The Foo Fighters honored the late AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young with a pair of tributes just hours after his passing on November 18 at the age of 64 following a lengthy battle with dementia.
Dave Grohl first offered a personal note to Young on social media, writing: "37 years ago, my friend Larry Hinkle and I went to see a midnight movie on a Friday night at the Uptown Theater in Washington D.C. It was 1980. We were 11 years old. The movie was 'Let There Be Rock'. And it changed my life.
"That film, a live AC/DC performance from Paris [in] 1979, is everything that live rock and roll should be. Sweaty. Loose. Loud. A relentless performance from the perfect band. It was the first time I lost control to music. The first time I wanted to be in a band. I didn't want to play my guitar anymore, I wanted to smash it.
"Thank you, Malcolm, for the songs, and the feel, and the cool, and the years of losing control to your rock and roll. I will do just that tonight, for you. Malcolm Young RIP."
"We're going to play some rock and roll for Malcolm tonight," Grohl told the audience at the Corona Capitol Festival in Mexico City, Mexico when the Foo Fighters took the stage for a headlining set later that night, as a photo of the AC/DC guitarist was displayed on the event's large video screen.
The group then delivered a high-energy take on AC/DC’s 1977 classic, “Let There Be Rock”, as the opening tune of the evening; the Foos have regularly performed the tune during the encores on their current tour in support of “Concrete And Gold”, including a recent in-studio run-through at the BBC in September.
The Foos also gave a nod to Malcolm later in the festival set by dropping in a snippet of AC/DC’s “Rocker” – from 1975’s “T.N.T.” – during their 2007 hit, “The Pretender.”
Streamed broadcast-quality video of both of the AC/DC tributes by the Foo Fighters in Mexico City can be viewed below.
See also:
AC/DC co-founder Malcolm Young dead at 64
VIDEO: Guns N’ Roses perform tribute to late AC/DC producer George Young
Easybeats guitarist and AC/DC producer George Young dead at 70
Former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd cancels European tour
Search AC/DC at hennemusic
