Two decades after three nights at Los Angeles’ Pantages Theatre, Foo Fighters’ expanded acoustic performances remain one of the most distinctive live documents in the band’s history. Skin And Bones captured Dave Grohl and his bandmates exploring a different musical identity, with an expanded lineup and radically reworked versions of familiar songs.
Foo Fighters’ Skin And Bones celebrates its 20th anniversary on 7 November 2026, marking two decades since the release of a live album that revealed a different dimension to one of rock’s biggest bands. Recorded across three nights at Los Angeles’ Pantages Theatre in August 2006, the album transformed the familiar Foo Fighters sound through acoustic guitars, violin, piano, accordion and an expanded eight-piece lineup.
The project followed the release of Foo Fighters’ ambitious double album In Your Honor in 2005. That record deliberately separated the band’s heavier electric material from a second disc of acoustic songs, establishing a musical direction that would become the foundation for the Skin And Bones performances.
For the Pantages Theatre concerts on 29, 30 and 31 August 2006, Dave Grohl, drummer Taylor Hawkins, bassist Nate Mendel and guitarist Chris Shiflett were joined by Pat Smear, violinist and vocalist Petra Haden, keyboardist Rami Jaffee and percussionist Drew Hester.
Haden and Jaffee had already contributed to In Your Honor, making their involvement a natural continuation of the album’s acoustic direction. Their instruments allowed Foo Fighters to move beyond straightforward acoustic versions and develop arrangements featuring violin, mandolin, Mellotron, accordion and additional percussion.
Released on 7 November 2006, Skin And Bones contained 15 performances selected from the three Los Angeles concerts.
The opening performance of “Razor” stretched the original song into an extended arrangement approaching seven minutes. “Over And Out” and “February Stars” also benefited from the additional instrumentation, while “Walking After You” demonstrated how effectively the band’s catalogue could work without its conventional electric guitar arrangements.
The performances revisited material from different stages of Foo Fighters’ career. “Big Me”, “My Hero” and “Next Year” were given new treatments, while “Marigold” provided a connection to Grohl’s earlier recording history. The song had originally appeared as a B-side during his Nirvana years before becoming part of the Foo Fighters catalogue.
One of the album’s defining performances came when Taylor Hawkins stepped away from his usual position behind the drums to sing lead vocals on “Cold Day In The Sun”. Originally included on In Your Honor, the song gave Hawkins an opportunity to demonstrate another dimension of his contribution to the band.
The closing sequence brought the production back to its simplest form. Grohl performed three songs alone, moving through “Friend Of A Friend”, “Best Of You” and “Everlong” without the additional musicians.
The title track, “Skin And Bones”, had already existed outside the band’s regular studio albums. It had appeared as a B-side to the “DOA” single and on the Five Songs And A Cover EP before becoming a central part of the acoustic live project.
The additional personnel were central to the album’s identity.
Pat Smear contributed acoustic and electric guitar, while Petra Haden supplied violin, mandolin and harmony vocals. Rami Jaffee moved between piano, organ, Mellotron and accordion, with Drew Hester adding percussion and vibes.
Director Danny Clinch also made a musical contribution, joining the performance on harmonica during “Another Round”. Clinch had played harmonica on the original studio recording of the song on In Your Honor.
Nick Raskulinecz handled the recording and mixing, with mastering completed by Bob Ludwig.
The result was considerably more than a conventional acoustic concert. The musicians created arrangements that allowed the songs to develop in different directions, with the violin and keyboards providing textures that were largely absent from the band’s regular electric performances.
The commercial performance demonstrated that Foo Fighters’ acoustic direction had an audience beyond the band’s established rock following.
Skin And Bones debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling approximately 49,000 copies in its opening week.
Internationally, it reached number one in New Zealand, number 11 in Australia, number seven in Canada and number 35 in the United Kingdom.
The album subsequently achieved gold certification in Australia and Ireland, alongside platinum certification in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
The release was accompanied by a concert DVD directed by Danny Clinch. The DVD expanded the Los Angeles performance to 21 songs, providing a more extensive record of the Pantages Theatre concerts than the original 15-track CD.
Additional performances included “On The Mend”, “Still”, “See You”, “What If I Do?” and “Ain’t It The Life”.
The UK DVD edition offered another attraction by pairing the acoustic Los Angeles performances with footage of Foo Fighters playing London’s Hyde Park in 2006.
Where the Pantages Theatre material concentrated on acoustic arrangements and expanded instrumentation, the Hyde Park footage documented the band in its full electric configuration.
The outdoor performance included “In Your Honor”, “All My Life”, “Stacked Actors” and “Monkey Wrench”. It also featured two notable guest appearances. Lemmy joined Foo Fighters for “Shake Your Blood”, while members of Queen appeared for “Tie Your Mother Down”.
The combination of the two concerts made the DVD a broader document of Foo Fighters in 2006, presenting both the intimate acoustic project and the scale of the band’s regular rock performances.
The timing of Skin And Bones is significant. It followed the double-album ambition of In Your Honor and preceded the 2007 release of Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, an album that brought together many of the band’s contrasting musical approaches.
The acoustic performances demonstrated that Foo Fighters’ songwriting could sustain a different musical treatment without losing its identity. Rather than simply reducing the volume, Grohl and the musicians created arrangements that gave familiar songs new instrumental and vocal dimensions.
The album also preserves an important period in the band’s history, documenting Taylor Hawkins’ contribution as a performer and vocalist, alongside the return of Pat Smear to the touring lineup.
Twenty years after its release, Skin And Bones remains an important alternative perspective on Foo Fighters. It captured a band willing to step away from its established sound, expand its musical personnel and allow the songwriting to take centre stage.
For a group largely identified with electric guitars, powerful drums and large-scale rock performances, those three nights at the Pantages Theatre demonstrated just how much musical ground Foo Fighters could cover.
Foo Fighters – Skin And Bones (2006) Original CD Tracklisting
Razor
Over And Out
Walking After You
Marigold
My Hero
Next Year
Another Round
Big Me
Cold Day In The Sun
Skin And Bones
February Stars
Times Like These
Friend Of A Friend
Best Of You
Everlong
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