Saturday Night Live: Watch Foo Fighters bring shock and awe to SNL (again)

Dave Grohl made his record-tying 15th appearance on Saturday Night Live this past weekend.
Gary Miller/GettyImages
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Saturday Night Live just loves them some Dave Grohl. They simply can't quit him, and to be honest, why should they? Grohl and his mates in the Foo Fighters know how to put on a show and make a catchy rock song that has just enough angst to catch on with the young lads, too. And live? The Foo Fighters are not to be missed.

Grohl has been performing on SNL since he was in Nirvana. He appeared twice on the program with Nirvana, nine times with the Foo Fighters, once as the drummer in Tom Petty's band, and once with a side project of Grohl's, Them Crooked Vultures. That makes 15 times and ties him with Paul Simon for most appearances by a musician on Saturday Night Live.

This past weekend, the Foo Fighters performed two songs, "Rescued" and "The Glass." Both songs are from the Foo Fighters' latest album, But Here We Are. "Rescued" is classic Foo Fighters with just enough aggression to make people happy but unoffended. That's not meant as a slight; Many bands can't pull off that tightrope trick.

Foo Fighters light up Saturday Night Live again (with a little help from a friend)

On SNL, the band had an excellent mix so that all the instruments could be heard. Every member of the Foos is a fantastic musician, and many got to see the band for the first time live with their new drummer, Josh Freese. Freese replaced the late Taylor Hawkins after Hawkins death in March 2022. The band clearly made a smart choice because Freese was ridiculously good on "Rescued" on SNL.

"The Glass" was even better, though. This is likely due to the Foo Fighters getting some help from H.E.R. While the harmonization between Grohl and H.E.R. wasn't perfect, it was also just rough enough to work with a rock song. Plus, H.E.R. is a fantastic guitarist that resembles Prince in style and she got to showcase a bit of her skills during the performance.

Dave Grohl also got be to be a character in a couple of skits. During "Lake Beach" he loses his hand and turns out to be more important to the townsfolk than one might have thought at the beginning of the bit. On "Airplane" he makes a late appearance in a skit where someone is trying to find a doctor. Overall, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters were once again excellent on SNL.

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