American rock band Foo Fighters blasted Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" from the back of a pickup truck, as they 'rickrolled' a crowd of Westboro Baptist Church protesters near Sprint Center. This particular group is picketing against the band's concert that night.
As the band's vehicle halted, members held up signs that read "You got Rick roll'd" and "Keep it clean".
Frontman Dave Grohl said that, "We were sitting backstage and someone said, 'Guess who's coming tonight?' And I said 'Who?' And they said, 'Them.' And I said, 'Why?' And they said, 'Cuz.' And I said, 'Cool. Let's go out. Hang out with them.'"
He revealed "So, we didn't have enough time to put together the big old show that we put on last time," "So we figured, 'You know what? Why don't we just f--king Rickroll their ass.'"
This was the second protest made by Westboro Baptist Church against the Foo Fighters, within 4 years of touring. The group of radicals claims that the rock band are "enablers" of gay people and are in fact "Fools Fighting God".
During Friday's concert, Dave Grohl addressed the crowd, saying "Sometimes you can't just sit there and do nothing. You've gotta go out and say what you wanna say. So we did it!"
He also told the crowd of the first Westboro protest that happened in 2011 in Kansas City. To counter their presence, they sang a 'gay' love song.
The Westboro Baptist Church members and supporters are notorious for travelling around the U.S. to promote their anti-gay campaign. They typically assemble during high-profile events, such as the Oscars and even at U.S. soldiers' funerals.
Fred Phelps, founder of the church wrote, "[The Foo Fighters] have a platform and should be using it to encourage obedience to God; instead they teach every person who will listen all things contrary to him: fornication, adultery, idolatry, fags."
