Glastonbury 2023; Dave Grohl’s Excellent Glasto Adventure as Foo Fighters’ set was not enough for the frontman

It is possibly the worst-kept secret in Glastonbury Festival history; but we were right all along - The Churnups, scheduled to play the Pyramid Stage on Friday evening, were indeed the long rumoured Foo Fighters, as the swelling crowds erupted with cheers as Dave Grohl excitedly ran out to great the crowd.

Acknowledging that everyone at the Pyramid Stage must have known it was them, the band kicked off their set with a blistering version of “All My Life,” while also taking the time to pay their respects to late drummer Taylor Hawkins before the end of their short-but-incredibly-sweet set. 

Grohl then alluded to seeing them again soon; potentially a reference to returning to Worthy Farm for the 2024 iteration of Glastonbury Festival, or perhaps their chance to take over Wembley Stadium once again? Needless to say, the “secret” Foo Fighters set was heralded as one of the highlights of the festival.

But not content with merely appearing as a secret band, Grohl spent the next 48 hours appearing here, there and everywhere. Like a proverbial Phantom of the Opera, or music festival in this case, Grohl appeared on two further occasions at the festival, alongside travelling by train on Friday morning to get to the festival grounds.

PeopleWorld takes a look at Dave Grohl’s excellent Glastonbury 2023 adventure, as we once again attest to the fact that he is the kind of musician that makes you feel like you’re about to go on holiday to Disneyland with him. He’s just got that kind of charm about him.

What did Dave Grohl get up to at Glastonbury Festival 2023?

Taking a train to the festival

It started pretty innocuous; Dave Grohl and the band hopping on a Great Western Railway train to Bath Spa in order to get a mini-bus to Worthy Farm ahead of their Pyramid Stage performance. GWR went as far as to tweet a picture of Grohl alongside rail staff member Brendan Cropper on the train from London Paddington. 

Before you kick yourself though that you could have been sat on the same carriage as Foo Fighters, rest assured you missed nothing - the 40 strong entourage had full access to the first class carriage on the 11:00am train - though hoping off at the same stop as the band might have netted a picture opportunity.

The worst kept secret - taking to the Pyramid Stage Friday

As the Pyramid Stage started swelling with large crowds ahead of “The Churnups” performance at Glastonbury Festival on Friday, the logo for said group appeared on the video screen behind the drum kit. That then morphed into the beloved Foo Fighters logo to an enormous cheer from the crowd, as Grohl and cohorts, including new drummer Josh Freese, played a blistering hour long set.

Opening with “All My Life,” Grohl’s daughter Violet also having a guest appearance, it wouldn’t have been a Foo Fighters set however without closing with the festival favourite “Everlong,” with Grohl quipping he’ll see everyone again soon. Let the Glastonbury 2024/Foo Fighters headliner speculations begin.

Drumming for Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders

The Pretenders announced their secret set last week ahead of their performance on the Park Stage on Saturday, but no one could believe that they had two special guests to perform. Johnny Marr joined the band during their set (after Rick Astley’s incredible set of The Smith’s covers), but not content with stealing the show on Friday, Grohl returned to behind the drum kit to perform their final three songs of their set, including the anthemic “I’ll Stand By You.”

Joining Guns ‘n’ Roses for “Paradise City”

Despite their previous bad blood between Nirvana and Guns ‘n’ Roses, it seems if Dave Grohl and Courtney Love can make peace with one another, surely Axl Rose and Dave Grohl can. It helps that bassist Duff McKagan has always been a supporter of Grohl, which may have led to the Foo Fighters’ frontman jumping onstage during Guns ‘n’ Roses headlining set on Saturday night.

With a guitar in his hand, he joined the band in their performance of “Paradise City” to round off their set at Worthy Farm, and round off a busy 48 hours for Dave Grohl.

What was the setlist from the Foo Fighters’ (less than) secret set at Glastonbury 2023?

Courtesy of Setlist.FM, The Churnups the Foo Fighters brief-but-blistering set on the Pyramid Stage was as follows:

• All My Life
• No Son of Mine
• Learn to Fly
• Rescued
• The Pretender
• My Hero
• Play Video
• Show Me How (with Violet Grohl)
• Play Video
• Best of You
• Everlong

How can I rewatch Foo Fighters at Glastonbury 2023 on TV?

BBC iPlayer will continue to stream Glastonbury Festival 2023 coverage on demand for the next seven days, with the Foo Fighters’ secret set on Friday available in Ultra High Definition, along with performance available from both The Pretenders and Guns ‘n’ Roses.