There is a particular kind of adrenaline that comes from walking up to a box office window and asking, ‘Any tickets left?’ and hearing the miracle answer, “Yes.” Foo Fighters dragged fans across three cities back into that old‑school ritual on Sunday, 23 February, announcing three last‑minute intimate shows in Dublin, London and Manchester. Tickets were made available only in person, only from the venue, and only on the same day. Tonight was pure, unfiltered nostalgia at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
Foo Fighters
O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London – 25 February 2026
Words: Rhys Tagg
By Wednesday, that nostalgia had turned into a pilgrimage. Fans arrived early, packing out O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire more than an hour before Dave Grohl even set foot in the room. With no support act, the atmosphere simmered, people mingling, swapping stories, snapping photos, buzzing with the kind of excitement only a band of this scale can generate in a room this small.
After an extra 15–20 minutes of anticipation, the crowd finally caught a glimpse of their heroes. Foo Fighters walked out to a roar that spanned generations.
There must have been a 60‑year age gap between the youngest and oldest fans in the room, all erupting together. The six‑piece matched that energy instantly, Grohl screaming, “Are you ready”? as the room detonated into a rhythmic bounce.
By the time the first note rang out, O2 Shepherds Bush Empire was a heaving mass of bodies, a sold-out 2,000 capacity crush with barely enough space to nutmeg a mermaid in a telephone box.
They opened with This Is A Call, then tore straight into the one‑two punch of All My Life and Times Like These. New track Of All People landed early, with Ilan Rubin settling comfortably into his role behind the kit and Jason Falkner stepping in for Pat Smear, who is reportedly sidelined with a broken leg.
These Days brought a classic Dave Grohl moment, as he paused mid‑song, letting the crowd carry the melody back at him. Grinning, he thanked them for the effort before cutting in with a playful, “But that’s not how it goes,” and slamming the band back into the track.
Grohl was like an excited kid, maybe even happier than the fans, constantly dousing the steaming crowd with cups of water, clapping the crowd and thanking them for their participation and energy. He watched Ilan’s drum solo with the rest of the band in genuine awe, not once leaving the stage.
When he joked about a permanent residency at the venue forever, you believed him. The hot, sweating, intimate crowd clearly meant more to him than any stadium.
My Hero, Grohl’s self‑confessed favourite to play live, sent goosebumps rippling through the room, followed by the airborne joy of Learn To Fly. Another new track, Your Favourite Toy, the title track from the freshly announced album, slotted neatly into the set, hinting at where the band’s next chapter might be heading.
Things wound down briefly with the ultra-rare A320, before the main set closed on a ferocious Best Of You, but the band were not done. Despite hitting the 11 pm curfew, they pushed on for another 15–20 minutes, delivering a dual encore of Exhausted and a blistering, emotional Everlong.
Somewhere in the chaos, they even pulled a crowd‑surfing kid onto the stage, a perfect snapshot of the night’s chaotic, joyful, deeply human energy. Two and a half hours of bouncing, sweat-drenched, rock ‘n’ roll delight.
Foo Fighters delivered the second of three intimate shows, wedged between gargantuan stadium dates, reminding everyone in the Empire what it feels like to fall in love with live music all over again.
Thirty years on, Grohl summed it up best. “This is what it felt like 30 years ago.”
