Fans are more used to seeing them in stadium shows these days, so for the lucky 1500 cramming into Manchester’s O2 Ritz it was one for the history books as the Foo Fighters rocked into the early hours
07:21, 28 Feb 2026Updated 08:08, 28 Feb 2026
The Foo Fighters at Manchester’s O2 Ritz on Friday, February 27, 2026.(Image: MEN)
We’re only one song into the Foo Fighters’ late-night, packed to the rafters, sizzling Manchester Ritz takeover and Dave Grohl has already had to douse himself down with a pint of water.
By three songs in – a blistering succession of This Is A Call, All My Life and Times Like These – I think most people in the room, giddy and dripping with sweat, have already agreed this is the best gig they’ve ever been to.
It’s the most feral moshpit I think I’ve ever witnessed too, fans making the most of the Ritz’s famous sprung floor with wild bouncing and limbs flailing across the mammoth two and a half hour set of The Foo Fighters’ biggest anthems.
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And you can see the band are enjoying this show just as much as those lucky enough to have crammed into it. As frontman Dave says: “First things first, we get to f***ing get loose, and get sweaty and get loud with you guys like we don’t get to in other places, it’s just the f***ing truth!
“Number 2, how many of you stood in line to get these f***ing tickets? Yes! Sorry for the inconvenience. But it felt kind of good right didn’t it to do it the old school way?”
Only announced by the band on Sunday morning, the first lucky 1500 to queue up at the Ritz that day got to physically buy their tickets for this gig, yes just like in the olden days. It was one of three “intimate” shows announced by the band in the past week to celebrate the launch of their latest album, Your Favorite Toy, and ahead of their big stadium tour in the summer.
The last time we had The Foos here in Manchester was at the rather vaster setting of Emirates Old Trafford, with 50,000 of us craning our necks beneath hooded macs to see Dave and co blow the drizzly June clouds away with a night of raucous anthems.
The Foo Fighters were in blistering form at The Ritz(Image: MEN)
In the intimate setting of the Ritz, there was most definitely no craning required. However far back you were in the mosh pit, it was still like being at the most wonderfully wild “audience with” you could possibly have dreamt of – seeing the whites of the band’s eyes, and the intensity of their performance.
It was like a cauldron of rock, albeit with the occasional spray of water – either from Dave’s dripping mane of hair or the whirling pint pots hurled across the crowds.
And isn’t he just the most perfect rock frontman at the heart of it all? Yelling out some instruction or other usually followed by “Motherf***ers”, in the most endearing way it would have to be said.
It’s almost Tiggerish the way he booms out the likes of: “Do you love rock ‘n’ roll music? You got to sing it!” before adding: “Guess what? Guess what? Me too Motherf***ers!”
By the time the band kicks into Monkey Wrench towards the finale, the audience is in total frenzy mode, crowd surfers being swept to the front like flotsam at this stage.
There are so many brilliant moments in this show that you feel like you don’t want it to end, even when we’re two and a half hours in, and the music is getting so loud it’s near pounding your heart out of your chest.
This band may have been making music now for 30 years, but the setting and the energy made you feel like you were watching them just starting out.
The main show ends with the huge swell of Best of You, the band departing briefly before their inevitable return to stage for the encore. Exhausted leads into Everlong for the final crescendo, the reverb left to echo around the Ritz’s historic walls as the band takes their final bow.
Fans wander out onto Whitworth Street bleary eyed and with ringing ears just after 1.30am, feeling a little bit like “what just hit me”. But it was worth every moment for the rock ‘n’ roll masterclass from a band sounding at the absolute peak of their powers.
Setlist – Foo Fighters at The Ritz February 27, 2026
This is a Call
All My Life
Times Like These
The Pretender
La Dee Da
Stacked Actors
These Days
Walk
My Hero
Learn to Fly
Your Favorite Toy
No Son of a Mine
(Ace of Spades)
Run
Aurora
White Limo
Of All People
Monkey Wrench
Hey, Johnny Park!
Best of You
ENCORE
Exhausted
Everlong