Watch RHCP’s Chad Smith Join Foo Fighters for Faces Cover
Band performs bombastic rendition of “Stay With Me” during rare encore
The Foo Fighters typically eschew encores during their sprawling concerts, but at Citi Field in New York City Wednesday night, the band returned to the stage with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith for a cover of the Faces’ 1971 hit “Stay With Me.”
“He’s gonna break my shit tonight,” Foo Fighter drummer Taylor Hawkins remarked, per a fan-shot clip. With Hawkins handling vocals with an impressively raspy Rod Stewart impression, the band delivered a bombastic rendition of “Stay With Me,” complete with a round of shredding capped off by Smith’s own outrageous barrage of fills and cymbal crashes.
Over a proceeding vamp, Hawkins and Grohl recalled the Foo Fighters’ 1999 tour opening for the Chili Peppers, with the drummer remembering, “That’s when we learned to be a band.” Grohl then cracked, “It’s sure as hell when we learned how to party.”
Hawkins then corralled the group for one final blowout. As the band brought “Stay with Me” to a close with yet another round of solos, Grohl concluded with a tasteful, hilarious “Stairway to Heaven” lick. Smith even made it out of the performance unscathed ”” in past encounters, the Foo Fighters have rained ping pong balls and spaghetti on the drummer mid-song.
Foo Fighters will continue to tour in support of their 2014 album Sonic Highways throughout the summer and fall. The band was forced to cancel a handful of European dates after Grohl broke his leg during a show in Gothenburg, Sweden. The frontman returned to the stage three weeks later ”” in a cast, but perched atop an outrageous rock throne ”” for the Foo Fighters’ star-studded 20th anniversary homecoming concert at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
