Foo Fighters have made a triumphant return, releasing their 12th studio album Your Favorite Toy last week and delivering an electrifying secret show at Manhattan's Irving Plaza. The intimate gig, played to a capacity crowd of just 1,000, marked a stark contrast to their usual stadium-filling performances.
The new record, described by The Independent's Roisin O'Connor as “a back-to-basics blast of fresh air”, is expected to top album charts worldwide. The band's resurgence follows a turbulent two-year period, which included frontman Dave Grohl announcing he had fathered a child outside his marriage in 2024 and the departure of drummer Josh Freese in 2025, replaced by Ilan Rubin.
Fans queued overnight for the chance to buy tickets, priced at $30 and limited to two per person. The setlist blended new tracks like “Spit Shine” and “My Favorite Toy” with classics such as “All My Life”, “Times Like These”, “Monkey Wrench”, and “My Hero”. The band also debuted a new song, “Window”, live for the first time.
During the two-and-a-half-hour show, Grohl engaged with the crowd, promising “a lot of new tracks and some old school”. When a fan shouted “Taylor Hawkins forever!” in memory of the late drummer, Grohl responded, “That's right!” The encore included “A320”, from the 1998 Godzilla soundtrack.
As fans left into a rainy April night, Grohl remarked, “For those who've never seen us before, next time we'll try to make it feel like this.” The band also announced a second surprise show at Starland Ballroom in New Jersey on Saturday.
