Drummer Shane Hawkins
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Shane Hawkins, the 18-year-old son of late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, appeared at a Drum Clinic in Newquay, England, on Thursday, where he told the crowd that his father’s favorite Foo Fighters song to play in concert wasn’t “Aurora,” contrary to public belief, but was actually “Low” from 2002’s One by One.
“People say that song ‘Aurora’ was his favorite to play,” Shane Hawkins said. “That’s a lie. Dave [Grohl] never let…Dave did let him play it with them, but it’s a fuckin’ hard one to do all together. And Dave was kind of like ‘fuck that shit,’ probably. I don’t know. That’s what I think. That’s what I do if I was a guitar player. It’s called ‘Low.’ (As you can see in this video, the young Hawkins then played a note-perfect rendition of “Low.” )
The Foos performed “Low” 125 times, most recently at the September 2022 tribute concert to Taylor Hawkins in Los Angeles. They last played it with Hawkins on August 26, 2018, at the Hollywood Palladium Parking Lot when they billed themselves as the Holy Shits as a part of a free pop-up show. “Aurora,” meanwhile, has been played 284 times. The last rendition with Taylor Hawkins took place March 15, 2022, at the Foro Sol in Mexico City. The drummer died just 10 days later.
Taylor Hawkins was originally replaced in the Foos by veteran drummer Josh Freese, but they parted ways with him last month without explanation. “In my 40 years drumming professionally, I’ve never been let go from a band,” Freese wrote on Instagram, “so while I’m not angry – I’m just a bit shocked and disappointed. But as most of you know, I’ve always worked freelance and bounced between bands so, I’m fine.”
The Foos have yet to indicate who will replace Freese when they hit the road in October for a run of shows in Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan. Rumors are swirling that Shane Hawkins is in the running for the job, but there’s no solid evidence backing that up at this point.
That said, Shane Hawkins has stepped into his father’s role in his long-running side project Chevy Metal. A new incarnation of the band with Shane Hawkins kicks off a brief tour on July 19 in Denver, Colorado. It wraps up August 31 in Agoura Hills, California. That gives him plenty of time to prep for the Foos tour, but we may not know who actually has the job until they take that stage in Jakarta on October 2.
From Rolling Stone US.
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