The Riot Fest Lineup’s Favorite Foo Fighters Songs

From the classic 1997 The Colour And The Shape to their latest release, But Here We Are, Foo Fighters have a slew of hits to choose from. To narrow down the legendary band’s top songs, ahead of their headlining set on Friday of Riot Fest, we turned to our lineup.

We asked some of the artists playing Riot Fest: What is your favorite Foo Fighters song and why? Check out what they came up with below.

See Foo Fighters playing on Friday at Riot Fest, as well as Turnstile, Tegan and Sara and more. Get your 3-day or 1-day ticket while they last!

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Probably “I’ll Stick Around” since it came out at such a good time! The ’90s! As a Nirvana fan, it was exciting to see Dave come out with this new band, and the song was exciting! Video was cool and it also reminds us of a time in the ’90s when all these cool bands were popping out. Just good vibes. 

 “See You” Left field answer, but “See You’s” position in the album sequence of The Colour And The Shape is perfect.

I am a huge fan of “Best of You.”  That’s a song that when I hear it, the hairs on my neck stand up.  Of course, I do feel it’s their most emo song, which is on brand for me.  I feel like it tells the perfect story of a musician who is coming to terms with everything that has happened through the life of a career.  The strange things that happen, the ordinary moments and the true magic that Dave has experienced…as a songwriter, you hope to capture your life that way.  They truly are one of the GOATS.

“Best of You,” this is an absolutely iconic song that we can’t help but sing along as soon as we hear it. Dave Grohl’s vocals are so powerful and uplifting that it gives us the energy to fight against anything holding us back.

 “My Hero,” when that guitar comes in, it has me soaring through the clouds.

“My Hero,” it reminds me of Taylor Hawkins.

It’s really hard to pick among songs on The Colour and Shape. “Walking After You”? “February Stars”? That whole record does it for me. 

Tough one, but I’m going to go with “Monkey Wrench.”  I think that was the first time I ever heard screaming on the radio.  Also, I own the Foo Fighters pinball machine, and there’s a multiball with that song, and if I’m hearing it, I’m probably having a really good game. 

That would probably be “Alone + Easy Target.” The self-titled album has Dave’s best and purest songwriting.

For me, it’s anything off the album There Is Nothing Left To Lose. It’s a real nostalgic beauty that one. I learnt most of the songs on guitar and we used to jam them as kids. If I had to pick one song off of it, I’d go with M.I.A., it’s just magical. 

 “Exhausted,” the debut’s closer. Probably the closest they ever got to writing a shoegaze track. It’s raw and emotive, sounds like a eulogy for the grunge movement. 

“Weenie Beenie,” shows that they’re secretly a hardcore band.

Favorite Foo Fighters song is “Hey, Johnny Park.”

My favorite Foo Fighters song growing up was “For All The Cows,” and my AIM screen name was ForAllTheCowz99. I’m a massive Foo Fighters fan. This will be my 8th time seeing them. It is so hard to pick but according to my Last.FM it is probably “Stacked Actors.”

My two favorite Foo Fighters songs are “Big Me” and “Everlong.” “Big Me” because it’s beautiful, simple, raw and drives forward in a way that I love. “Everlong” because it’s the greatest lowering my casket into the ground, driving off a bridge but feeling happy about it in a weird way uplifting but depressing jam of all time. 

Foo Fighters song would either be “Virginia Moon,” love Norah Jones’ voice on that one, beautiful song. Another couple songs I like a lot of theirs are “For All the Cows” and “Statues”, really dig the words and melodies!

See Foo Fighters playing on Friday at Riot Fest, as well as Turnstile, Tegan and Sara and more. Get your 3-day or 1-day ticket while they last!

Haven’t bought your ticket yet?
No worries, here are some buttons to do just that.

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Justine Fisher

Justine Fisher is a writer and journalist, originally from Los Angeles. She loves listening to music and writing about it... as you may have already gathered. See more of her articles on PAPER, LA Magazine or The Daily Northwestern.