Photo: Skyler Barberio for iHeartRadio
The Foo Fighters took the stage at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Festival for the very first time, performing an incredible set of some of their biggest hits from their nearly three-decade long career.
A Foo Fighters concert or festival appearance is often quite lengthy, but as Dave Grohl told the crowd, the band condensed what is normally a three-hour set into a little more than a half an hour to treat the Las Vegas audience to 28 years worth of musical highlights.
As soon as the band stepped on stage, they were taking in the energy of the arena. A smiling Grohl stared out into the cheering crowd, hyping up the audience even more before kicking off their set with "All My Life," from 2002's One by One. They then moved onto "Learn to Fly," getting the crowd dancing along as Grohl screamed out the lyrics to hit from 1999's There is Nothing.
Photo: Brian Friedman for iHeartRadio
The next two songs marked the halfway point of the set. Grohl encouraged the crowd to sing along to "My Hero," a crowd favorite from 1997's The Colour and the Shape, and they absolutely listened. As fans sang out "There goes my hero/ He's ordinary," some were even brought to tears. Grohl praised the crowd for singing along, telling them, "You guys are good at this s---." The band moved from their older hits to one of their newer ones, "Rescued," from their 2023 album But Here We Are.
The band took it back nearly 20 years to "Best Of You" from the 2005 album In Your Honor, a song that sparked the energy even more as everyone screamed along to the question, "Is someone getting the best of, the best, the best, the best of you? Are you gone and on to someone new?"
As they often do, the band ended their set with "Everlong," dedicating the The Colour and the Shape song to all the bands that performed throughout the night, including Public Enemy who Grohl said was "one of my favorite bands of all time."
Grohl clearly had a great time, repeatedly telling the crowd that it was "good s---" and even said that the performance was "f------ awesome" as soon as he stepped foot off stage after their set.
Photo: Greg Noire for iHeartRadio
The Foo Fighters recently added a few new dates to their North American tour, their first tour since Hawkins' death, before they head over to Australia to keep the party going. However, before they fly overseas, they're also set to make plenty of festival appearances at events like Ohana Fest and Austin City Limits. Following the Foos' first run of shows, Grohl penned a heartfelt letter to fans to express his gratitude for being able to return to the stage, thanking fans for being there and telling them "it feels good to see you" after the band's time away from touring.
The tour comes after the Foo Fighters released their highly-anticipated new album But Here We Are in June, another first since Hawkins' untimely passing.
If you missed any of this year's iHeartRadio Music Festival, or just want to relive the weekend, you can watch all of the best moments on demand on Hulu from October 10 through October 31.