F1 concert: Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl brings up visit to Singapore with rock icons Nirvana

Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2025

Foo Fighters
Padang Stage, Marina Bay Street Circuit
Oct 4

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has happy memories of previous trips to Singapore.

In a triumphant and robust headlining set lasting close to two hours, the 58-year-old peppered the show with in-between song banter about being here three decades ago.

The band played their first show here at the now-defunct WTC Harbour Pavilion in 1996.

But as Grohl reminded the audience, his first visit to Singapore was even earlier than that, when he was the drummer for seminal alternative rock band Nirvana.

“We have fond memories of being here 30 years ago. Actually, the first time I came here was in 1992 with Nirvana,” the black-clad singer told the crowd. But they did not get to perform live, and only did press.

“And I remember thinking, wow, this is one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been, and here we are, 33 years later, with you tonight,” he added.

The Padang gig showcased how, in the wake of Nirvana, Grohl built Foo Fighters into one of the world’s top rock bands of the last 30 years.

Taking to the biggest stage at the Singapore Grand Prix at 10.18pm, the tight headlining set had plenty of the stadium-size rock anthems – blending chugging guitar riffs, bittersweet melodies and screaming choruses –that the band are known for.

“We’re the Foo Fighters, we play rock ’n’ roll, how about that?” Grohl said enthusiastically the moment he appeared onstage.

They played a balanced mix of old and newer material, from early tracks such as This Is A Call off their eponymous 1995 debut album, to mid-2000s alt-rock hit Best Of You (2005), as well as more recent fare like Shame Shame (2021).

Their performances of crowd favourites such as My Hero and Everlong (both 1997) were dynamic and felt both charged and intimate at the same time.

The band’s live line-up had one stark difference compared with their last Singapore gig at the National Stadium in 2017. New drummer Ilan Rubin was there in place of Taylor Hawkins, who died of heart failure in 2022.

The youngest member at 37 years old, Rubin faithfully recreated Hawkins’ explosive and expressive rhythms and fills, and even sang harmony on tracks like Rope (2011).

At times, the local heat and humidity seemed to weigh Grohl down. He was drenched in sweat by the end of second song All My Life (2002) and seemed to have trouble with the ragged screaming parts in Best Of You.

But he soldiered on, occasionally lightening the mood with antics, such as channelling late US pop star Prince by singing in soulful falsetto during Shame Shame.

More than once, he paid tribute to, and acknowledged the importance of, the band’s long-time supporters, whom he endearingly called the “old school”.

“The biggest reason that I give a lot of love to the old school is because, we’re talking 30 years ago, and the most important thing is, we survived,” he told them. “So it’s good to see everybody here that survived... because that’s what we do it for. We do this for life.”