Foo Fighters

Dave Grohl attempts to weather the storm in Quebec City, July 11, 2015

oo Fighters really aren’t having the

Fbest year. After Dave Grohl’s leg-break following a tumble in Sweden and their cancelled Glastonbury appearance last month, comes the latest in a series of dramas to hit the band. Playing Le Festival d’été de Québec in Canada’s Quebec City, their Saturday night (July 11) set was cut short thanks to some biblical rain and an epic lightning storm. “Quebec City, we’ll be back... Mother Nature always wins...” tweeted the unlucky band after they left the stage.

Although it was one of the shortest headline shows in festival history, the Foos still managed to impress, with a career-spanning, minigreatest hits set that kicked of with ‘Everlong’ before piling into ‘Money Wrench’, ‘Learn To Fly’ and ‘Something From Nothing’ from last year’s ‘Sonic Highways’. However, the extreme weather became too much, and the band left the stage due to health and safety concerns.

The shortened show also gave Grohl another chance to wheel out the famboyant seating arrangement he debuted on American Independence Day (July 4) at the Foo Fighters’ 20th anniversary gig at the Robert F Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington DC. At both shows the frontman sat atop the ostentatious throne, which he had designed himself when in hospital on super-strength painkillers. “I took a couple of oxycodones and drew a picture,” commented Grohl from the stage in Washington. “I was high as a fucking kite.”

Despite this unlucky streak, Grohl seems to be revelling in the new style of performance forced upon him by his injury. “The shows we’ve been doing lately are our favourite shows that we’ve ever done,” he said in an interview. “What seemed like a setback at the time has turned into this beautiful blessing in disguise, where this throne and these crutches and these audiences make us play longer and harder than we ever have.” ▪ l E o n i E c o o p E r