Whether you among the lucky few hundred who scored tickets to the pop-up show at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, or you followed along through snippets of livestreams and social clips, you witnessed something pretty special. Regarded by some as their 'comeback show', the verve with which they sprinted onstage made sure there was no time to dwell on any feelings about missing them - the set reminding you that they were not only never far away, they kept eyes on us all.

The promotional image released on socials, and found on the official show poster by Morning Breath Inc., teased the debates among fan groups over the last few years with text (font loaned from Black Flag) that read, "No one hates us more than our fans". As showtime drew nearer and more images came in, the merch tent revealed further acknowledgement of the sentiment shared among some in fan spaces, with a shirt saying, "Playing the old songs because you like them better". The same words were printed on the entry wristbands. Those zooming in to look for clues about further date announcements would've been disappointed, finding only a generic shirt (recreating one of their original tour shirts) with the text, "Somewhere, 2025". Likewise, a gift from Johnny Knoxville shared to the band's Instagram stories - a set of custom fly swatters - read, "Los Angeles - Seattle - Parts Unknown". Indeed, what little we know about their plans so far is laughable compared to what they've got in store.

Their arrival onstage was filmed and posted on the band's socials, captioned, "DO YOU LOVE ROCK AND ROLL??? BECAUSE WE LOVE ROCK AND ROLL!!!" The clip also served as an unspoken confirmation of what, at that point, was the worst-kept secret in rock - Ilan Rubin's debut as the new drummer for Foo Fighters. His was a low-key launch initially, greeting the crowd with a casual stroll up to his kit. Later, during the band introduction segment of the set, Dave took a minute to "finally get to say who our fucking drummer is, everybody else has said it" (sorry, Dave!) and got the pleasure to announce Ilan - adding, "It's official". During the show, their profile pics across their socials were updated to show the new group photo above, their first with the current line-up.

As is traditional with these smaller warm-up shows and ninja gigs, their setlist strayed from the usual stadium crowd-pleasers and dug deep into their archives for songs from their first album (and even older than that) as well as songs they hadn't played in ten or so years. The agenda for the night was a belated celebration of 30 years as a band. A notable omission from the set was the latest single 'Today's Song', which has been performing well on airplay charts but received mixed reviews among fans. Whether it was bumped to prioritise the early material, or pointedly ignored, will be determined by future shows.

From early in the set (which included 'Have It All', not played since 2015!) they showed an energy and engagement that fans had hoped they'd see when the band was ready to come back. Sharing their thrill for getting back to work, and observing what Ilan added to the live dynamics, renewed fans' warmth towards them.

As the show neared its end (but not winding down), Dave said they deliberately whittled the set down to make room for songs they hadn't done in a long time - admitting at the same time that they hesitate to "go too deep" at their stadium shows so as not to turn off the people who aren't as familiar with their work. So to start off with a more intimate show like this was "a good feeling". Dave added: "FYI, this isn't the only one of these little things we're going to do. We have some tricks up our fucking sleeves." A rumour had begun to circulate about a possible pop-up show at the Black Cat in D.C. next week, but had been dismissed after looking at the venue's schedule - however, in light of this comment, perhaps it shouldn't be ruled out entirely.

This show heralds the beginning of a new era for the band, and if their vibrance and enthusiasm evident at this show is anything to go by, concerned fans ought to relax - they still have plenty of fuel left in the tank.

Setlist

• All My Life
• Rope
• Have It All (first time since 2015)
• Times Like These
• Wattershed
• Stacked Actors
• La Dee Da
• These Days
• The Pretender
• Walk
• My Hero (preceded by band introductions)
• Learn to Fly
• Rescued
• Aurora
• This Is a Call
• No Son of Mine (interpolating Motörhead's 'Ace of Spades')
• Shame Shame
• White Limo
• Winnebago (first time since 2014)
• Best of You

Encore:

• Alone + Easy Target (first time since 2018)
• Low
• Monkey Wrench
• Exhausted (first time since 2014)
• Everlong 

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