After more than a year, following Dave Grohl's announcement of a hiatus in 2012, Foo Fighters are going to head to Mexico City to play on Dec. 13 at the 55,000-capacity Foro Sol stadium. The National will open for them. But earlier this week they decided to warm up and test out how tight the set was at a pizza place in the Los Angeles-area first.
As Rolling Stone reported: "The band crowded onto the compact stage at Rock & Roll Pizza in Moorpark, California, where they played a 23-song set, including "Learn to Fly," "White Limo," and "Arlandria," which are featured in a pretty decent fan-shot video clip. The venue is small enough that Taylor Hawkins didn't need to mic his drums, and Grohl sang and played guitar mere inches away from fans who made their way up front."
It's always bitter sweet when appearances like this happen. For one thing it's awesome for a hugely successful band to play an impromptu show and give previously unaware fans a chance to see them play live in a more intimate setting, and the band must really enjoy that aspect of it. Less hype. More music. But it's likely that a lot of L.A.-based fans kicked themselves when they found out about it after.
Somehow Dave Grohl makes plenty of time to work on multiple projects and still deliver. After announcing the band's break, he performing with Paul McCartney and former Nirvana bandmates Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear at least year's Hurricane Sandy benefit. He took on the role of director for the Sound City documentary on the Los Angeles recording studio where Nirvana recorded Nevermind, and he played drums on Queens of the Stone Age's new album, . . . Like Clockwork. A Jack of all trades.
But besides all of that, the so-called hiatus didn't really last as long as some people maybe feared. Guitarist Chris Shiflett told Rolling Stone in August that Foo Fighters were rehearsing material for a new album they plan to begin recording early in 2014. "It was a very short hiatus," Shiflett said.
Check out the video of Foo Fighters performing at Rock & Roll Pizza below.
