Foo Fighters
w/ Queens of the Stone Age, Mannequin Pussy
Nissan Stadium; Nashville, TN
August 15, 2026
Review by Philip Obenschain. Photos by Mary-Beth Blankenship.
When alt rock legends Foo Fighters first announced their return to Nashville, on the Take Cover Tour at Nissan Stadium with Queens of the Stone Age and Mannequin Pussy, I knew it was their largest Music City headliner ever, and I knew it was their first show in Nashville proper since 2018 at Bridgestone Arena (they’ve headlined nearby fests Pilgrimage and Bonnaroo, and played a private corporate gig in town since). What I didn’t realize, however, is that it would be the last show ever at the current Nissan Stadium- first opened in 1999 as Adelphia Coliseum, and later called The Coliseum and LP Field- before it is decommissioned and eventually demolished at the end of this NFL season, as the Tennessee Titans move into their fancy new stadium and future host for the Super Bowl next door (concerts don’t take place during football season). That turned what would’ve been another epic, massive rock show, just days after My Chemical Romance delivered an amazing performance in the same spot, into something of a sentimental farewell to Nashville’s largest show space. I don’t think the Foos were hand-selected for this task or anything (if the city had been more purposeful, it probably would’ve been a legnedary country artist), but given their prestige and always-phenomenal live presence, they proved the perfect choice, rocking through a career-spanning and extremely hot and sweaty set as few rock bands on the planet can.
I won’t harp too much on the heat- I did plenty of that in my MCR review- but this heat wave in Middle Tennessee has been brutal, and this stacked triple bill’s earlier-than-usual 5:30 start time did us no favors (despite living right down the road from the stadium, I was thankful to have arrived by car instead of by foot this time). Many of my fellow punctual attendees were hanging in the stadium’s interior, enjoying the shade, fans, and free water refills, and taking the opportunity to grab refreshments. I scoped out my section and waited until the very last minute to take my seat, met with a still fairly empty stadium, as people slowly filed in. Had it been any other opener, I might’ve been tempted to arrive later or skip out, but I’m a massive fan of Mannequin Pussy, and as I scanned the crowd, I could tell a lot of folks who also opted to brave that early heat were just as passionate about the Philly punk outfit.
It hasn’t been that long since Mannequin Pussy were playing intimate Nashville clubs like The End, Drkmttr, and The High Watt, and even their last show here a couple of years ago was at The Basement East, so seeing the band play on a stadium stage was immensely trippy. As much as I love the Foos and Queens of the Stone Age, I would argue that neither group has made a record in the last 20 years as good as Mannequin Pussy’s brilliant 2024 breakout fourth album, I Got Heaven, so I had no doubt that they’d be up to the task of opening for two legends. Despite the heat, despite the fact it was very much still daylight, despite their pretty minimal production and a sound that will always best lend itself to those aforementioned small, sweaty club shows, they absolutely crushed it with a brief but commanding performance. Aside from two old favorites early on, “Drunk II” and “Romantic,” their set was otherwise all from Heaven, and seemed well structured to hook the crowd with some of their more indie and pop-punk-oriented songs first, before, following frenetic single “I Got Heaven,” they leaned into some of their faster, more hardcore punk side with songs like “Of Her,” “Aching,” and “OK? OK! OK? OK!,” before bringing it home with “Loud Bark.” Altogether (and even though, again, this band is best experienced up close in a small room), Mannequin Pussy sounded better and tighter than ever, and frontwoman Marisa Dabice seemed really comfortable and engaging, utilizing the stage’s long catwalks and not holding back on her signature punk intensity. Normally, a nine-song setlist from a band I love would be disappointing, but it was just the right length to power through the heat before heading back out to cool off and hydrate, feeling extremely validated about showing up early for such a killer opening set.
