During their headlining performance on Saturday at Corona Capital festival in Mexico City, Foo Fighters paid a touching tribute to AC/DC’s guitarist Malcolm Young, who passed away at age 64 earlier that day following a three-year battle with dementia.
On the same night, Guns N' Roses performed a tribute of their own for Malcolm Young during their Sacramento, California gig at Golden 1 Center. While Slash was playing a solo rendition of Alice Cooper’s “Only Women Bleed,” Axl Rose told the crowd, "We're gonna dedicate this to Malcolm Young, who will be sorely missed. By none more than his brother Angus." In 2016, Rose took over lead vocals for AC/DC's Brian Johnson during their live shows due to the singer's deterioration in hearing. Rose never performed beside Young as he left the band in 2014. Late into their 34-song set, the band dedicated their covers of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie" to the late musician.
Foo Fighters began their 18-song set with a cover of AC/DC’s “Let There Be Rock,” from the band’s 1977 eponymous album. According to our records, Foo Fighters have covered this song over 30 times and it's been commonly put into their Concrete and Gold World Tour set. "We're going to play some rock and roll for Malcolm tonight," Dave Grohl started off by telling the audience before launching into the song. While performing the rendition, a photo of Young was shown behind the band on the festival's large video screen.
After playing former single “Learn to Fly” from 1999’s There Is Nothing Left to Lose, the Foos ripped through “The Pretender” from 2007’s Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. However, when performing the prior Grammy-nominated Best Rock Song, the rockers included snippets of AC/DC's "Rocker" and "Who Made Who.” “Rocker” was a part of AC/DC’s 1975 hard rock opus, T.N.T while “Who Made Who” came to life on the titular 1986 record. Foo Fighters set also featured a cover of Queen’s “Under Pressure,” another common cover during their live performances.
Just the other day on Instagram, Grohl shared his own influential AC/DC memory, reminiscing on the hard rockers’ 1980 live performance film in theaters at age 11. “It was the first time I lost control to music,” he wrote. “The first time I wanted to be in a band. I didn’t want to play my guitar anymore, I wanted to smash it.”
On a separate performance the very same night, Northern California thrash metal outfit Death Angel dedicated a cover of AC/DC's "Dog Eat Dog,” from the band’s 1977 album, Let There Be Rock. The tribute was performed at Barba Negra Music Club in Budapest, Hungary. Singer Mark Osegueda went onto say that the entire show was dedicated to Young, one of their main inspirations.
Foo Fighters are currently touring in support of their ninth studio album, Concrete and Gold, which came out in September. For more info on tour dates, visit their website.
