{"id":216670,"date":"2026-05-01T14:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/216670\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T14:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T14:37:09","slug":"best-moments-from-nyc-underplay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/216670\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Moments From NYC Underplay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThere is an inherent spectacle and scale to a Foo Fighters<\/a> show. Stadium-sized riffs, wild animations on towering screens, maybe even some fireworks. Dave Grohl getting his cardio in and ending up drenched in sweat as he bounds across the massive stage, guitar slung over shoulder, to the cheers of tens of thousands of fans.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut, at their heart, the Foo Fighters are still just scrappy garage-rockers, a crew led by a teenage punk who grew up to be in the biggest band in the world \u2013\u00a0and then founded one of the biggest bands of the 21st century. Grohl is still that DIY kid at heart, just one who happened to write several of the most enduring alt-rock anthems of all time.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat side of Foo Fighters was on display Thursday night at a packed Irving Plaza, the 1,200-capacity Manhattan venue where Grohl and company popped up for a \u201csecret\u201d (read: announced with just a day\u2019s notice) show celebrating their twelfth studio album, Your Favorite Toy, which arrived April 24. The lucky few who got in lined up for an in-person onsale at 10 a.m. day of show, and if the cavalcade of 30 years of assorted tour merch was any indication, the audience was composed of true Foos diehards, even if a surprising contingent responded when Grohl, during the show, asked who was attending their first Foo Fighters show.<\/p>\n

\n\tStripped of all its grandiose accoutrements \u2013\u00a0a backdrop with the spartan \u201cFF\u201d logo was the extent of the show\u2019s production \u2013 the band proved that the true spectacle of a Foo Fighters concert is the band\u2019s mind-bogglingly deep catalog (\u201cThere\u2019s like 170 of these f\u2013kin\u2019 songs,\u201d Grohl quipped when a fan asked him to play an old one he admitted they didn\u2019t know) and their passion and synchronicity as performers.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s reassuring consistinency and longevity for a band that has lived through triumph (a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, reopening Madison Square Garden after its COVID closure) and turmoil (drummer Taylor Hawkins\u2019 sudden death, Grohl\u2019s much-publicized infidelity) this decade. For two-and-a-half hours and 25 songs at Irving Plaza, Foo Fighters reaffirmed its spot as a canonical American band \u2013 not that that\u2019s something anyone who has turned the radio dial to an alt-rock station in the last 30 years doubts.<\/p>\n

\n\tRead on for the best moments from the band\u2019s Manhattan underplay.<\/p>\n


\"Billboard\"Billboard
<\/a><\/p>\n

\tCome For the Hits, Stay for the Deep Cuts<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI feel like we should play some old-school s\u2013t,\u201d Grohl told the crowd with excitement as the band took the stage. \u201cLet\u2019s start out with the oldest school we\u2019ve got.\u201d To open, Grohl busted out \u201cWinnebago,\u201d which he initially wrote and recorded for his Nirvana-era solo project Late! and then rerecorded during the sessions for the Foo Fighters\u2019 debut. That version of the song appeared as the B-side for the debut\u2019s closer \u201cExhausted\u201d \u2013\u00a0which Grohl trotted out as the encore\u2019s penultimate song, explaining that it used to close the band\u2019s early shows.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd the crate-digging wasn\u2019t confined to Foo Fighters\u2019 oldest material. \u201cWe got a deep cut \u2013\u00a0who wants a deep cut?\u201d Grohl said a few songs into the show before unexpectedly launching into \u201cLa Dee Da,\u201d an album track from 2017\u2019s Concrete & Gold, and the only song from that album the Foos played on Friday.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a testament to the band\u2019s deep catalog and staggering commercial success that although it played five Alternative Airplay No. 1s at Irving Plaza, it left seven on the table \u2013 and that while the setlist contained 14 Alternative Airplay top 10s, 20 other Foo Fighters songs with that distinction remained unplayed.<\/p>\n

