Glastonbury sign language interpreter steals the show at Foo Fighters set

Foo Fighters made a storming return to the Glastonbury stage yesterday – albeit in secret – but it was the sign language interpreters who stole the show.

Dave Grohl and the gang gave a typically energetic performance of Foos hits from the past three decades or so, signing off with a particularly emotional version of ‘Everlong’ which Grohl dedicated to their former drummer Taylor Hawkins, who sadly died in March 2022.

The band weren’t actually billed to play at Worthy Farm this year, but instead people noticed that there was a mystery Friday evening slot allocated to a band called ‘The Churn Ups’.

We’ve since figured out why they were called that, in case you want to find out the truth.

Anyway, in the interests of being inclusive and reaching out to the most people possible – which can only be a good thing – the BBC has employed a load of BSL interpreters to translate the performances so that deaf people don’t miss out on the fun.

This has got Glastonbury of to a great start. Foo Fighters with sign language pic.twitter.com/8bbbfWXqKu

— Chris Meaker 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@chrismeaker29) June 23, 2023

After all, there’s plenty going on at Glasto, it’s not just about the music.

And it's fair to say that the sign language guys were getting right into it.

In some pretty hilarious social media posts, fans watching on the telly noticed them dancing about, screaming out the lyrics – presumably in a studio somewhere – and really chucking themselves headfirst into the performance.

It’s really the only way to go about these things – go hard or go home. That’s what Dave Grohl would tell you, anyway.

Their efforts, of course, didn’t go unnoticed online.

One fan commented: “And because we love sign language, here’s this phenomenal signer here, doing her best with #TheChurnups… I mean, @foofighters at #Glastonbury.”

In this instance, the sign language singer was really going for it, gesticulating wildly – and accurately, you’d have to imagine – whilst clearly enjoying the Foo Fighters’ hit ‘The Pretender’.

Another person wrote: “This has got Glastonbury of to a great start. Foo Fighters with sign language.”

The praise kept flooding in.

“The sign language lady on #Glastonbury23 for the Foo Fighters is amazing,” said yet another Twitter user.

Anyway, like the old comedians used to say, they’ll be here all week.

There’s more acts to come, and no doubt there’ll be more energetic performances for the sign language folks to vibe to.

Last night saw the Arctic Monkeys return triumphant to the Pyramid Stage for the headlining slot, taking the festival by storm and playing some lesser-performed hits along the way.

Tonight sees controversial cock-rockers Guns N Roses closing down the Pyramid, before the curtain will be brought down on the whole shebang by the legendary Sir Elton John.

The BSL folks will have tired arms by the end of this.