– billed by Grohl as “gigantic fucking nights for a gigantic fucking person” – their bills featuring everyone from Rush to Liam Gallagher to Miley Cyrus, their conclusion emotionally charged performances by Foo Fighters themselves, Grohl fighting back tears as he sang.
Meanwhile, on Foo Fighters’ first album since Hawkins’ death – with Grohl filling in on drums – Joshua Freese has been announced as Hawkins’ live replacement. It makes no bones about being a musical act of mourning, opening with Grohl reeling from hearing of his best friend’s passing – “It came in a flash / It came out of nowhere / It happened so fast” – and ending with him singing: “Rest – you will be safe now.
The cover features a dedication to both Hawkins and Grohl’s late mother, Virginia, whose deaths the lyrics occasionally seem to conflate: “Everything we love must grow old,” sings Grohl on Beyond Me, before the thought of his bandmate and best friend brings him up short, and he adds, “or so I’m told”.
That it works rather than feeling odd or jarring may be down to the fact that But Here We Are does what Foo Fighters do noticeably better than immediate predecessors. Their recent albums have been marked by a creeping sense of obligation, of a band making records that would fill the gaps between the old hits tolerably enough, enabling them to continue touring without fully embracing the heritage rock label.