Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl opened up about playing massive stages for huge crowds. He also shared a personal ritual he performs at the end of every show, in an interview on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X.
Grohl discussed the physical and emotional demands of performing on large stages. He revealed a quiet moment of gratitude he has kept largely to himself until now.
“I mean there’s not much routine. It’s just I’m just like, ‘God, thank God that’s over with.’ And you know, I’ll say this. I don’t know if I’ve ever said this before,” he said. “Every night at the end of the set when I hold my guitar up in the air, you can’t see my face, but I say, ‘Thank God.’ I swear. I’m not kidding. Every night I’m hiding my face going, ‘Oh, thank God.’ It’s a lot of gratitude. But it’s also an incredible relief.”
Grohl then turned to the physical challenge of performing on bigger stages. He explained just how demanding the experience can be.
“That’s the hardest thing. I mean, you know, it’s also playing these bigger stages. You know, as we were playing those smaller shows, I only had 20 feet to run side to side. This is like it’s like 500 yards from what it’s a big stage. And so, I’m running as fast as I can. And it’s a workout. So, to prepare yourself for that, you know, I don’t do push-ups and get on a running, whatever. I don’t even know what that is. I just go out and do it.”
He also shared a surprising discovery he made after starting to wear a fitness tracker on tour.
“Actually, you know what’s funny? I started wearing one of those aura rings. You know those aura ring things? And I’d worn them before but not really on tour. And I thought I’m going to wear one and see like actually what happens when I’m out there,” he continued. “And it’s upwards to about 20,000 steps for the day. You’re burning 3,000-4,000 calories. It’s great. It’s the best exercise. It’s like having a couple pints and going to the gym. It doesn’t suck.”
The comments came as Foo Fighters performed a series of large-scale shows, including their high-profile Liverpool dates.
Grohl’s candid reflections on the physical toll of performing are consistent with a broader pattern of honesty he has shown about the realities of life on the road. Far from projecting an image of effortless rock stardom, he has consistently acknowledged the wear and tear that comes with decades of high-energy performances on some of the world’s biggest stages.
Foo Fighters have performed for as many as 86,000 people in a single show. Stage setups for those events are so elaborate they require 72 hours to construct. Some of those stages have been designed partially in the round, specifically to allow Grohl to engage the full audience — a setup that only amplifies the distances he covers during a set.
His pre-show preparation is equally no-frills. Rather than following a structured fitness regimen, Grohl manages the aches of touring with Advil for his knees and ankles, followed by a shot of whiskey before taking the stage. “I might take an Advil because my knees hurt, my ankles hurt — whatever, I’m old. Then I’ll have a shot of whiskey,” he has said. It is a routine that reflects both his pragmatism and his refusal to let physical discomfort slow him down.
Foo Fighters are set for a major stadium tour across the United States and Canada running from August through September 2026. Dates span cities including Toronto, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas. It is one of the most ambitious touring schedules the band has undertaken in recent years.
All of this comes in the wake of one of the most emotionally charged periods in the band’s history. Their 2023 album But Here We Are was written and recorded following the death of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022. Grohl himself performed the drum tracks. The record was widely praised for its raw honesty, and the band has continued to push forward with Grohl at the helm — gratitude, relief, and all.
