The Magic Of Foo Fighters: "Dave Grohl Can Make 80,000 People Feel Like They’re His Best Friend"

It's a question we've all been asking constantly throughout his legendary 30-plus-year music career: what makes Dave Grohl so damn special?

We put the thought to fellow Foo Fighters bandmate Chris Shiflett in the new issue of Kerrang!, asking the guitarist about how the rock titans are one the few bands who can play stadiums the world over, and if he could pinpoint the secret of their appeal. His response, unsurprisingly, focusses on their one-of-a-kind frontman – as well as their consistency.

“I don’t know that it’s any specific one thing, but I think you have to credit a lot of it to Dave and his personality," Chris ponders. "People love that dude. I think he represents something to a lot of people out there. He has that gift that means he can make 80,000 people feel like they’re his best friend. He has that kind of magic, that x-factor thing. I don’t know how you define that, or explain that.

“On top of that, we’ve consistently put out records every couple of years. There’s never been a point where we’ve taken 10 years off because we all fucking hate each other and have broken up. Or we’ve all gone off and made reggae records, or whatever. We go out on the road and we play. There’s never been a huge diversion from consistently doing the work. And for people of a certain age when Nevermind came out, our band triggers an emotion in them. And now they bring their kids to the shows.”

Foo Fighters’ line-up is uncommonly consistent. How do you manage to keep things sweet?

“It’s easy with the Foo Fighters because it’s Dave’s band," Chris replies. "He’s gonna make the decision about whatever and everybody goes into it knowing that without really questioning it. You have to give him credit because it works. It also removes that whole thing of people sitting down, having a vote and arguing about shit. That doesn’t happen. In that sense it’s easier than getting five or six people on the same page. That would be difficult.”

Foo Fighters will return to the UK next month to headline Reading & Leeds – get your tickets now.

Read this next:

• Dave Grohl on the shows that made him
• Album review: Chris Shiflett – Hard Lessons
• The 50 best albums from 1999