Watch Foo Fighters’ Explosive ‘Austin City Limits’ Nine-Song Set
Before the incredible 40th season of Austin City Limits closes out February 14th with a Hall of Fame special, the long-running PBS performance series had one more marquee act left on its schedule: Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl and company’s intense hourlong nine-song set mixed in hit singles like “I’ll Stick Around,” “Times Like These” and “Best of You” with Sonic Highways cuts “The Feast and the Famine,” “Congregation” and “What Did I Do?/God as My Witness,” the latter of which was recorded for the band’s latest LP at Austin’s KLRU-TV Studio 6A, the original home of Austin City Limits.
Guitarist Gary Clark Jr. appears on both the Sonic Highways version of “What Did I Do?/God as My Witness” and on the ACL rendition, and he also sticks around to join Jimmie Vaughan for Foo Fighters’ explosive cover of the Fabulous Thunderbirds’ blues-rock classic “Tuff Enuff.”
For Grohl, playing the ACL stage has special meaning. “I was 7 or 8 the first time I saw it. I was just learning how to play guitar and there weren’t too many shows like Austin City Limits back in the day,” Grohl told Rolling Stone. “Here was a show that you could watch an entire live performance of a band – not just one song after Johnny Carson walks off the couch – in front of an intimate audience. Those experiences translate. When I was young, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s music! That’s how it’s done! Now it’s in my living room and it makes me want to do that too.’ You watch these brilliant musicians ripping on that stage week after week and it could only inspire young musicians. Maybe that’s what it was for.”
In addition to the performance itself, ACL also posted some behind-the-scenes footage of the Foo Fighters’ visit.
The 40th season of Austin City Limits – which has included sets by Beck, Jenny Lewis and Ryan Adams, the Black Keys, Nine Inch Nails, Spoon, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Tweedy and many more – will come to an end on February 14th with a look back at the show’s four-decade history and their first ever Austin City Limits Hall of Fame special.
That episode will feature performances by Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Guy, Lyle Lovett and Double Trouble. Among those being enshrined in the ACL Hall of Fame are Nelson (who will be inducted by Matthew McConaughey), Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, series creator Bill Arhos and former University of Texas football coach Darrell Royal.
“Times Like These”
“The Feast and the Famine”
“Rope”
“Congregation”
“What Did I Do?/God as My Witness” (with Gary Clark Jr.)
“Tuff Enuff” (with Gary Clark Jr. and Jimmie Vaughan)
“I’ll Stick Around”
“Walk”
“Best of You”