Rockers Foo Fighters reply to church protest with gig

Foo Fighters' front man Dave Grohl

Foo Fighters have replied to a protest from a fundamentalist Christian church by performing a special gig for them.

Members of the Westboro Baptist church were picketing outside the Sprint Centre, Kansas where the band were due to perform on Friday evening.

The group were dressed as rednecks and arrived on a flat-bed truck, before performing a track called Keep It Clean.

Lead singer Dave Grohl addressed protesters before the band drove off.

'Free America'

At the beginning of September the church had announced its plan to protest outside the concert.

It's after Foo Fighters recorded a tongue-in-cheek viral video to promote their north American tour which featured the band's members in the shower.

In a statement Westboro Baptist church said: "The entertainment industry is a microcosm of the people in this doomed nation: hard-hearted, hell-bound, and hedonistic."

Addressing the protesters, who held 'anti-gay' placards, Dave Grohl said: "Ladies and gentlemen, god bless America - land of the free, home of the brave.

"It doesn't matter if you're black or white, or purple or green. Whether you're Pennsylvanian or Transylvanian, Lady Gaga or Lady Antebellum."

"Men loving women, women loving men, men loving men and women loving women. What I'd like to say is, 'God bless America'."

In the past the controversial Westboro Baptist Church has campaigned at the funerals of US soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Documentary maker Louis Theroux has twice made films about the group.

Foo Fighters released their seventh album, Wasting Light, earlier this year.