Reviews and photos from the Foo Fighters/Queens of the Stone Age show at Rogers Stadium

August 10, 2026 Alan Cross 0 Comments 53 Views

[Sorry for the delay in posting this, but I was in Asia and Ross MacDonald took 2,500 shots that needed sorting. The review is by Gilles LeBlanc. – AC]

At one point during the Foo Fighters’ epic 3-hour, 25-song kick-off to the North American leg of their Take Cover tour, Dave Grohl realized the last time the band visited the Toronto area was in 2018 at that other Rogers-branded stadium.

A lot has happened since then to say the least. The FOOs were supposed to play a secret show at the El Mocambo in 2020 as part of their 25th anniversary “Van Tour”, only for a little thing called COVID to get in the way. Then there was the scheduled return to the venue formerly known as SkyDome in 2022, but Taylor Hawkins tragically passed away earlier that year.

You may remember Grohl even writing a book back in 2021. When I got the chance to interview him about The Storyteller, I remarked at the prospect of how I wanted to see more long-form writing from him in the future than another Foo Fighters album.

But that was before I realized there’d be an eight-year gap between concerts.

Dave definitely looked a lot more weathered whenever the twin video screens were zoomed in on him for the capacity crowd of 50,000 to see. He also doesn’t run up and down the catwalk like before, using it primarily as a B-stage these days to perform a handful of songs acoustically.

Do not confuse pacing oneself for a lack of energy. Drenched in sweat, Grohl screams his lungs out to the point where you wonder how he can possibly do another show, not to mention swear like the word “mother$#@%er” is going out of style. And he doesn’t any problem reminding everyone that was listening how his post-Nirvana project has now been an active entity spanning 31 years as well as twelve studio albums.

Not that we weren’t bombarded from the get-go by hit after alt-rock hit that were undoubtedly heard by people residing several kilometres away from Downsview Park. It was well over an hour in and the sun had set before the FOOs played their first song recorded in the 2020s, the pretty ferocious “No Son of Mine” tagged with a snippet of Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades”.

If you’ve been following Foo Fighters’ activities in recent years and how they’ve regrouped following Hawkins’ death, you know the legendary Lemmy isn’t the only person they pay tribute to. The beautiful “Aurora” from arguably the best FOO album There Is Nothing Left to Lose is performed in memory of their irreplaceable drummer, and longest discography song “The Teacher” is a touching goodbye to Grohl’s mother Virginia.

Dave still knows how to have fun too, treating his throng of fans to a medley of covers from each Foo Fighters member’s former bands – There was “Invincible” from Chris Shiflett’s No Use for a Name, “Seven” (Nate Mendel / Sunny Day Real Estate), “One Headlight” (Rami Jaffee / The Wallflowers which legitimately got one of the loudest pops of the night), “Manimal” (Pat Smear / The Germs) and finally “Tap Dancing in a Minefield” by Ilan Rubin’s The New Regime with Dave switching to drums and teasing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at the very end.

I think it needs to be said how year-old percussionist Rubin seems to fit in perfectly as an important cog in the FOO’s well-oiled machine. There certainly wasn’t anyone who disagreed with Grohl’s assessment of him as a badass after his solo during “Monkey Wrench”.

Dave’s good friends from Queens of the Stone Age opened; while the ROCKthusiast in me not-so-secretly hoped for a Them Crooked Vultures reunion of sorts or guest appearance on thunderous closer “A Song for the Dead”, it’s tough to nitpick a back-to-back marathon from two of my all-time favourite acts.

There was no “Easy Street” from Queens or mention of the rumoured fall album. Just a short, tight auditory attack of deep cuts and bangers where a very summery-looking Josh Homme was warned he shouldn’t drink tequila in the sun.

To paraphrase Mr. Grohl, sometimes you just need a good $#@%ing rock and roll show topped off by fireworks. I for one hope you never quit Dave, and may have to hold you to your promise of eight Toronto Foo Fighters shows next year to make up for lost time.