Foo Fighters fans got a look at their new drummer, Ilan Rubin, when the iconic band took the stage for a surprise show on Saturday, September 13, at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California.
The theater only holds 900 patrons and from the way things looked in a video shared to the Foo Fighters Instagram after the show, it was a full house.
“It’s been a while!” Dave Grohl proclaimed as the crowd went nuts. Then, the band jumped right into “All My Life” as the camera panned in on the new drummer,Ilan Rubin.
The caption of Instagram share, which was from a show that was only announced earlier that day, said, “DO YOU LOVE ROCK AND ROLL??? BECAUSE WE LOVE ROCK AND ROLL!!!”
While onstage with Rubin for the first performance since joining Foo Fighters, Rolling Stonereports that Grohl told the audience, “Everybody else has said it. I finally get the opportunity to say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, will you please welcome…’ The most bad–s motherf–ker, Ilan Rubin, is playing drums in the Foo Fighters right now. It’s official. You can stamp the passport.”
Though Grohl performed solo at Coachella in 2025, this marks the first Foo Fighters show since August 2024.
Foo Fighters Announce Second Show After Hiatus
Foo Fighters fans who missed the first show have an opportunity to catch them at the second, as the band is utilizing the same method for ticket sales to ensure resellers can’t capitalize.
Tickets are only $30 with a limit of two per purchase, with a valid ID that must also be presented at the time of the show. If two tickets are purchased, the guest must arrive with the ID holder.
The second show is scheduled for Monday, September 15, at The Observatory in Santa Ana. It’s a slightly bigger venue that can hold 1,000 to 1,100 concertgoers. Like the previous show, it was announced on the Foo Fighters’ Instagram page.
The caption said, in part, “YOU WANT MORE??? See you Monday in Santa Ana. “
Ilan Rubin Replaced Josh Freese as the Foo Fighters’ Drummer
In July, the Foo Fighters revealed their newest drummer, Ilan Rubin, who is the second to join the band since Taylor Hawkins’ tragic death in March 2022. Rubin comes with an impressive resume, having played for Nine Inch Nails since 2009. That led to his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the band in 2020 as the youngest ever inductee when he was just 32 years old.
Interestingly, Josh Freese, who shared in May 2025 that the Foo Fighters dropped him, simply telling him they were “going in another direction,” rejoined Nine Inch Nails in what can be summed up as a drummer swap.
Freese previously played drums for NIN from 2005 to 2008. They replaced him with Rubin, though the situation was a bit different that time as Freese left after the “Lights in the Sky” tour to focus on his family.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 14, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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