Foo Fighters surprise-release a live EP on Bandcamp

Foo Fighters have surprise-released a new live EP, Are Playing Where??? Vol. II, on Bandcamp, NME reported on August 8. It is the second installment in a series that began last October with Are Playing Where??? Vol. I, which gathered live tracks the band played around the US earlier that year.

The six tracks on the new volume are drawn from the band's intimate shows at Irving Plaza in New York City on April 30 and Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey on May 2, part of a run of small club gigs they played throughout the year. The tracklist includes "Of All People," "These Days," the title track of their latest album, "Your Favorite Toy," plus "My Hero," "Window" and "Aurora."

The EP is available on a pay-what-you-want basis, with the band saying any proceeds will go to local charities in the two cities.

The release follows the band's 12th studio album, Your Favorite Toy, out in April; NME gave it three and a half stars, writing that the record was "a few more tracks of that depth away from being the most vital Foo Fighters record since 1997's The Colour and the Shape."

Foo Fighters are now touring North America with Queens of the Stone Age, after opening the run in Toronto earlier this month. That follows a European run that included two nights at Anfield in Liverpool, where NME gave the show four stars and quoted Dave Grohl calling the pair of gigs "a cocktail party before the big dinner" ahead of what he teased as bigger UK plans for 2027.

A little over a week later, Shane West joined the band onstage in Nashville for a cover of the Germs, another marker of a busy touring summer. It's the latest addition to the release calendar and our rock coverage.