Foo Fighters, Earls Court, London <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fivestar -->

For more than a decade now, Dave Grohl has made an unlikely journey to front a group that has allowed him to move on from Nirvana's tragic end. Away from Kurt Cobain's searing emotional drama, he has developed a feisty style that is less complicated, though still emotionally engaged.

The Foo Fighters' current album, In Your Honour, marks a nifty departure, with one disc containing taut melodies and nippy hooks, and the other dedicated to acoustic balladry.

From the outset he was an entertainer. During an extended take on "Stacked Actor", he ran out to the mixing desk so he could perform a call-and-response solo for the crowd at the back. Such a gesture, alongside his sprints to both sides of the stage, were as important as giant video screens and an impressive battery of lasers. Not that the singer was a complete clown.

He performed with startling intensity, letting out hair-raising screams and playing with a demented grin as if he was all too aware he turns 37 next month. Especially compelling was the needling riffs and angry vulnerability of "Times Like These", a song Grohl reclaimed from George Bush's electoral campaign. The Foos have stacked up many such anthems over five albums, and current material slotted in well.

Most of the band's opening spell came from Honour, with their extra metallic thrust thrillingly apparent on "No Way Back". In contrast, "Best of You" was all Bon Jovi populism with its big-lunged chorus. It became noticeable at this point how few classic longhairs there were among a fresh-faced audience.

With an acoustic tour mooted for next year, the gig's quiet section consisted of only one number from Honour's disc two, "Cold Day in the Sun". Grohl and the drummer, Taylor Hawkins, swapped roles, the former reminding us of the attack he brought to his old group, while Hawkins showed a penchant for delicate melodies. It was something Grohl himself has yet to master. His more conversational vocals, especially on "Generator", were lost amid its thrashing guitars.

"Breakout" was part of a succession of anonymous, stodgy rockers midway through their set, though more apparent was the Foos' ability to work in a limited field. While Cobain sought spontaneity and needed to exorcise inner demons, Grohl's aim was a fun show that expressed finding hope in desperate times. In which case, his time is definitely now.