Dave Grohl revisited his Nirvana past during Foo Fighters’ headlining set at BottleRock Napa Valley over the weekend, leading the band through a live cover of The Vaselines’ “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam” for the first time in the group’s history.
The performance took place midway through Foo Fighters’ Saturday night set, with Grohl handling the howling lead vocals while longtime keyboardist Rami Jaffee accompanied him on accordion. The raw rendition echoed the stripped-down arrangement made famous by Nirvana, who frequently covered the track under the altered title “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam” during the early 1990s.
Originally released by The Vaselines on their 1987 EP Dying for It, the song became closely associated with Nirvana after the band incorporated it into their live sets throughout the early 1990s. Nirvana’s most famous rendition appeared on MTV Unplugged in New York, recorded on November 18th, 1993, and released posthumously on November 1st, 1994 — roughly seven months after Kurt Cobain’s death.
Though Grohl has occasionally revisited Nirvana material in collaborative performances and tribute appearances over the years, Saturday marked the first time Foo Fighters have formally incorporated the song into a live set.
The BottleRock appearance also featured several personal dedications from Grohl throughout the evening, including performances of “Aurora” in honor of late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and “Big Me,” which Grohl delivered in a slowed-down solo arrangement dedicated to his wife, Jordyn Blum.
Elsewhere, Foo Fighters recently reunited with David Letterman during a special appearance tied to the closing chapter of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which officially wrapped earlier this month after a decade on air. Check out Liz Shannon Miller’s review of the final episode of The Late Show.
The BottleRock set arrives amid Foo Fighters’ ongoing “Take Cover Tour,” with the band’s North American stadium run set to launch August 4th in Toronto and continue through September 26th in Las Vegas. Queens of the Stone Age will support the majority of the dates, alongside select appearances from Mannequin Pussy and Gouge Away. Tickets for the “Take Cover Tour” are available here.