It was only three years ago that eclectic alt rockers Queens of the Stone Age last played Nashville– at the time their first Music City outing in a decade- so that show was pretty fresh in my mind. And, as they haven’t released a new album since (one will arrive this fall), I kind of figured I’d be in for a similar show to last time- which more or less proved to be the case. Utilizing the stage’s giant screens, and backed by a noodle-like, dangling array of color-changing LED lights, the band performed with their typical stoner disaffectedness meets jammy, alt and psych rock tightness, with frontman Josh Homme coming off a little more subdued (and perhaps cranky?) than usual (he’s made headlines on a few shows this tour for things like clashing with venues over smoking policy and complaining about big, corporate stadiums, so I gather that this is not the type of show he’s enthusiastic about playing). Perhaps catering a bit more to the Foos crowd with their song selections than they did the last time I saw them as headliners, the band kicked off with a couple of older faves- the more low-key “Smooth Sailing” and punchier, 25-year-old “Hanging Tree,” setting a solid tone for the set to follow.
The only song from the last decade that made the cut was “Time & Place,” from 2023’s In Times New Roman…, and aside from “Little Sister,” from 2005’s Lullabies to Paralyze, and a back-to-back run of “Misfit Love” (maybe one of the more surprising inclusions) and fan-fave psych jam “Make It Wit Chu,” both from 2007’s Era Vulgaris, the bulk of the set came from QotSA’s two most popular records, …Like Clockwork and Songs for the Deaf. Admittedly, after the fast, propulsive, and electrifying opening set from Mannequin Pussy, and ahead of the high-energy rock of the Foos, Queens of the Stone Age’s more heady, technical, layered sound felt a little out of place, but might’ve been just what I needed as the sun finally set, and I had a chance to recharge and vibe. I’ve always been impressed by this band’s live show- and when they really get to rip, especially drummer Jon Theodore, it’s something special. Ending with Deaf’s standouts “Go with the Flow,” “No Ones Knows,” and “A Song for the Dead” was a high finish, and I was finally feeling like a full human being again as I once more took the changeover to hydrate and get ready for the evening’s headliners.
Foo Fighters are one of those bands I’ve loved as long as I can remember- dependable, fantastic live, and the embodiment of an era of pure, Gen X, rock and roll bliss that not many newer groups capture in quite the same way. I can’t remember exactly when I first saw them live- probably around 20 years ago- but I know I saw them the most in the 2010s, at a couple of Nashville headliners at Bridgestone, at nearby fests, and most recently at Bonnaroo in 2023. I wouldn’t even necessarily consider myself a superfan, but they’re one of those bands where I still find I know every word to nearly every song, and will never turn down a chance to see live. Needless to say, I was pumped to catch the rockers again, especially in front of such a massive crowd, and though I pretty much knew what I was in for- a high-energy, electrifying, career-spanning, and generously long set- I was nonetheless extremely gratified by the experience.
Kicking off with frequent set-opener “All My Life,” the stadium roared to life as soon as the Foos took the stage, scream-singing along and erupting into deafening cheers. The band would go on to rock through a selection of songs from literally every single album of their more than 30-year existence (save for collaboration album Sonic Highways), skewing heavy on the early stuff, which was a real treat for me since their ’90s records are my favorite. Figuring out production that suits the scale of a massive stage like this is always a challenge (and pop tours I’ve seen like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé seem to have best utilized it, as well as unorthodox staging like Metallica), but the Foos found a pretty good balance between the pretty standard array of instruments in close proximity that you’d see at any typical rock show (allowing them to really interact and play off of each other), and the massive scale of giant, dynamic screens behind and around them, and arrays of lights that would move and transform to fit the songs throughout the night. Dave Grohl is kind of the textbook torchbearer for the spirit of modern rock and roll (and, with Nirvana, he changed the face of music forever at the start of the ’90s), and remains as upbeat, charismatic, and captivating a performer as ever, with the rest of the band- bassist Nate Mendel and guitarist Pat Smear, who’ve been around from the start, guitarist Chris Shiflett, who joined in the late ’90s, keyboard player Rami Jaffee, who’s been playing with the band for 20 years and was added officially a decade ago, and new drummer Ilan Rubin- played like the legendary, road-worn outfit that they are.
