Foo Fighters Hold Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert In Los Angeles

The surviving members of Foo Fighters hosted an all-star tribute concert honoring late drummer Taylor Hawkins on Tuesday at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles. Last night’s marathon show was the second Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert following a similar event at London's Wembley Stadium earlier this month. Foo Fighters headlined the six-hour performance in L.A. which featured a vast array of Hawkins’ musical friends and those who inspired him, including a number of artists who participated in the London tribute.

“Welcome to the Los Angeles Taylor Hawkins tribute,” Dave Grohl said as he took the stage with his bandmates at the start of the night following a performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” by his 16-year-old daughter, Violet Grohl. “This is the hometown shit, so you gotta make it loud,” Dave Grohl added. “What we really wanted to do was to pay tribute to Taylor in a way that you could sort of spend some time in his musical mind, which could be a pretty terrifying place. But just as the show in London, we’ve all gathered here to celebrate this person that has touched our lives, whether from afar or for all of his friends and family and loved ones and musician buddies and heroes that are here tonight.”

Joan Jett emerged following Dave Grohl’s remarks as she played “Cherry Bomb” and “Bad Reputation” backed by Foo Fighters and drummer Travis Barker. Next came a performance from Hawkins’ classic rock cover band Chevy Metal. The former group offered a take on AC/DC’s “Riff Raff” before welcoming Yes vocalist Jon Davison for “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” and Kesha for a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes.”

The late Hawkins’ other side project, Coattail Riders, came out next along with vocalist Justin Hawkins and drummer Josh Freese. Originals “Range Rover Bitch” and “It’s Over” were followed by bassist Mark King joining for Level 42’s “Something About You” and Darkness drummer Rufus Taylor behind the kit for the group’s 2003 hit “I Believe In A Thing Called Love.” It was then time for Joe Walsh and the recently reunited James Gang to tear through “Walk Away” and “The Bomber.” Dave Grohl sat-in on drums with the group for their 1970 classic “Funk #49.”

Grohl brought out Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt next to lead cover of Gerry Rafferty’s “Right Down The Line.” Then, supergroup Them Crooked Vultures featuring Grohl, Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones were joined by Alain Johannes to reprise their set from London, which was the band’s first performance in 12 years. Them Crooked Vultures took on Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and Queens Of The Stone Age’s “Long Slow Goodbye” as they did in London with original “Dead End Friends” played in between instead of the “Gunman” from Wembley.

The next portion of the tribute saw Wolfgang Van Halen team with Justin Hawkins, Josh Freese and Dave Grohl for Van Halen classics “Panama” and “Hot For Teacher.” From there, Def Leppard members Joe Elliott, Phil Collen and Rick Savage were flanked by Foo Fighters and Patrick Wilson for their Pyromania gems “Rock Of Ages” and “Photograph.” The latter featured Miley Cyrus dueting with Joe Elliott.

“You can’t play a gig in Los Angeles without having these guys come jam with you,” Dave Grohl exclaimed as Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee took the stage with vocalist Derek Day for “Live Wire” and “Home Sweet Home.” Then Elliot Easton of The Cars jammed with Foo Fighters and Homme on “Shake It Up” and “Just What I Needed.” The parade of all-stars joining Foo Fighters continued as Nancy Wilson tore it up on the Heart hit “Barracuda” sung by P!nk before Stewart Copeland jumped behind the kit for The Police classics “Next To You” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.” The former was fronted by Grohl and the latter by Jon Davison.

Taylor Hawkins’ first big break was when Alanis Morrisette tapped him to play drums for her tour in support of Jagged Little Pill. It was fitting Alanis took part and performed her own “You Oughta Know” from the iconic 1995 album backed by Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. Up next was a supergroup consisting of Foo Fighters, Sebastian Bach, Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler and Lars Ulrich of Metallica for takes on Black Sabbath cuts “Supernaut” and “Paranoid.”

One of the standout performances at Wembley came from Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. The pair once again played “2112 Part 1: Overture,” “Working Man” and “YYZ” in Los Angeles. Dave Grohl was behind the kit for “2112,” which came after an introduction from Jack Black. Then, Chad Smith took over drum duties for “Working Man” before Tool’s Danny Carey backed Lee and Lifeson on “YYZ.”

Another memorable pairing came via a Soundgarden/Nirvana collaboration featuring Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Matt Cameron, Kim Thayil and Pat Smear. Vocalist Taylor Momsen helmed the incredible lineup on Soundgarden tunes “The Day I Tried To Live” and “Black Hole Sun.” The penultimate set of the evening featured Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor who teamed with Foo Fighters and various guests for “We Will Rock You,” “I’m In Love With My Car,” “Under Pressure” and “Somebody To Love.” May closed out the performance with a solo acoustic “Love Of My Life.”

Foo Fighters took the stage shortly before midnight. The band welcomed a series of drummers throughout their 12-song set including Josh Freese, Jon Theodore, Travis Barker, Matt Cameron, Brad Wilk, Omar Hakim and Rufus Taylor. Grohl and company mixed staples such as “All My Life,” “This Is A Call” and “Best Of You” with lesser known material like “Low,” “Walk” and “The Sky Is A Neighborhood.” Comedian Dave Chappelle fronted the group on a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” in a reprise of a collaboration at MSG last year. Taylor Hawkins’ son, Shane Hawkins took the spot long held by his dad towards the end of the set for both “My Hero” and “I’ll Stick Around.” Foo Fighters then closed out the evening with Chad Smith on drums for “Everlong.”

Check out fan-shot video from Foo Fighters’ set and the complete setlist below: