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Still the UNDISPUTED heroes of stadium rock, Foo Fighters return to an emotional London double-date – with a new drummer at the helm.

Violet Grohl and Shane Hawkins joined the stage as special guests, as they played the longest set to date on their Everything or Nothing At All tour spanning just over three hours.

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It marked nine years since I last saw these stage dwellers. Donning a broken leg on his guitar neck throne, Grohl saw fit to return and continue with the tour – with albeit movement restricted.

Now, nine years later, the group return for wholly different circumstances – but for the same unifying reason. Two years since The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert in 2022, this moment of return was never guaranteed. As the lights turned off over Wembley Stadium, many fans thought whether or not they had seen the ending for the band. But what transpired was that, the band never really went away at all. They never do.

Just like Grohl’s resurgent act after Cobain’s passing, he fell into this music. Just as he did as he took on the frontman mantel post-Nirvana, he channeled the flurry of emotional grief, loss and heartbreak to charter a new chapter. A rejuvenated desire to keep pressing on against all odds.

Fuelled by a dual-bereavement of both his best friend and drummer Taylor Hawkins and his mother Virginia Grohl, But Here We Are is a cathartic letting-out of emotion; all superseded by the band – and Grohl – at their most raw. It’s a love-letter to those lost and a tonic to picking yourself up and moving on.

With a record cutting deep and a new tour set to ablaze, Foo Fighters wade in pulling out all the stops. The setlist itself was comprised of familiar favourites, as they begun right from the off with All My Life. While No Son Of Mine was not a deserving stronghold within an equally unforgiving song line-up, it was an apparent nod to Hawkins’ final record (Medicine At Midnight) with the band. Walk and Times Likes These were thematic pickings, fit for a new era. Deep cuts were also on the house too, with Generator, Foos’ most heavy-hitter Breakout and Stacked Actors receiving some love on-tour after so many years from Hawkins’ first recording with the band on 99’s There is Nothing Left to Lose.

The new material aired from But Here We Are were sparkling most, however. Rescued was topped off from the start in emphatic fashion while the spiritual heat on Nothing At All was certainly felt. But it was acoustic gem Under You that hit the most. Voice cracking, lyrics missed or choked upon, the fragility of such an icon was laid bare. It seems there are some songs that Dave can’t get through all the way yet on the live circuit. Monkey Wrench was another trailblazer stocked with fierce form, ending in a gargantuan solo pile-on by new drummer on the throne, Josh Freese. Following such a centrifugal force of charisma in Hawkins was seen by many as something of a role no one can undertake. Equally, it wasn’t a role that you just couldn’t possibly turn down either. But if anyone was worthy of such a part in the new era, it would be Freese.

For all the crowd-pleasing, the deep cuts dispersed throughout their setlists show just how unconditioned they are for simply playing it safe live. As a tribute to Grohls’ mother, Grohl’s daughter Violet joins them on stage for a fitting rendition of Show Me How while beautiful Aurora was attributed to the Hawkins family who were in the stadium that night. Remarked as Taylor’s favourite Foos song to play – and quite right too – even the deliverance of such a song would have made the most stoic of fans begin to break down.

Best of You rounded out sprawling 24 tracks before the Foos embarked on The Teacher. Wildly praised as the Foos’ most experimental and longest track to date in their thirty-year longevity, the 10-minute track may not have been the best idea on paper for the start of the encore. While momentum withered, it wasn’t long before the man of the hour Shane Hawkins took to the stage – just as he did two years ago – as he performed I’ll Stick Around – a largely seasoned song from the groups’ debut in 1994. It seems it wasn’t just a coincidence that Taylor’s son had performed with Royal Blood in Brixton a few nights before. It was written in the stars, undoubtedly with his father looking on.

The magical night was rounded out with their most loved stand-out, Everlong as fireworks littered the sky. The 27-track entourage tonight are really, just a telling how hard-won this victory had been. Against all odds, maybe just maybe – there is a way of getting over it. In a night to remember, Foo Fighters certainly started to believe in that.