The path from the drum stool to the microphone stand is not a happy one. The blueprint remains Phil Collins, who went from sitting behind a flower-clad Peter Gabriel in Genesis to becoming rock's most notorious dispenser of slushy ballads. Which means Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl breaks the mould. After drumming for Nirvana, his switch to fronting the world's most brutally efficient hard rock band has seen him not just escape the Collins curse, but pull off the rare trick of playing arenas while somehow retaining punk credibility. Now in their 10th year, Grohl and pals make an arena of 19,000 seem intimate and drenched in passion. At times, with Grohl's battery acid vocals and constant headbanging in full fly, it is almost as if Nirvana have finally got to play the venues denied them by Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994.

Which is not to say Grohl has not taken the Foos in their own direction. Trademark rockers coexist with AOR-tinged anthems as a well-thought out show sees the Foos invert stadium tricks. Flashy lights and exploding bats have no place here: the stage has the black and neon feel of a punk club. Grohl - only his Hollywood whitened teeth and illegality of smoking onstage differentiating him from similarly hairy, rocking creatures in the audience - manages to inflame the crowd with a single finger pointed upwards.

You never know what is coming next. Formidable stickman Taylor Hawkins indulges the old rock cliche of a drum solo, but that is followed by possibly the first triangle solo in a rock arena. A second stage drops from the ceiling towards the rear of the venue to allow Grohl the chance to play an acoustic set within feet of the traditionally excluded people at the back.

With Grohl alone in the spotlight, the Foos suddenly strike up again at the opposite end of the arena. A note-perfect cover of the Dead Kennedys' Holiday in Cambodia underlines their punk roots before Grohl hauls on an 11-year old guitarist for a remodelled version of Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street. My Hero is soaring and anthemic while One By One blisters like anything Grohl did in Nirvana. Notably, there is no Statues, the new album's almost Billy Joel-like piano ballad: maybe playing that live would unduly risk a Phil Collins moment.

· At the NEC Birmingham (0870 909 4133) tonight. Then touring.