Foo Fighters artfully troll cruel, homophobic Westboro Baptist Church with disco
Foo Fighters perform on stage during Lollapalooza 2021 at Grant Park on 1 August 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Getty/Kevin Mazur)
Rock legends the Foo Fighters have artfully trolled the cruel Westboro Baptist Church by combating hate with messages of love and disco.
The religious organisation – which has picketed military funerals and hosted anti-LGBT+ protests – has targeted Foo Fighters’ concerts multiple times. On Thursday (5 August), the church turned up outside the band’s concert at the Azura Amphitheater in Kansas with a series of chants and signs, including ones reading “Free will is a satanic lie” and “God hates pride”.
But the hateful protestors were soon drowned out by the Foo Fighters. The rock band donned their disco alter egos, the Dee Gees, and approached the Westboro Bastist Church from the back of a truck.
As the vehicle approached the church members, frontman David Grohl addressed the crowd. He declared that he loved them because he is “supposed to love everybody”.
“I love everybody. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?” Grohl said. “Can’t you just love everybody? ‘Cause I think it’s about love — that’s what I think.”
He continued: “We’re all about love, and you shouldn’t be hating.
“You know what you should be doing? You should be dancing!”
Dave Grohl & The Foo Fighters trolled the Westboro Baptist Church outside their concert in Kansas tonight. PLAYING DISCO. pic.twitter.com/Ci2yh1M7QR
— talkie (@Talkie86) August 6, 2021
The Foo Fighters then broke into an electric cover of the Bee Gees’ classic hit “You Should Be Dancing” to drown out the chants. Grohl even encouraged the church members to join in on the disco fun.
Earlier this year, the Foo Fighters released a 10-track album titled Hail Satin under their Dee Gees monister. The album features four Bee Gees covers – including “You Should Be Dancing” – and a new rendition of Andy Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing”.
This isn’t the first time the Foo Fighters have taken on the hateful group.
In 2011, the band dressed up in decidedly country looking garb and interrupted a Kansas picket by performing a song called “Keep It Clean”. Grohl spoke out in support of the LGBT+ community during the impromptu concert.
The group also rickrolled the Westboro Baptist Church after it blasted Rick Astley’s troll anthem “Never Gonna Give You Up” from the back of a truck in 2015. NME reported the musicians held up signs reading “Keep It Clean” and “You got Rickroll’d (again)”.
The Westboro Baptist Church is based in Topeka, Kansas, and is well known for its steadfast anti-gay beliefs and opposition to furthering LGBT+ rights. The Southern Poverty Law Center recognises the church as an anti-gay religious and extremist group. It describes the church as “arguably the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America”.
