The notorious Westboro Baptist Church is classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “arguably the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America”. That the Topeka, Kansas church, which has regularly been denounced by other Christian groups, has chosen the URL ‘godhatesfags.com’ for its official website should give an insight into the levels of intolerance the church preaches, and its members have outraged public decency in the US by claiming that the 9/11 terror attacks were “divine retribution” and by conducting anti-LGBTQ+ protests at the funerals of US soldiers, while holding placards stating ‘Thank God for dead soldiers’.
In August 2011, the church picketed a Foo Fighters show in Kansas, claiming that Dave Grohl’s band were instruments of the devil because of their comedy song Keep It Clean (Hot Buns), which was issued to promote the group’s Wasting Light tour. Foo Fighters responded in a manner the church members clearly weren’t expecting…
Ten years on, the bigotry espoused by the church has only got more vitriolic, and when Foo Fighters returned to Kansas City on August 5, to play the Azura Ampitheater, the protestors were in attendance once more, with one delightful individual carrying a placard reading ‘God sent the Coronavirus in fury’. Once again, however, the Foo Fighters had the last laugh, serenading the religious zealots with a performance of the Bee Gees’ You Should Be Dancing, as recently released on their ‘Dee Gees’ EP Hail Satin, from the back of a flat-bed truck.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I got something to say,” Grohl declared as the truck pulled up alongside the protestors. “Because you know what? I love you. I do! The way I look at it, I love everybody… isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? Can’t you just love everybody? Because I think it’s about love… And you shouldn’t be hatin’. Do you know what y’all should be doing? You should be dancing!”
Game, set and match to the gentlemen in the satin jumpsuits.
Dave Grohl & The Foo Fighters trolled the Westboro Baptist Church outside their concert in Kansas tonight. PLAYING DISCO. pic.twitter.com/Ci2yh1M7QRAugust 6, 2021
Foo Fighters fans might be interested to learn that a fully updated and revised tenth anniversary edition of This Is Call, the best-selling biography of Dave Grohl by Classic Rock writer Paul Brannigan, will be published on September 2 by Harper Collins.