VIDEO: Dave Grohl Joins Cage The Elephant... Temporarily

Foos frontman stands in on sticks   13-Oct-11

When you're on a major tour and your drummer gets rushed into surgery to have his appendix removed, you probably think it's the end of the line.

You probably have a chat with your manager and start making arrangements to postpone the gigs, and you'd feel pretty bad about it.

Then, like a bearded-angel, Dave Grohl phones your manager and asks if he thinks you'd let him fill in for the gigs on drums.

This is exactly what happened to Cage The Elephant this week, after their drummer Jared Champion was taken ill after a show in the early hours of the morning. By the next evening, Grohl was playing with the band at their gig in Salt Lake City.

Guitarist, Lincoln Parish, spoke of the experience to Spin:

"He (Champion) had an ulcer for a couple days, then at 1am it was just unbearable, so he went to the emergency room. He was rushed straight into surgery.

"Dave somehow heard what had happened and called our tour manager. He said, 'Hey, so do you think the guys would go for it?'. Our manager was like 'Um, yeah!!!

"I had to pinch myself. I turned around and Dave Grohl is playing the drums. It's an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience. Nobody can replace Jared. But it's Dave f**king Grohl. If you're going to be replaced by anybody, it might as well be the best."

Cage The Elephant recently supported the Foo Fighters on their latest American tour, and Grohl will be performing with the band until 17th October.

For more tour dates, head to the band's website.

Rich Beech
@sonicamped