U2's extended residency at the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas is finally at an end, with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl among the invited guests watching on as the Dubliners dropped the curtain on their hugely successful Sin City run on Saturday night (March 2). And as far as we can tell, no-one in the purpose-built arena had a better time on the night than Dave Grohl.
Grohl's friendship with U2 goes back a long way. On March 23, 1992, Nirvana's then-drummer attended the band's Zoo TV tour show at the Montreal Forum, and popped backstage to hang out with the Irish band's support act, Pixies. According to a 1992 Spin magazine feature, Grohl was then taken aside by Bono, who spent "an hour lecturing him on the evils of success."
During the pandemic, in a feature written for The Atlantic, Grohl discussed how seeing U2 in Washington DC in 2001 was a night he would never forget.
"This was their 2001 Elevation Tour, a massive production," he wrote. "I waited for the lights to go out so that I could lose myself in a magnificent, state-of-the-art rock show. To my surprise, the band walked onstage without any introduction, house lights fully illuminated, and kicked into the first song beneath their harsh, fluorescent glow, without the usual barrage of lasers and LED screens we’ve all become accustomed to. The brilliant move stunned the audience and began an unforgettable concert on a very raw, personal note. This was no accident, mind you. It was a lesson in intimacy. Without all the strobes and lasers, the room shrank to the size of a dirty nightclub at last call, every blemish in plain view. And with that simple gesture, we were reminded that we are all indeed just people. People that need to connect with one another."
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This weekend, not for the first time, Grohl himself proved that he's just a regular guy, by indulging in EveryDad behaviour when confronted with the sight and sound of U2 playing their euphoric 2000 single Beautiful Day. That expression "Dance like nobody's watching'? That was Grohl living his best life on the night. Except that more than one person was watching, and indeed filming, which is why there's now clips of the 55-year-old musician letting his hair down all over social media. And given the sheer joy that the footage captures, it would be a crime against humanity not to share it with y'all.
Check it out below:
