Foo Fighters Bring Out Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler For Rousing ‘Paranoid’ In Birmingham

Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler was Foo Fighters‘ surprise special guest last night in Birmingham, England. Butler joined the band for a performance of the 1970 Sabbath classic “Paranoid” on a night that also included an another appearance from Taylor Hawkins’ son Shane Hawkins.

Geezer Butler and Black Sabbath hail from Birmingham. Butler took over bass duties from Foo Fighters’ Nate Mendel. The band’s version of “Paranoid” was their first since a jam on the song back in 2000 outside a version featuring a few members of Foo Fighters at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in Los Angeles.

Dave Grohl went sans guitar as he went into full frontman mode and even imitated some of Ozzy Osbourne‘s gestures. The Thursday night concert took place at Villa Stage and closed a run of UK shows for Foo Fighters.

Geezer Butler was greeted by huge cheers upon his arrival after Grohl announced his presence. Dave Grohl noted Butler had never performed at the venue before.

Watch fan-shot video of Geezer Butler performing “Paranoid” with Foo Fighters below:

Foo Fighters wound up delivering a 25-song concert spanning nearly three hours in Birmingham. Shane Hawkins continued a trend of guesting with the band at each English stop of the Everything Or Nothing At All Tour by replacing Josh Freese on the 1995 hit “This Is A Call.” The son of the late Taylor Hawkins previously played “I’ll Stick Around” and “My Hero” with Foo Fighters in London and joined the group on “This Is A Call” in Cardiff as well.

Dave Grohl and company also honored Taylor Hawkins by dedicating “Aurora” to the late drummer as they have throughout the tour. “This Is A Call” was the penultimate song of the night and was followed by the usual “Everlong” closer with Freese returning to the drum seat.

View more audience-captured video of Foo Fighters’ visit to Birmingham:

Foo Fighters now head to Europe for a series of festival sets. The North American leg of the Everything Or Nothing At All Tour begins at Citi Field in Queens on July 17.