NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • All Blacks
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Foo Fighters review: Jack Black stuns fans with surprise guest appearance

Alanah Eriksen
By Alanah Eriksen
Managing Editor - Live News·NZ Herald·
20 Jan, 2024 07:39 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Jack Black performs with Foo Fighters
Jack Black came on near the end of the Foo Fighters concert in Auckland last night to perform 'Big Balls' by ACDC to the roars of adoration from the crowd. Video / kiwistu ...
Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
0:00
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • subtitles settings, opens subtitles settings dialog
    • subtitles off, selected

      This is a modal window.

      Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

      Text
      Text Background
      Caption Area Background
      Font Size
      Text Edge Style
      Font Family

      End of dialog window.

      This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

      Autoplay in
      4
      Disable Autoplay
      Cancel Video
      Jack Black came on near the end of the Foo Fighters concert in Auckland last night to perform 'Big Balls' by ACDC to the roars of adoration from the crowd. Video / kiwistu
      NOW PLAYING • Jack Black performs with Foo Fighters
      Jack Black came on near the end of the Foo Fighters concert in Auckland last night to perform 'Big Balls' by ACDC to the roars of adoration from the crowd. Video / kiwistu ...
      Alanah Eriksen
      Review by Alanah Eriksen
      Alanah Eriksen is the New Zealand Herald's Managing Editor for Live News.
      Learn more

      REVIEW

      “It’s not often an earthquake is triggered by a rock band,” Dave Grohl proudly told a bursting-at-the-seams Mt Smart last night.

      The Foo Fighters frontman was referring to the “seismic event” the band famously caused when they played in Auckland in 2011. But their efforts last night sure gave it a good go for a repeat.

      Grohl uttered the line every local crowd wants to hear - “You were the loudest audience we’ve ever had.” And we lapped it up.

      The Foo Fighters perform at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday 20 January 2024. Photo / Cameron Pitney
      The Foo Fighters perform at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland on Saturday 20 January 2024. Photo / Cameron Pitney
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Two hours in and dripping in sweat, Grohl then asked us to scream at the top of our lungs. And if that didn’t do it, actor Jack Black storming on stage in a tie-dye T-shirt singing AC/DC’s Big Balls probably did.

      Take that, previous earthquake measure.

      The audience’s visceral reaction was one of delight. Black is in Auckland to film the new Minecraft movie along with Jason Momoa and Jennifer Coolidge and has previously toured with the Foos in his own band Tenacious D.

      Jack Black made a surprise cameo at the Foo Fighters concert last night at Mt Smart Stadium.
      Jack Black made a surprise cameo at the Foo Fighters concert last night at Mt Smart Stadium.

      Grohl set the terms of the night early on.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      ”Do you like rock and roll?” he asked the masses. “I got to test you. Test what kind of rock and roll you like.

      ”I think I kind of know what type of rock and roll you like.”

      The main riff from Metallica’s Enter Sandman gradually rose to a blaring jam everyone embraced instantly.

      ”We’re going to be here all f****** night, so I got to make sure you like that kind of rock and roll.”

      The nods to Grohl’s fellow rockers were aplenty - the “hey ho, let’s go” refrain from The Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop was another cue for the audience to scream along.

      Ever the showman, Grohl showed off his connection with Down Under when he performed the instrumental piece, The Ballad of Beaconsfield Miners, in memory of those who died in the 2006 gold mine collapse in Tasmania.

      ”I wrote this for them,” he opened with. And he did his best to reference almost every concert the band had played in New Zealand over their 28 years.

      The weather gods smiled on the East Auckland stadium, unlike the last time the Foos were here in 2018 - or this time last year during the ultimately ill-fated Elton John concert.

      Fresh off a run of shows in Australia, the rockers, who formed nearly 30 years ago, are back for the first time without drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died in 2022 in Colombia.

      Their world tour in late 2022 was cancelled after Hawkins, 50, died in his room at the Four Seasons Casa Medina in Bogota. He had multiple substances in his body at the time of death.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Last night, the crowd gave a standing ovation for replacement Josh Freese - who has played for everyone from Nine Inch Nails to Guns N’ Roses - when Grohl broke his set to introduce him as “the person who made it possible for us to come out here and play tonight”.

      He later dedicated a song to Hawkins, Aurora, which they’d written together.

      The crowd was a congregation that spanned every living generation. Parents with kids. Boomers on a rocking date night. Gen Z youngsters who would have been barely a twinkle in their parents’ eyes when the band’s first album came out in 1995.

