Dave Grohl has never hidden his reverence for the bands that soundtracked his youth, but stepping up alongside Angus Young to knock out rhythm guitar chords in front of a stadium crowd is an entirely different level of fandom. That scene unfolded on Friday night at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where Grohl walked out during AC/DC's headlining set to assist on their 1979 classic Highway To Hell.
The October 2 performance was the final stop on AC/DC's two year Power Up tour. Getting the tour over the finish line required a brief delay, as severe weather had previously scrubbed the original September 25 date and bumped the gig back by seven days. When the night finally arrived, singer Brian Johnson gave the audience an unscripted glimpse into the afternoon backstage negotiations. Johnson told the crowd that a very good friend had approached the band earlier in the day to ask if he might drop by during their set, an invitation the group accepted without hesitation.
Grohl walked out with his guitar ready, taking up a position near Johnson and Young to drive through the title track of their 1979 LP. The moment carried extra weight given Grohl's remarks during Foo Fighters' direct support set earlier in the evening. Facing the stadium crowd, Grohl recounted walking into a movie theater at age eleven to catch a midnight showing of the 1980 concert film Let There Be Rock. He explained that up to that evening, he had never seen music performed with that degree of physical abandon, remembering it as a display of sweat, blood, tears, and whatever energy remained in a player's body. The experience instantly cemented his life's ambition, turning Friday night into a genuine full circle moment.
This was not the first time Grohl had shared an evening with the Australian group in recent weeks. On September 8, Foo Fighters took the place of The Pretty Reckless at a stadium stop in St. Louis. At the time, that appearance was framed as a strictly one night arrangement, prompting Grohl to muse aloud to the audience about how enjoyable a full joint tour would be, while again noting that seeing Let There Be Rock had established the performance standard he spent decades trying to match.
For AC/DC, Friday night brought an end to an extensive world run that began in Gelsenkirchen, Germany back in May 2024. The tour, mounted behind their 2020 release Power Up, served as their first prolonged run of stadium gigs in several years. The band has left the future open, sharing no specific plans about what comes next. Before leaving the stage, Johnson delivered a warm goodbye, telling the audience to tell their grandchildren about the concert and adding that he hoped they would all meet again further down the road.
Foo Fighters arrived at MetLife Stadium in the middle of a demanding schedule of their own. The band released their twelfth studio album, Your Favorite Toy, in April, immediately followed by the North American Take Cover tour alongside Queens Of The Stone Age. That itinerary also featured a pair of stadium dates at Anfield in Liverpool during June. Taking the opening slot on two separate nights with AC/DC gave Grohl a momentary break from headline responsibilities, trading the role of stadium ringleader for the chance to stand in with his heroes.
