Foo Fighters, Camden Dingwalls, London

It’s you, Dave Grohl, and a few hundred of your closest musical kin. The Foo Fighters frontman is in your face, ‘Big Me’ - still a career highlight of many connoisseurs - jangling round your rock-addled noggin. The band have been playing for two hours straight, and they’re nowhere near finished yet.

And to think, just a few hours ago your Saturday night involved Ant, Dec and maybe a stuffed crust. Secret gigs are great.

Everyone with a degree of common sense knew this was coming. From the minute XFM - never the quickest source of breaking music news - started reporting unspecified ‘rumours’ of a low key Dingwalls date it became obvious something was afoot. Still, a largely unheralded ticket link at 2pm on the day of the show is enough to spark a scramble no matter what the warning signs suggest. An audience of people who just happened to be online may have left the odd superfan outside, but for the most part (we’ll ignore those who think this is the show to stick at the bar for now) you wouldn’t have noticed.

‘You wanna hear the new fucking record?’ Grohl asks, launching into the opening sledgehammer of ‘Bridge Burning’. What follows is a front to back run-through of ‘Wasting Light’. No pausing for banter, just track after track. New single ‘Rope’ is a worthy addition to the Foo Fighters lexicon, ‘White Limo’ sounds just as brutal live as the recorded version unveiled online and ‘These Days’ is without doubt an anthem in waiting. Granted, it’s slightly labour intensive for the band, but all first listens should be done this way.

Still, after eleven new songs it’s no surprise the greatest hits are going to turn things up a notch; ‘All My Life’ acts as a surefire way to shake the foundations. Pulling more than a fair share from the first half of their repertoire, ‘My Hero’, ‘Stacked Actors’, ‘For All The Cows’ and ‘Hey, Johnny Park!’ all remind just how good the Foos can be. The standards are almost all present too - ‘Monkey Wrench’ and ‘Everlong’ both provoking rapturous receptions.

Heading ever closer to the three hour mark, there’s no room for the feint-hearted. Finishing, in Grohl’s own words, ‘where it all started’, ‘This Is A Call’ provides a last chance for it all to kick off. Anyone who wants to measure the fun factor needs only look to Pat Smear’s face. Fully integrated back in to the band, you’d have no problem believing he’s having the time of his life.

They may be back to the enormodomes before long, but small, darkened rooms are where rock bands belong. In a better world, shows like tonight’s wouldn’t be a rare occurrence, but when given half a chance Foo Fighters only prove their credentials stand strong. A couple of Geordies and a pepperoni passion doesn’t even come close.

Set List:
Bridge Burning
Rope
Dear Rosemary
White Limo
Arlandria
These Days
Back And Forth
A Matter Of Time
Miss The Misery
I Should Have Known
Walk
All My Life
Generator
My Hero
Up In Arms
Enough Space
Times Like These
Stacked Actors
Cold Day In The Sun
Watershed
Long Road To Ruin
Big Me
I’ll Stick Around
For All The Cows
Monkey Wrench
Hey, Johnny Park!
Everlong

Encore
Aurora
Young Man Blues
This Is A Call