\tA Monstrous Encore<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re gonna do something we didn\u2019t do for a long time,\u201d Grohl said as the band returned to the stage for its five-song encore, introducing \u201cA320,\u201d from the soundtrack to 1998\u2019s Godzilla. \u201cAnybody see that masterpiece? Listen, I love Matthew Broderick just as much as the next guy\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe recorded this song and then we were SO excited it was gonna be in the Godzilla movie,\u201d Grohl continued, turning to longtime Foos guitarist Pat Smear. \u201cWe went to the movie theater while we were on tour, do you remember that? We were in the Midwest somewhere. I don\u2019t think I\u2019d ever gone to a movie theater on tour in my life. And we sat through that entire, three-hour, um\u2026 epic. And we were like, \u2018S\u2013t, they didn\u2019t put our song in!\u2019 And it was at, like the tail-end of the credits. So we\u2019re bringing it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was the fourth time the band has played the rarity this year \u2013 but only the eighth time in its history, because its 2026 revival follows a 25-year hiatus.<\/p>\n

\tClub Nostalgia<\/p>\n

\n\tFor all the pomp that defines the Foo Fighters today, Grohl still cherishes his punk roots. After eight songs, he told fans he loved \u201cthe enthusiasm\u201d but to make sure that nobody got hurt.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe second time I saw Iggy Pop play, I was like, \u2018I\u2019m gonna do a stage dive!’\u201d Grohl reminisced. \u201cI f\u2013king grew up doing stage dives. And I got all the way to the front of the f\u2013king venue, and I jumped to the middle of the barrier, and two security guys dragged me outside and f\u2013king opened the door with my head. And they were about to kick my ass, and I was like, \u2018I\u2019m out! I\u2019m out!\u2019 The end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGrohl then thanked the audience for standing in line to get the show\u2019s coveted tickets, and sharing the unusually intimate evening with the band. \u201cThis oddly feels much more at home and familiar to us,\u201d he said \u2013 before adding, in a classic bit of Grohlian puckishness, \u201cThis is our last song,\u201d some two hours before the concert actually ended.<\/p>\n

\tThe New Material Rips<\/p>\n

\n\tFoo Fighters played six of the 10 songs from Your Favorite Toy, and it was remarkable just how neatly they slotted in with the band\u2019s classics. Many have hailed the album as a \u201creturn to form\u201d \u2013 a bit of an oversimplification of Foo Fighters\u2019 creative evolution and offering over the last couple decades \u2013\u00a0but it\u2019s undeniable this is the band\u2019s most straightforward, no-frills material since at least 2011\u2019s Wasting Light. And it bodes well for Foo Fighters\u2019 upcoming festival and stadium dates that, even if highlights like \u201cCaught in the Echo,\u201d \u201cOf All People\u201d and \u201cSpit Shine\u201d reverberated through Irving Plaza with punk ferocity, it was easy to imagine them echoing similarly into the upper decks of the world\u2019s biggest venues.<\/p>\n

\tTaylor\u2019s Enduring Legacy<\/p>\n

\n\tFour years after his death at age 50, longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins still looms over Foo Fighters. Midway through the set, as the band kicked into 2011 power ballad \u201cThese Days,\u201d Grohl smiled in agreement when a fan yelled the late drummer\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m glad whoever it was shouted Taylor\u2019s name,\u201d Grohl said after the following song, another 2011 power ballad, \u201cWalk.\u201d Prior to the show, he explained, an old friend had been showing him Foo Fighters pictures from 20 years earlier.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSometimes it feels like no time has passed at all; sometimes it feels like it\u2019s been a f\u2013king lifetime,\u201d he reflected as the band geared up for emotional fan favorite \u201cAurora,\u201d from 1999\u2019s There Is Nothing Left To Lose. \u201cBut, every time we do this song, we do it for Mr. Taylor Hawkins.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tStadium Hands Held High<\/p>\n

\n\tYou can take the band out of the stadium, but you can\u2019t take the stadium out of the band. For every Grohl promise of a deep cut \u2013 which, to be clear, he delivered on in spades \u2013\u00a0the band had corresponding megahits. \u201cThis is not a deep cut,\u201d Grohl said during the iconic introduction to 2007\u2019s \u201cThe Pretender,\u201d still the longest-running Foo Fighters Alternative Airplay No. 1.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs fans began to wave their arms to the music, Grohl encouraged them: \u201cYou can use stadium hands! That\u2019s what I call them, stadium hands.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou know, sometimes I ask the audience if they love rock and roll music,\u201d he continued. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna ask you if you like rock and roll music, because you\u2019ve got f\u2013kin\u2019 stadium hands right now!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor \u201cThe Pretender,\u201d and so many other cuts throughout the night, the crowd of superfans raged, turning the club\u2019s floor into a mosh pit. \u201cJesus f\u2013king Christ!\u201d Grohl yelled in genuine amazement when the song ended.<\/p>\n

\t


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