Foo Fighters play rare live track ‘New Way Home’ during intimate Washington D.C. gig

31 May, 2023

Foo Fighters performs onstage during the 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 30, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty

Foo Fighters headlined the opening night of the new Washington D.C. venue The Atlantis and performed rare live track ‘New Way Home’ last night (May 30).

The Atlantis – a new 450-person capacity replica venue of the original 9:30 Club – opened yesterday with the Foos taking the stage.

According to Consequence of Sound, the band’s set began with frontman Dave Grohl reuniting with Pete Stahl, his old bandmate in the D.C. hardcore band Scream. Together they covered ‘At the Atlantis’, a song by the D.C. legends Bad Brains.

Foos’ 22-song set spanned two hours and included all of the band’s greatest hits along with ‘New Way Home’, which had only been played live twice since 2011. They also dedicated their performance of ‘Break Me’ to Foghat and included a few lines from ‘Slow Ride’.

Elsewhere in the performance, Grohl’s daughter Violet graced the stage to join the band for ‘Shame Shame’ and ‘Rope’, and Seth Hurwitz, the owner of the 9:30 Club and friend of the band, took over the drums on their performance of ‘Big Me’.

The band also thanked the crowd for helping them continue after the passing of drummer Taylor Hawkins, later dedicating the song ‘Aurora’ to him.

Earlier in the day, Grohl and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser attended a grand opening ceremony, where Hurwitz cut a guitar string at the venue’s door to christen the new club. Hurwitz also helped unveil a life-size statue of Grohl made of found objects.

“I got to witness hundreds of bands that inspired me to become a musician myself,” Grohl said during the ceremony, adding that seeing those show gave him “that feeling of being in this sort of tribe, like we were all in on this big secret”.

Foo Fighters were one of 44 acts to be announced earlier this year to play The Atlantis. Next up to take the stage are Third Eye Blind, The Walkmen, Pixies, Spoon, Tove Lo, Bush, Yo La Tengo and more.

In other Foo Fighters news, the band recently released the fourth single from their upcoming album ‘But Here We Are’. Titled ‘The Teacher’, the song is the longest the band have ever recorded, and references the passing of drummer Taylor Hawkins and Grohl’s mother, Virginia.

Foo Fighters played two comeback gigs last week, with the first being in New Hampshire on May 24 and the second at Boston Calling on May 26. The gigs saw the band introduce newly-announced drummer Josh Freese, who took on the role following the passing of Hawkins last year.

Foos covered Nine Inch Nails’ ‘March Of The Pigs’ at Sonic Temple festival in Ohio on May 28. They played a medley of songs from bands Freese has played with in order to introduce him to the world. One of these was ‘March Of The Pigs’, with Freese having previously played for Nine Inch Nails alongside the likes of Paramore and Weezer.

The band also have a series of North American headline shows lined up – and remaining tickets are available here – and Grohl has also teased that some UK live shows are also on the horizon.

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