“There’s no tanks, fantastical swordfights or bloody executions, just sweat, songs and almighty sing-alongs: rock’n’roll at its very best.” Foo Fighters return to their punk roots in a very sweaty Manchester club

Dave Grohl is looking to cut loose. After a turbulent few years characterised by loss, tabloid headlines and an emotional comeback at one of the biggest gigs of all time – no, not that one – the Foo Fighters frontman is overjoyed to be back on-stage, playing to a sweltering 1500-capacity O2 Ritz in Manchester. We know, because he tells us frequently through the night.

“Isn’t this great?” he enthuses. “We get to fucking get loose, and get sweaty and get loud with you guys like we don’t get to in other places! How many of you stood in line to get these tickets? Sorry for the inconvenience. But it felt kind of good right? To do it the old school way?”

There’s gigs happening all over the city – Robbie Williams is doing an intimate warm-up ahead of his Ozzy Osbourne tribute at the BRITs, while rising US punks Dead Pioneers play not five minutes up the road at Rebellion on their first UK headline tour – but even with five hours before the Foos start at 11:15pm, the streets are filling up. Enterprising punters hang about outside hoping to nab a surprise last-minute ticket, or blag a +1 on the guestlist. Unsurprisingly, Foos are the hottest ticket in town.

And with good reason. For all that they’re trying to get back to their punk rock roots, they’ve got some of rock’s most anthemic tunes and any run that includes All My Life, Times Like These and The Pretender is going to feel massive. The room erupts and if you close your eyes – and ignore the oppressive heat of crammed-in bodies – you’d still believe they’re playing to stadiums given the sheer volume of the crowd as they sing along.

There’s no big, flashy pyrotechnics: no tanks, fantastical swordfights or bloody executions, just sweat, songs and almighty sing-alongs, rock’n’roll in its purest form at its very best. Therein lies the beauty of Foo Fighters gigs: in a world where it feels increasingly important to stand out and bring production that can somewhat justify soaring ticket costs, they manage to give bang for your buck by sheer effort alone.

Across the next two hours, they pepper the set with a mix of hits (My Hero, Learn To Fly, Monkey Wrench) and choice discog cuts (Stacked Actors, a gloriously fuzzy Exhausted), new tunes Your Favourite Toy and Of All People underlining the sense of “fuck it, we just want to play”. And play, they do. Half the songs seem to explode into extended outros and instrumentals. Ever wondered what it’d be like to sit in on a jam with Dave Grohl? Sweaty, frantic and utterly brilliant, it turns out.

By the time the band launch into Everlong, there’s not a single person in the room who doesn’t feel like they’ve got their money’s worth. There’s no major reinventions, but then there doesn’t need to be: Foo Fighters still put on one of rock’s finest performances. Download Festival 2027, lads?

Foo Fighters Setlist @ O2 Ritz, Manchester February 27 2026

1. This Is A Call
2. All My Life
3. Times Like These
4. The Pretender
5. La Dee Da
6. Stacked Actors
7. These Days
8. Walk
9. My Hero
10. Learn To Fly
11. Your Favorite Toy
12. No Son Of Mine (with Ace Of Spades and Paranoid snippets)
13. Run
14. Aurora
15. White Limo
16. Of All People
17. Monkey Wrench
18. Hey, Johnny Park!
19. Best Of You
20. Exhaused
21. Everlong