Foo Fighters kick off UK tour with debut of years-old unfinished demo ‘Unconditional’

Foo Fighters performing live

Foo Fighters have kicked off their UK tour in Manchester – here’s what they played.

Last night (June 13), Dave Grohl and co. took over the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester to begin their summer UK stint, which saw the band reshuffle their setlist to add in a surprise or two.

The biggest surprise of the night turned out to be a previously unheard song, ‘Unconditional’. A representative of the band said to Consequence of Sound that the song was “partially written and demo’d during home studio sessions years ago — but ultimately left unfinished.”

The statement continued: “The band’s rediscovery of ‘Unconditional’ happened in true spontaneous Foo Fighters fashion: The song came up in conversation during rehearsals for the UK tour, and all it took was one run-through — The decision was made instantly to share it with everyone in the same way – live.”

Watch fan-shot footage of Foo Fighters performing ‘Unconditional’, live for the first time ever below.

To begin their set, the band performed the trio of ‘Monkey Wrench’, ‘Learn To Fly’ and ‘No Son Of Mine’. Other hits they played throughout the night included ‘The Pretender’, ‘Walk’, ‘My Hero’, ‘The Sky Is A Neighbourhood’ and ‘Best Of You’.

Elsewhere during the show, Dave Grohl performed ‘Under You’ solo for the first time, and the band performed the duo ‘The Teacher’ and ‘Everlong’ to close out the set.

Foo Fighters played:

‘Monkey Wrench’
‘Learn To Fly’
‘No Son Of Mine’
‘Rescued’
‘The Pretender’
‘Times Like These’
‘Generator’
‘Stacked Actors’
‘Medicine at Midnight’
‘Walk’
‘Statues’
‘Under You’
‘My Hero’
‘This Is A Call’
‘The Sky Is A Neighbourhood’
‘Arlandia’
‘These Days’
‘Sabotage/Blitzkrieg Bop/Whip It/March Of The Pigs/I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail’
‘All My Life’
‘Unconditional’ (live debut)
‘Aurora’
‘Best Of You’
‘The Teacher’
‘Everlong’

Following the June 13 gig, the band are due to play six more shows in the UK throughout June, resuming with another Manchester concert on June 15 and ending with a show in Birmingham on June 27. Any remaining tickets are now available.

Foo Fighters’ 2024 UK tour dates are:

JUNE
15 – Emirates Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester 

17 – Hampden Stadium, Glasgow
20 – London Stadium, London 
22 – London Stadium, London 
25  – Principality Stadium, Cardiff
27 – Villa Park Stadium, Birmingham 

Foo Fighters released their 11th and latest studio album, ‘But Here We Are’, last June before playing a surprise hits-filled set at Glastonbury 2023.

In other news, new Foos drummer Josh Freese has recalled the unexpected moment frontman Grohl asked him to join the band following the death of Taylor Hawkins. “It continues to be bittersweet,” the musician explained. “Part of me wants to say, ‘I wish I wasn’t there at all’. I wish there wasn’t a reason for me to be the drummer in the Foo Fighters.”

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