The first portion of the show was heavy on the hits, including beloved singles like “The Pretender,” “Times Like These,” “My Hero,” “Learn to Fly” (you know you have a killer discography when you can frontload a setlist so much and still have plenty of favorites left). Despite the sun having long set, it was still pretty brutal out, and the band quickly became visibly drenched in sweat, prompting Dave to make frequent cracks about our inferno of a venue, which he was aware would soon be closing (did they tell him that the new one has a roof and climate control? unclear). After a fast-paced and fun first stretch of the show, Grohl and the band ventured to b-stage at the end of the catwalk, performing non-album track “Wheels” acoustically, then treating us to the rarely played deep cut “Marigold,” which was originally released both solo by Grohl under the moniker Late!, as well as a Nirvana b-side (making it more or less the first Foo Fighters song, before the Foo Fighters formally existed). The band plugged back in (a smaller array of instruments had been set up) for a couple more on the b-stage, before leaving Dave alone to play “Under You” alone and acoustic, as they headed back to the main stage.
The back half of the set was much like the Foos’ first, but the big standout for me was the band introduction portion. Though it’s always been a part of their show, my memory is that previously Dave would introduce each member during one big jam, and let them show off their chops, often with a memorable cover. This time, he took it a step further by paying homage to their pre-Foo Fighters accomplishments and songs from each, first with “Invincible,” from Shiflett’s punk band No Use for a Name, then “Seven,” from Mendel’s legendary emo group Sunny Day Real Estate (I’m a MASSIVE Sunny Day fan, so I was losing my mind at this), huge hit “One Headlight,” from Jaffee’s old band The Wallflowers, and “Manimal,” from Smear’s seminal punk band the Germs (Dave noted what a huge impact the Germs had on his own musical upbringing, then invited out Shane West, who previously sang in a reunited version of the band, to join on vocals). Though best known for drumming with a laundry list of huge bands, Rubin opted to play a solo song of his, “Tap Dancing in a Minefield,” swapping places with Grohl in the process. He’d soon show off his drum chops regardless, playing a killer solo during classic tune “Monkey Wrench.” After a couple more, including dedicating “Aurora” to late, great Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins, the band finished out the main set on a high with “Best of You.”
Returning, of course, for an encore, Dave dedicated “The Teacher” to his mother, a teacher herself, as he extolled the importance of teachers everywhere. The band played another old one- apparently the song they used to end with in the ’90s- “Exhausted,” announcing that it would be their last song. Hopefully not too many people made for an early exit, though, because the true last song came after, and was obviously their massive hit “Everlong,” which was accompanied by one of the coolest light configurations of the whole show (a sort of UFO-like array above the band) and a massive fireworks display from both sides of the stadium. And with that, the last song of the last show ever at the original Nissan Stadium went out on an epic high. I can’t say I have a ton of sentimental attachment to this venue (I’ve probably seen less than 10 concerts there in 15 years), and by all accounts its replacement will be better, but the finality of it still felt a little sentimental in that moment, and I couldn’t have better, more fun live show to send it off. Foo Fighters are never anything less than awesome, and this was their biggest, most epic Nashville show yet!
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All photos by Mary-Beth Blankenship
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Setlist:
All My Life
The Pretender
Times Like These
Rope
Stacked Actors
My Hero
Learn to Fly
These Days
Walk
This Is a Call
No Son of Mine
Wheels
Marigold
Window
Big Me
Under You
Your Favorite Toy
Run
Invincible / Seven / One Headlight / Manimal / Tap Dancing in a Minefield
Monkey Wrench
Breakout
Aurora
Best of You
The Teacher
Exhausted
Everlong
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