Ongoing History Daily: The Foo Fighters Puzzle

A lot of bands want to open a tour for the Foo Fighters because they’re guaranteed to play in some of the biggest crowds of their career. But the Foo Fighters pick their support acts. In 2017, the band was looking for someone to warm up the crowd for a gig at London’s O2 Arena. They had up to ten bands on a short list.

IDLES, the British band, was one of them. But how could they convince the Foos to pick them? They made up a jigsaw puzzle with a photo of the group’s bass player. When the puzzle was assembled, the words “PICK IDLES” were in his pants. Singer Joe Talbot built a box for the puzzle and wrote on it “If you build it, they will come.” It worked and IDLES got the gig.