Foo Fighters put pedal to metal while visiting Gold Coast

DAVE Grohl and the Foo Fighters have bypassed Brisbane to stay on the Gold Coast ahead of the opening leg of their Australian tour.

IT’S just how these rock stars roll.

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl swapped his moped for a pushbike to see the city’s sights yesterday.

Grohl and his band mates — Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Taylor Hawkins and Nate Mendel — flew into Coolangatta from Auckland on a private jet on Sunday after bypassing Brisbane to stay on the Gold Coast.

The five-piece Seattle band opens the Australian leg of its Sonic Highways world tour with fellow US rockers Rise Against and former Coast band The Delta Riggs at Suncorp Stadium, in Brisbane, tonight.

A limited number of late-release tickets are still available.

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins (second from left) and entourage Tim Fly (middle) and Steve (right) at Shooters Nightclub on Sunday with locals Shylah Gibb (left) and Jess Joaquin (right).

Drummer Hawkins wasted no time hitting the town after touching down on the Coast — he was spotted mixing with locals at Shooters Night Club on Sunday before he and Grohl hit the road for a long bike ride yesterday.

Renowned for their laid-back, low-fuss approach to touring, the rockers stopped off for coffee and cake at Broadbeach restaurant Lola’s on the way back to their Main Beach hotel.

Grohl was infamously “thrown in jail” on the Gold Coast with a swag of Big Day Out punters after blowing 0.095 during a roadside breath test in 2000.

The one-time drummer for Nirvana even dedicated a song — Wheels — to the cop who arrested him the last time Foo Fighters played the Coast — at Metricon Stadium in 2011.

“They put me in jail with everyone from the Big Day Out,” he said.

Former Gold Coast boys The Delta Riggs (Alex Markwell, Elliott Hammond, Michael Tramonte and Simon McConnell) support the Foo Fighters at Suncorp Stadium on Tuesday night. Pic Mark Calleja

Grohl was later fined $400, with the magistrate deciding to use his “discretion” to record a conviction against him.

Fans heading up the M1 to tonight’s gig be warned — Foo Fighters are due on stage at 7.45pm, with their show tipped to clock in at almost three hours.