Move over, Coldplay. Outta the way, Dave Matthews.

In something of a surprise upset, it would appear rock-radio staples the Foo Fighters are now officially the new nicest band in the world.

Just ask the countless music scribes who can't get through a profile piece on the act without mentioning how frontman Dave Grohl is the rock star they'd most like to have a beer with.

Or you could go straight to the source, and ask Against Me! bassist Andrew Seward -- who's been opening on the same tour that brings the band to Winnipeg next Tuesday -- whether reports of the Foos' famously easy rapport with friends and fans are indeed true.

"Absolutely that's true," says Seward, whose band will again take the opening slot when the Foos play MTS Centre next week. "They say that Dave Grohl and his crew are the nicest guys in rock 'n' roll, and they are not lying. We've even had beers with 'em, and I can tell you it is a very pleasant experience."

As might be expected, the Foos themselves are quick to downplay their notoriety for being nice, though their attempts to suggest otherwise are about as convincing as their frequent forays into cross-dressing.

"F--- that guy," bassist Nate Mendel pretends to seethe, when the subject of Grohl's popularity first comes up. "One of these days, I'm gonna kick his ass."

But when pressed, Mendel -- formerly of emo forebears Sunny Day Real Estate -- says he's pretty sure he knows where all the goodwill comes from.

"What I attribute it to is the way Dave and I, and the other guys, too, to an extent -- we grew up in bands that started out playing shows in people's basements," says Mendel, who's been with the Foos since 1995. "There was a lot of people looking out for other people, and people playing music for the music's sake. There wasn't really any sense of an 'Us against Them' back then. And we've still all got that attitude of being very grateful that people want to see you play, and come out in the numbers they do."

Ironically, the Foo Fighters started as a solo project for Grohl, who first found fame drumming for alt-rock trio Nirvana (whose members didn't exactly have the same "nice guy" reputation as his new mates).

After Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994, Grohl turned his attention to a stockpile of songs he'd written on the sly, recording the first Foo Fighters album pretty much on his own before eventually enlisting Mendel, Taylor Hawkins (who used to drum for Alanis Morissette) and guitarist Chris Shiflett, not to mention sometime member Pat Smear (ex- of The Germs, and a founding Foo), who's been brought back into the fold for this tour.

The rest, as they say, is history. Grohl scored a hit with the Foo Fighters debut, kicking off a 13-year winning streak that got its latest extension last fall with the release of the Foos' sixth studio disc, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.

So far, the album has spawned the hits Long Road to Ruin and The Pretender, and helped the band collect a pair of Grammys for best rock album and best hard rock performance.

And while the new disc isn't likely to alienate anyone (the Foo Fighters' fanbase runs from indie-rockers to soccer moms), Grohl has described it as a slight departure for the band, most notably due to the presence of additional session players and even a string section.

"I think, for a long time, there wasn't any effort put into tinkering with (our) formula at all," says Mendel. "That comes from the way Dave likes to record songs, which is simply. He likes to get to the point. and frame the melodies as simply as possible. But after a couple times like that, he wanted to branch out and make things more complex, and one of the easiest ways to do that is to bring in other instruments."

One thing that isn't much of a departure is the band's continued commitment to eye-popping videos, whether it's the hyper-aggressive Pretender clip (which saw the band getting blasted by gallons of red paint) to the '70s-inspired antics of Long Road to Ruin, where the bandmates are cast as stars of a cheesy soap opera.

"We spent the entire day sweating our asses off in some airport hangar in Santa Monica," Mendel says of the Pretender shoot. "And as soon as it gets dark and cold, that's when they put us under the water."

And what about Long Road, which finds them revisiting the same comedic territory mined in Everlong and Learn to Fly? Mendel reveals it's surprisingly easy for his bandmates to shed their inhibitions and go along for the ride.

"Let's just say there's not exactly a huge wall of cool holding us back," he laughs.