Ten months following the sudden death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters have announced their first full concert without him. The Dave Grohl-led group will on May 26 headline the first of the three-night Boston Calling festival at Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston, Mass. The Foos were originally scheduled to perform at the event in 2022 but canceled after Hawkins died in Colombia on March 25.
No further information has been revealed regarding Hawkins’ replacement behind the kit or what are expected to be additional Foo Fighters live performances this year. The significance of today’s announcement was likewise not mentioned in any of Boston Calling’s promotional materials.
The surviving members of Foo Fighters reassembled twice last September to close out epic, star-packed tribute concerts for Hawkins in London and Los Angeles. At them, the group was backed by a series of drummer friends, including Rufus Taylor of Queen/the Darkness, Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron, Queens of the Stone Age’s Jon Theodore, session veteran Josh Freese, blink-182’s Travis Barker, and even Hawkins’ teenage son Shane.
The Lumineers and Paramore are the other headliners for Boston Calling, which also features the only east coat appearance of the year by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Alanis Morissette (in her first Boston-area show in more than a decade), Queens of the Stone Age, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the National, the Flaming Lips, Bleachers, Maren Morris, the reunited Walkmen, and Niall Horan.
Other up-and-coming acts on the bill include Fletcher, the Linda Lindas, Genesis Owusu, and Joy Oladokun, plus regional artists such as Neemz, Q-Tip Bandits, GA-20, Juice, Alisa Amador, and Mint Green. Tickets go on sale Thursday (Jan. 12) in a variety of configurations via Boston Calling’s website.
Last year’s Boston Calling was headlined by Metallica, the Strokes, and Nine Inch Nails, the latter of whom stepped in to replace the Foos. The festival didn’t take place in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
