A brave Foo Fighters fan became the star of the show at the Foo Fighters stadium gig in Sydney when he bowed to frontman Dave Grohl’s demand to perform the Mentos geyser experiment.
During the rock band’s acoustic set at Tuesday night’s show, Grohl was sharing the long history behind the band’s “Big Me” music video, filmed in Sydney in 1996, which was a parody of a famous commercial by the candy brand.
“I didn’t eat those candies, because after we made this video, people threw those f–king things in my face every night every time we played this song,” he told 60,000 fans at the concert.
Grohl then spotted a fan named Thomas brandishing a packet of the mints in the front rows near the security barrier.
And he was not having Thomas throw the hard sugar bullets at his head.
“Don’t you f–king dare. I’m telling you, don’t be that guy!” the sweary rocker yelled, pointing at the mint man.
“How about this? I’m going to play this song and I want to watch you eat that whole f–king pack of Mentos while I’m playing this goddamn song. Keep the camera on this motherf–ker! If you can finish that whole pack before we’re done playing this song … I’ll chug a beer with you.”
Thomas took up the challenge. Now any citizen scientist, and Dave Grohl, knows that if you drop a Mentos into a carbonated beverage, it causes a sudden explosive eruption of foam.
After emptying the entire cylinder of mints into his mouth, Thomas was projected on the big screens as he spent a couple of minutes chewing the lollies, and then was passed a beer from the stage.
Grohl rewarded the fan by inviting him to watch the show from the pit in front of the stage, brought him up during a later song in the set, and extended an invitation for him to go backstage and meet the band after the concert.
But he knew things might go pear-shaped the longer the Mentos and the beer mingled in the fan’s stomach.
“You know who’s gonna go throw up in my f–king dressing room right now,” Grohl told the crowd. “I’m gonna go back to my dressing room and find Thomas in a pile of puke.
“He just f–king ate a whole pack of Mentos and then chugged a f–king Coors Light.
“It’s like, Wait, hold on, isn’t that that thing if you put those in a Pepsi? Ladies and gentlemen, I’m not even kidding. This might be the funnest show we’ve ever played in this f–king city. For real.”
Two songs later, Grohl struck a sombre note when he made an emotional tribute to Beaconsfield mine collapse survivor Todd Russell, who died on Monday after a battle with leukemia.
Russell and Brant Webb were entombed underground for almost two weeks after the Tasmanian mine collapse in 2006 and requested an iPod filled with Foo Fighters songs to help drown out the sound of drilling as rescuers raced against time to bring them out.
Grohl sent a message of support to them and promised free tickets to any of the band’s shows.
Ahead of a performance at the Sydney Opera House in 2006, he wrote the “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” in his hotel room and honoured a promise to include it on their next record which was the 2007 album, “Echoes, Silences, Patience & Grace.”
“We lost one of the Beaconsfield miners today … I’ve met a few heroes in my life, but that was a big one, so I’m doing this one tonight for Todd Russell,” Grohl said.
While the Foos delivered a blistering set of their greatest hits, the concert was interrupted a few times as fans in the jam-packed area in front of the stage had to be evacuated by medical and security staff.
One fan was taken out of the mosh pit by wheelchair and another via stretcher as the band monitored the situation from the stage, playing “Stairway to Heaven” as they were treated.
The Foo Fighters continue their Take Cover tour this week.
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