      An 8-year-old kid atop his dad’s shoulders held a sign reading “my mum thinks I’m at Nanna’s tonight”. But looking around, Nanna could have joined the sneaky twosome.

      Read More

      • Foo Fighters Auckland: Everything you need to know ...
      • Review: New look Foo Fighters deliver an almightily ...
      • Foo Fighters to play three shows in New Zealand in ...
      • Foo Fighters reveal new drummer Josh Freese, one year ...

      We sat in prime seats just to the side of the general admission area. While everyone stood for the first hour, eventually some greyer than others tired and sat.

      The 15-time Grammy-winning band released their latest album - their 11th - But Here We Are - in June last year. But it was all the classics that brought out the head-banging - Hero, The Pretender, Learn to Fly. But it wasn’t until the bitter end that the crowd-pumper Everlong came on.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Lord knows how many times the band have played them, but every hit was delivered with sweaty passion. Along with US rockers The Breeders and punk five-piece Kiwi band Dick Move, the band will continue to attempt to recreate seismic events at Christchurch’s Orange Theory Stadium on Wednesday and Wellington’s Sky Stadium next Saturday.

      Save
        Share this article

      Latest from Entertainment

      Entertainment

      Should you quit Spotify, Substack? Why some Kiwis are leaving the popular platforms

      Entertainment

      Moa revival: The ambitious plan to resurrect NZ's giant bird

      Entertainment

      Air NZ's in-flight Synthony rave sells out in hours, despite no dance floor


      Sponsored

      Sponsored: Colour connections

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      Recommended for you

      The small-town Kiwi photographer caught up in Prince Andrew scandal - and a music legend
      New Zealand

      The small-town Kiwi photographer caught up in Prince Andrew scandal - and a music legend

      Mum kills husband, kids in chilling murder-suicide in US
      World

      Mum kills husband, kids in chilling murder-suicide in US

      'Legacy lives on': Rugby community mourns former All Black
      All Blacks

      'Legacy lives on': Rugby community mourns former All Black

      Teen exchange student indecently assaulted by host father in 'gross breach of trust'
      New Zealand

      Teen exchange student indecently assaulted by host father in 'gross breach of trust'

      'Bonkers': Wellington City Council candidate suggests moving election date
      New Zealand

      'Bonkers': Wellington City Council candidate suggests moving election date

      'Insult to my mana': Ex-NRL player denied entry to pub for tā moko
      New Zealand

      'Insult to my mana': Ex-NRL player denied entry to pub for tā moko



      Latest from Entertainment

      Should you quit Spotify, Substack? Why some Kiwis are leaving the popular platforms
      Entertainment

      Should you quit Spotify, Substack? Why some Kiwis are leaving the popular platforms

      Kiwis on Substack and Spotify have found themselves in a fresh ethical bind.

      21 Aug 05:00 AM
      Moa revival: The ambitious plan to resurrect NZ's giant bird
      Entertainment

      Moa revival: The ambitious plan to resurrect NZ's giant bird

      21 Aug 05:00 AM
      Air NZ's in-flight Synthony rave sells out in hours, despite no dance floor
      Entertainment

      Air NZ's in-flight Synthony rave sells out in hours, despite no dance floor

      21 Aug 05:00 AM


      Sponsored: Colour connections
      Sponsored

      Sponsored: Colour connections

      17 Aug 04:55 AM

      NZ Herald
      • About NZ Herald
      • Meet the journalists
      • Newsletters
      • Classifieds
      • Help & support
      • Contact us
      • House rules
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of use
      • Competition terms & conditions
      • Our use of AI
      Subscriber Services
      • NZ Herald e-editions
      • Daily puzzles & quizzes
      • Manage your digital subscription
      • Manage your print subscription
      • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
      • Subscribe to Herald Premium
      • Gift a subscription
      • Subscriber FAQs
      • Subscription terms & conditions
      • Promotions and subscriber benefits
      NZME Network
      • The New Zealand Herald
      • The Northland Age
      • The Northern Advocate
      • Waikato Herald
      • Bay of Plenty Times
      • Rotorua Daily Post
      • Hawke's Bay Today
      • Whanganui Chronicle
      • Viva
      • NZ Listener
      • Newstalk ZB
      • BusinessDesk
      • OneRoof
      • Driven Car Guide
      • iHeart Radio
      • Restaurant Hub
      NZME
      • About NZME
      • NZME careers
      • Advertise with NZME
      • Digital self-service advertising
      • Book your classified ad
      • Photo sales
      • NZME Events
      • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
      TOP
      search by queryly Advanced Search