Foo Fighters Announce Surprise Trio of Shows in England + Ireland This Week

Foo Fighters have been having quite the week, as they recently revealed their upcoming album – Your Favorite Toy – alongside frontman Dave Grohl explaining why the band fired drummer Josh Freese in 2025. Now, the group have announced a surprise trio of intimate shows in England and Ireland taking place this week, and tickets can only be purchased in person.

Details of This Week’s Foo Fighters Shows

Last Friday (Feb. 20), Foo Fighters appeared on The Graham Norton Show to perform their latest single – “Your Favorite Toy” – from the upcoming record. They were joined by Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears, and afterward, Grohl hinted at the band possibly doing some U.K. shows before this summer’s European and North American tours.

Earlier today (Feb. 22), the band officially announced a trio of shows taking place in England and Ireland later this week. Specifically, Foo Fighters will be playing at The Academy in Dublin, Ireland tomorrow (Feb. 23); at 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, England on Wednesday (Feb. 25); and at 02 Ritz in Manchester, England on Friday (Feb. 27).

All three posts clarify that ticket sales for all shows are open but “will be available in person ONLY.” In particular, tickets for the Dublin show can only be purchased at the 3Olympia Theatre box office, whereas the 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and 02 Ritz shows are holding tickets at the venues.

Beyond that, and in addition to individual stipulations, the announcements state that there’s a “2-ticket limit per person, on a strictly first come, first served basis.” Plus:

The person attending the event must be present at the time of the purchase with their physical photo ID and credit card. If you plan to purchase 2 tickets, your guest does not need to be present when you purchase, however on the evening of the show, you must enter the venue together or your 2^nd ticket will be forfeited. No transfers will be allowed. No Exceptions.

Unsurprisingly, and per the BBC, tickets are going fast! In fact, as this story was being written, Foo Fighters announced that both the Dublin and Manchester shows are sold out (but that there are still tickets available for London).

Of course, you can see more details about each event within its respective announcement, and you can see Foo Fighters’ social media posts about them below:

Foo Fighters’ Intimate England + Ireland Show Dates

Feb. 23 – Dublin, Ireland @ The Academy
Feb. 25 – London, England @ 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Feb. 27 – Manchester, England. @ 02 Ritz

As Loudwire previously mentioned, Foo Fighters will be embarking on a proper tour this summer and into 2027 (well, starting in early May), with headlining performances and festival appearances in North America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. Along the way, they’ll be joined by Queens of the Stone Age, Inhaler, IDLES and several other artists.

You can see the full list of tour dates – and grab tickets – here.

Other Foo Fighters News

This month saw Foo Fighters initially teasing the eventual reveal of Your Favorite Toy via “an interactive [website] frontpage that allows viewers to search around the items in the room while uncovering little pieces of music that presumably will turn up on the band's next album” (as Loudwire wrote on Feb. 12).

In particular, the room was “set up like a music lover's bedroom, filled with all sorts of Foo Fighters posters, decals and photos.” Loudwire added:

There's even a guitar, a stack of CDs, a dirty clothes pile and more. At press time, not all the items featured in the room had an interactive element to them, but plenty of the photos appear to be from recent recording sessions and tend to offer approximately 10 second snippets of music. We counted 11 interactive items placed within the room.

On Feb. 19, Loudwire reported on Foo Fighters properly announcing Your Favorite Toy, which will arrive on April 24 via RCA Records and Roswell Records. It’ll feature 10 songs (including previously released single “Asking for a Friend”), and regarding the title track, Grohl commented:

“Your Favorite Toy” really was the key that unlocked the tone and energetic direction of the new album. We stumbled upon it after experimenting with different sounds and dynamics for over a year, and the day it took shape I knew that we had to follow its lead. It was the fuse to the powder keg of songs we wound up recording for this record. It feels new.

The album follows 2023’s But Here We Are, which was Foo Fighters’ first LP following the 2022 passing of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins. Whereas Grohl handled drums (as well as guitar and vocals) for that record, Your Favorite Toy will expectedly feature their current drummer, Ilan Rubin, who officially replaced Freese last year.

You can preorder Your Favorite Toy here.

Speaking of Freese (who began playing with Foo Fighters in 2022), there’s been a lot of mystery and speculation surrounding his departure from the group, with Freese saying in December 2025 that he still didn’t know precisely what happened between them.

Well, during a recent chat with NME, Grohl shed more light on why they let Freese go following their 2024 tour.

“In those six or seven months [after the tour], as a band, we talked about what to do next, a new direction, and thought, ‘OK, let’s call Josh and let him know that we are going to move on with a different drummer,’” Grohl disclosed.

He added that the decision “didn’t happen overnight,” adding:

We called, as a band, all of us called, it wasn’t just me. Basically, we called Josh, and were like, “Hey man, that was awesome. That was such a blast, thank you so much, but we are going to move on and find another drummer.” After that, we didn’t make a press release, tweet anything or do interviews. We didn’t say anything. Since then, there’s been a lot of talk about it, but I think Josh said it best when he said that he didn’t feel our music really resonated with him, and that’s really important.

So, there you have it.

Are you excited about this week's shows? How about Foo Fighters' upcoming album and summer tour? Let us know!