Let’s get one thing out of the way right up front:

Dave Grohl did not break the BottleRock Napa Valley curfew for what would’ve been a record-setting third time on Sunday (Sept. 5).

After all, why would he want to break a record that he already owns? And Grohl is indeed the reigning champ in that regard, having blown past curfew — and had organizers abruptly shut off the speakers mid-song — with his Foo Fighters in 2017 and then again during a guest appearance with Guns N’ Roses on Day Two of this year’s festival.

He certainly knew that many were betting that he’d do it again as the Foo Fighters helped bring the 2021 BottleRock to a close, following a long, satisfying weekend of great music and good times that featured such acts as Black Pumas, Miley Cyrus, Polo G, the Highwomen, Jimmy Eat World and Mavis Staples. But he made it clear early in the set that he planned to play by the rules this time around.

“Let’s get down to business,” Grohl said after he and the band had stormed through “The Pretender.” “You know you don’t want them cutting us off tonight.”

All told, the group would play 18 songs in about 2 hours time, ending the set about 10 minutes before the festival’s hard 10 p.m. stop time.

Yet, running past curfew was basically the only thing that Grohl didn’t do during Day Three of the festival.

The man seemed to be pretty much everywhere Sunday, doing a surprise Hanukkah-themed set early in the day on the small JaMPad stage, appearing on the Williams Sonoma Culinary Stage with chef Jose Andres and the always-awesome emcee Liam “Foodie Chap” Mayclem late in the afternoon and then, of course, headlining the big JaM Cellars Stage with the Foo Fighters in the evening.

Yes, it definitely felt like Dave Grohl Day at BottleRock Napa Valley.

So, it’s no surprise that Grohl seemed to want to savor the moment when he first took the stage for the Foo Fighters headlining set. He stood at the microphone silently for a good minute or so, just looking out at the massive crowd assembled in front of him, before finally uttering the first lines of “Times Like These.”

His vocals were unaccompanied at first, ringing out with such poignancy, until the rest of the band locked in and took the song to dramatic heights. Grohl ran about the stage with childlike enthusiasm, strumming away at his guitar and working off whatever calories he’d taken in during his long weekend in the culinary epicenter of Napa Valley.

The group loaded up on the hits early on, moving from “Times Like These” to “The Pretender” to “Learn to Fly.” But there was no way that the Grohl and company were going to fit everything that fans wanted to hear into the set list.

“If you’re cool with it, we’ll just play all night long until they kick us off the (expletive) stage,” Grohl said.

NAPA, CA – SEPT. 5: Dave Grohl, right, and Pat Smear plays with the Foo Fighters on the JaM Cellars Stage during the BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival on Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald) 

Of course, it turned out there was no need to kick the band off the stage on this night. Yet, the Foo Fighters did still manage to pack the set with so many longtime fan favorites. They also found time to play some newer tunes, spotlighting this year’s Medicine at Midnight” with “No Son of Mine,” “Shame Shame” and the album’s title track.

One of the most endearing things about the Foo Fighters is their playful nature onstage. And that was most certainly in full display when Grohl introduced their disco alter-egos — dubbed the Dee Gees — and performed an enjoyable cover of the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing,” complete with some strained falsetto vocal work from Grohl. Also, Taylor Hawkins performed on a drum set barring a picture of Barry Gibb.

Sticking to the cover material, Hawkins then took over on microphone and Grohl — a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer as a member of Nirvana — went back to the kit for a version of Queen’s “Somebody to Love.”

Taylor was a fun front man to watch, and Grohl rocked on the drums, but, overall, let’s just say that the Foos won’t be stealing any gigs from Queen cover bands — especially not from the mighty Queen Nation — in the near future.

No matter whether they were playing old hits or new songs, covering Queen or grooving through some disco, the one thing that didn’t change was the tangible sense of joy that the Foo Fighters brought to the music. They just seemed so happy to be finally making music in front of tens of thousand of fans again, following the long hiatus that the band — as well as the rest of the live music industry — went through due to the pandemic.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know what you did for the last year and a half,” Grohl said. “I know what I did.

“I sat around and waited for this to happen.”

While the Foo Fighters were playing, BottleRock organizers offered up two more intriguing live sets on other stages. Megan Thee Stallion drew a huge crowd to see her performance on the Verizon Stage, while the Village People held court on the Plaza Stage.

Dave Grohl cooks with Chef José Andres on the William Sonoma Culinary Stage during the BottleRock Napa Valley festival Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021. He later returned with the Foo fighters for a headlining set that night. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald) 

Here’s the setlist, based on my notes and information from setlist.fm:

1) “Times Like These”

2) “The Pretender”

3) “Learn to Fly”

4) “No Son of Mine”

5) “The Sky Is a Neighborhood”

6) “Shame Shame”

7) “Breakout”

8) “My Hero”

9) “These Days”

10) “Medicine at Midnight”

11) “Walk”

12) “You Should Be Dancing”

13) “Somebody to Love”

14) “All My Life”

15) “This Is a Call”

16) “Best of You”

17) “Monkey Wrench”

18) “Everlong”