn’t; he didn’t want to hurt his arms. “I want to be a drummer like my father.” Chappelle noted, “I’ve seen Taylor be a rock star, many nights. But this was my first time seeing him be a dad.  And what a cool f—ing dad.” He said he  talked to Grohl that night about Kurt Cobain, jazz and go-go music, noting that Shane listened and absorbed the whole thing. “He asked all the right questions,” he said. All of his questions were about art, not fame. Afterwards they went to the famous New York City jazz club the Blue Note and watched Robert Glasper. Chappelle noted that Shane was watching the drummer and said to his father, “Dad, you can’t do that s–!” “Taylor as humble as he is said, ‘Son, those are real musicians.”  Chappelle then told Shane how proud he was of him. He then introduced the next performance, a tribute to David Bowie’s Let’s Dance album.

  • Josh Homme Chris Chaney, Gaz Coombes, Omar Hakim and Nile Rodgers

    Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, Nile Rodgers of Chic, Chris Chaney of Jane’s Addiction and drummer Omar Hakim performed a set of David Bowie songs. Rodgers produced Bowie’s Let’s Dance video, and Hakim used to play drums for Bowie. The combo played Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” Homme left, and Gaz Coombes of Supergrass then joined the stage for Bowie’s “Modern Love.”

  • Chevy Metal and the Coattail Riders with Kesha, Wolfgang Van Halen and Dave Grohl

    Chevy Metal was Taylor’s metal cover band. They kicked off their set with Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer.” Pop singer Kesha then joined them for a cover of T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution.” Then, Taylor’s other band, the Coattail Riders performed, fronted by Justin Hawkins of the Darkness. Towards the end of their set, they were joined by Wolfgang Van Halen on guitar and Dave Grohl on bass for Van Halen’s “Fire.” They then played Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher.”

  • Jeff Buckley tribute

    Grohl then grabbed the mic and explained that Taylor turned him on to Jeff Buckley’s classic 1994 album, Grace. Grohl then got behind the drums and was joined by Foo Fighters producer Greg Kurstin on keyboards, Alain Johannes (formerly of Eleven, among other bands) on guitar, Chris Chaney on bass, Jason Falkner (formerly of Jellyfish) on guitar, and Dave’s daughter Violet singing. They performed “Last Goodbye” and “Grace.”

     

  • Supergrass

    The British band Supergrass was a favorite of Hawkins’, and they opened for the Foo Fighters in 2008. They performed what they said was Hawkins’ favorite songs from their catalog: “Richard III,” “Alright” and “Caught By The Fuzz.”

     

  • Them Crooked Vultures

    Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones performed together for the first time in over a decade, reuniting as Them Crooked Vultures. They opened with Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellowbrick Road,” after being introduced by Elton (via video). After that, they played their own song, “Gunman,” from their only album, 2009’s Them Crooked Vultures. They then played one of Homme’s Queens of the Stone Age songs, “Long Slow Goodbye” from 2005’s Lullabies to Paralyze.

     

  • The Pretenders

    Although Chrissie Hynde recently said that she won’t perform the Pretenders hits anymore, the Pretenders (with Grohl on bass) performed “Brass In Pocket,” which she noted was one of Taylor’s favorites. They also played “Precious” and “Tattooed Love Boys.”

  • The James Gang

    Joe Walsh reunited with his pre-Eagles band for the first time in 15 years for the show. As Dave Grohl noted as he introduced them, they were one of Hawkins’ favorite bands. They played “Walk Away” followed by “The Bomber.” Then Dave Grohl joined them on drums for their classic “Funk #49.”

  • Mark Ronson with Violet Grohl

    Ronson, who is the stepson of Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones, is a producer who has worked with a number of huge artists, including Amy Winehouse. Ronson and Grohl performed a slowed-down version of one of Winehouse’s greatest songs, “Valerie.”

     

  • Brian Johnson and Lars Ulrich

    Hard rock royalty hit the stage, when AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson and Lars Ulrich performed “Back In Black,” backed by the Foo Fighters and Justin Hawkins of the Darkness. After that, they did an AC/DC song from the Bon Scott era, “Let There Be Rock.” In the middle, Brian yelled out, “Taylor, this one’s for you!”

     

  • The Foo Fighters with Stewart Copeland

    Stewart Copeland of the Police was one of Taylor Hawkins’ biggest influences, and he joined the Foo Fighters for a spirited run though the Police’s classic “Next To You.” They were then joined by Gaz Coombes from Supergrass for “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.”

  • Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush

    Geddy and Alex performed together last month for the first time since Rush’s final tour. There was a lot of love there: Grohl and Hawkins presented Rush at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. They started with “2112 I. Overture” with Grohl on drums. That was followed with a real deep cut: “Working Man,” from their 1973 self-titled debut (which pre-dated Neil Peart’s joining the band). Then, Omar Hakim replaced Grohl on drums and they played the classic instrumental “YYZ.”

  • Queen

    Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, along with Rufus Taylor (Roger’s son) and Luke Spiller of the Struts exploded onto the stage with “We Will Rock You.” Roger Taylor then came out from behind to sing “I’m In Love With My Car,” as his son took over on drums (and he looks weirdly like Taylor Hawkins). Roger then returned to the drums, as Justin Hawkins joined them for “Under Pressure,” duetting with Roger. Then they wee joined by a singer named Sam Ryder, who grew an audience via TikTok, and represented England at Eurvision for “Somebody To Love,” a song that Taylor Hawkins sang on the last Foo Fighters tour. Then Brian May closed the set a solo acoustic version of 1975’s “Love Of My Life.”

  • Foo Fighters

    After a short film about Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters took the stage with “Times Like These.” A tearful Grohl seemed to have a hard time singing the lyrics, which hit a lot harder in the wake of Hawkins’ death. Josh Freese, wearing the same Van Halen pants that Hawkins loved, was sitting in. (Freese is one of the most in-demand drummers in rock, having played with Devo, Guns N’ Roses, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails and Weezer, among others). They then launched into “All My Life.” Grohl then explained that they’d be working with a number of drummers at the show. “If you could only see how many f—ing drumsets are back there, it’s a nightmare!”

    “Apparently Taylor met this guy when he was a garbageman in his neighborhood… would you please welcome Mr. Travis Barker!” They then played “The Pretender” followed by “Monkey Wrench.” He then invited Instagram sensation Nandi Bushnell (who he noted, kicked his a– in a drum-off during the pandemic) for “Learn To Fly.” Rufus Taylor then took the drum stool for “One Of These Days” and “Best Of You.”

    They were then joined by Chrissie Hynde and Paul McCartney (and Omar Hakim on drums) for the Beatles’ “Oh! Darling.” McCartney then led the band through “Helier Skelter.”

    McCartney left the stage and the band played “Aurora,” which Grohl said was Hawkins’ favorite Foo Fighters song. Taylor’s son Shane then got behind the kit for “My Hero.” After tearfully thinking the Hawkins family, Grohl launched into a solo rendition of “Everlong.” After that, the other Foo Fighters and all the guests walked onstage for a bow, and the show ended.

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