Last night (September 27), the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California became the site for one of the most star-studded concerts the city has seen in years. The Foo Fighters put together an awe-inspiring lineup for the second installment of their Taylor Hawkins Tribute Shows in dedication to their late drummer who suddenly passed earlier this year. This is the second tribute show put on by Dave Ghrol and Hawkins’ family as a way of honoring the legacy the drummer leaves behind, the first one being on September 3 at Wembley Stadium over in London. The likes of Liam Gallagher, Paul McCartney, and Supergrass made appearances at the overseas show and last night in Los Angeles, the list of artists attending got better and better as the night went on.
The night kicked off with Ghrol’s daughter Violet performing a stirring rendition of Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” led by a solo guitar. Following her cover was Joan Jett who ripped through two if her greatest hits, “Cherry Bomb” and “Bad Reputation”. Up next a side project from Hawkins came on stage to pay homage to their frontman. Chevy Metal, Hawkins’ classic rock cover band who also played the London show, became a little more than a cover band when they brought out their special guest. They kicked off their section of the show with a cover of AC/DC’s “Riff Raff” before bringing out Yes frontman Jon Davison and childhood best friend, for a cover of Yes’ ‘Owner of A Lonely Heart”. Adding on to the guest list, Chevy Metal was joined by Kesha who took over vocal duty for a performance of David Bowie’s “Heroes”.
The only way to follow a Taylor Hawkins’ band is a second band fronted by the all-star drummer. The Coattail Riders appeared on stage with The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins and touring drummer Josh Freese as they performed a mixture of originals and covers. They went through “Rang Rover Bitch” and “It’s Over” from their own discography before bringing out legendary bassist Mark King from Level 42 for a cover of “Something About You”. The supergroup then reached into The Darkness’ discography to perform “I Believe In a Thing Called Love”.
The stage was then graced by a string of artists who we also saw pay tribute to Hawkins at the London show. James Gang, Mark Ronson, and Them Crooked Vultures all took turns up on stage performing covers and originals. Another familiar face came in the form of Wolfgang Van Halen who simultaneously paid homage to his late father and Hawkins by performing classics from his dad’s songbook with Grohl, Justin Hawkins, and Josh Freese. The next two acts to appear on stage harkened back to the era of bands that Chevy Metal would cover. Def Leppard came out for a quick two-song set where they played “Rock of Ages” and brought out Miley Cyrus who helped the legendary rockers go through their classic song “Photograph”.
Def Leppard was followed up by Motley Crüe who also performed a two-song set that featured “Live Wire” and “Home Sweet Home”. Continuing the streak of classic rock icons Elliot Easton of The Cars was brought on stage with Josh Homme to perform The Cars’ “Shake It Up” and “Just What I Needed”. The stars continued to roll out as powerhouses like P!NK, Alanis Morissette, Black Sabbath, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson or Fush, and the members of Soundgarden (Matt Cameron, Ben Shepherd) all cycled through some of their greatest “hits” in memory of Hawkins.
The two longest sets of the night obviously came about when Foo Fighters took the stage. In the first half of their set, they were joined by members of Queen as they ran through songs like “We Will Rock You” and “Somebody to Love” just to name a few. The solo set from the Foo Fighters spanned 12-songs and brought out some unpredictable guests. The band was joined by Dave Chappelle who took vocal duty for a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” and P!NK joined the band to perform “The Pretender”. Much like the London show, Grohl bought out Shane Hawkins, son of the late drummer, who tore through “My Hero” and stayed for an extra song as they went through “I’ll Stick Around”.
This massive concert event closes out the two show, global tribute event dedicated to Taylor Hawkins. Foo Fighters closed things out with a sentimental rendition of their song “Everlong”.
Check out the full setlist and footage from the event below;
Setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/various-artists/2022/kia-forum-inglewood-ca-3bb1ac78.html
