“We’ve been in this band for so long, we’re really family,” Dave Grohl said on Boston Calling’s Foo Fighters headline show. “Our families are with us tonight because we need to do this together.”
Grohl spoke before soloing “A Cold Day in the Sun,” a song he once sang with the late Taylor Hawkins. Earlier in the week on Wednesday, he was off the track for the first time in five years, performing well during the Foo Fighters warm-up show in Guildford, New Hampshire. “I tried doing this the other night and I’m going to try again,” Grohl said Friday (May 26). “I’m going to do this for Taylor’s family, I’m going to do this for Taylor.”
This time, although he was not choked, the strength of his feelings did not weaken in the slightest. It became all the more impactful because then, Grohl welcomed “one of my favorite drummers in the world,” Hawkins’ son Shane. The teenage drummer showcased his talents during tribute performances for his father, but as poignant as those performances were, there was a unique nod to Shane’s appearance on Boston Calling.
He joined the band for “I’ll Stick Around,” one of the songs he played during the Hawkins Tribute in Los Angeles. After spending some time tweaking new Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese’s gear (“Holy crap, Shane has a curfew!” Grohl joked about missing The National and hearing Niall Horan’s “Audience Absolutely Fucking Crazy”), He jerks into the song, even cutting off Grohl’s intro. Young Hawkins banged heads and grimaced like he was actually eating notes, demolishing drums like a seasoned pro.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if there was another Hawkins in the permanent Foo Fighters lineup in a few years’ time. That’s why his performance is so invigorating — not just in honor of his father, he’s playing as if he’s making a name for himself. It’s hard not to be in the shadow of your parents when they’re as famous and beloved as Taylor Hawkins, but Sean has proven he’s capable of standing out in his own right.
And he wasn’t the only young family member in attendance at the Foo Fighters big festival “return”: Dave’s fine-voiced daughter, Violet Grohl, was also there. She was introduced before performing on “A Cold Day in the Sun,” echoing her father on “Shame Shame,” and then sitting on a drum pad in “Rope.” Grohl Sr. is considered one of the most dynamic and charismatic frontmen in the music industry. Teenage Grohl doesn’t try to match his energy, she just shows it to him with her singing.