Foo Fighters invite a fan onstage to play guitar on Monkey Wrench, and it’s epic

Virgin Radio

10 Aug 2021, 11:58

We’ve all had dreams of watching our favourite band live and getting invited on stage and smashing a guitar part, a drum solo, or a vocal, haven’t we? The reality though, is that many of us would likely freeze under the lights and in the gaze of a packed venue. Not so a Foo Fighters fan in Kansas last week, who got up on stage and absolutely nailed her guitar performance.

As the show approached its end at the Azura Amphitheater in Bonner Springs on August 5th, a fan called Lauren was picked out of the crowd to play Dave Grohl’s guitar part during their classic 1997 hit, Monkey Wrench. 

“You’re not nervous, are you?” Grohl asked of Lauren as she arrived on stage. The Foos fan simply shook her head, to which the frontman turned to the cheering crowd and said, “She ain’t nervous!” 

The band and Lauren then started playing the tune, but they didn’t just bust out a quick rendition of the single. Oh no, rather they played a six-minute epic, with Lauren absolutely smashing her part, and seemingly relishing every second of it. She strode the stage and, with the help of Grohl, pulled some rock star poses. Check out the video, filmed by an audience member:

At the song’s suitably climatic ending, Lauren received an ovation from the crowd and a fist-bump from Grohl, who said, “It’s nice to meet you. Go get a Diet Coke or something!”

It’s not the first time that Foo Fighters have brought fans up on stage to play with them, although due to the pandemic, it is the first time they have done so in a couple of years. 

Before the show, the band had an interaction with people who definitely wouldn’t describe themselves as fans. With the controversial Westboro Baptist Church picketing the gig in protest, Dave Grohl and his pals jumped on the back of an open-top truck and, as their disco side project The Dee Gees, drove past the protesters, with Grohl telling them through a PA system, “You shouldn’t be hating, you know what you should be doing? You should be dancing!”

They then busted out their version of The Bee Gees song of the same name. What legends!