Dave Grohl’s mighty roar has been a distinct feature of the Foo Fighters’ sound for decades now. The gregarious frontman’s lion-like stage presence is accentuated by his deep growling rock voice, however, even those as seemingly immortal as Grohl aren’t immune to a falter.

A concerned Foo Fighters fan has taken to Reddit to share their experience at the band’s latest gig in Antwerp, Belgium, describing that they did notice that Dave’s voice didn’t seem quite right.

“I was at the Antwerp gig last night, and I thought the state of Dave’s voice was kind of worrying – towards the final third it began cutting out entirely (noticeably on Breakout)” said the Reddit user.

The Foo Fighters fan said that they felt as though the show was catered towards preserving Dave’s voice, taking the sharing of vocal duties between Taylor Hawkins and extended instrumentals as being hints directing at his vocal loss. They also noted that it could be signs of Grohl’s ageing, saying the obvious flaws in his performance could no longer be blamed on a cold.

Watch footage of the band’s performance in Antwerp here:

“As great as the show was, it’s fair to say that the set is now geared around preservation – from the sharing of vocal duties with Taylor & Chris, to the drum solo break, to the extended instrumentals of all the major hits. He’s even toned down the screaming now (unless the song calls for it), opting for a ‘woooo!’ instead.”

“I know it’s been an issue since the start of the tour, but it’s clear that it’s not a ‘cold’ any more. And it can’t be any good long-term. Do you think it’s just age? Maybe they could stop doing back-to-back gigs (like Metallica are now doing). Any thoughts?”

Fans quickly responded with their theories on Dave’s vocal situation, with noting that he is a smoker who “doesn’t seem to take particular care of his voice”, with others saying they haven’t noticed a dramatic dip in quality.

It’s a miracle it’s held up this long tbh, given that he’s a smoker who doesn’t seem to take particular care of his voice and screams all night long on a regular basis.” “I didn’t notice anything different back in September” added another fan. “Probably just tired rather than shot.”

Dave Grohl recently clapped back at Foo Fighters detractors who claim the band’s tried and true rock stylings have become “stale”, saying he’s “never felt the need to chase anything else” and saw no problem in never straying too far from the band’s original sound. The Fooies were recently joined onstage during their headline set at Firenze Rocks in Italy by Guns N’ Roses where they teared through an epic rendition of ‘It’s So Easy’. 

Have you noticed anything different about Grohl’s vocals recently? They seemed to be in tip-top shape when the band touched down in Australia earlier this year for the Concrete And Gold tour. 

Listen to Foo Fighters ‘The Sky Is A Neighborhood’ here:

The article was originally published on Tone Deaf