Any question as to whether Foo Fighters is a team effort were laid to rest at the band's concert last night at the Warehouse.

Dave Grohl may or may not run the show offstage, but he received invaluable support from his three Foo Fighting comrades -- guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Nathan Mendel, and drummer Taylor Hawkins -- during a set that bounced chaotically between sweet pop songs and punk rock thrashers.

Grohl was certainly the sold-out crowd's favorite Foo Fighter. Maybe too much so, given the shabby treatment excellent local openers By Divine Right got from a rather rabid pack of "we-want-Dave" types.

Then again, Grohl is the drummer who made good, the phoenix who rose from the ashes of Nirvana.

Not that you'd know it at first glance.

Pale and calm, Grohl led his white-clad group on stage and broke into the meek strains of Doll, from Foo Fighters' recent disc The Colour And The Shape.

If that caught the mosh-ready, all-ages crowd of 2,000 off guard, it only sharpened the blow when the Foos promptly tore into a blistering hardcore number.

It set a precedent: Grohl, a fellow who can carry a tune, spent much of the set howling away on songs like Wind Up and Monkey Wrench. He eased back into the cruising lane on the playful See You, and the 1995 hit Big Me, during which some audience members pelted the group with Mentos candy -- a custom derived from the video for the song.

Grohl played it both ways for steady numbers like Hey, Johnny Park! and the great My Poor Brain.

It was here that Foo Fighters came together as a band, keeping lulls to a minimum with forceful playing.

Hawkins -- fresh to the Foo fold from his previous gig as drummer for Alanis Morissette -- was front-and-centre. After all, one of rock's best drummers -- Grohl -- would hardly hire a dud to back him up.

The flamboyant and always watchable Smear, ex of The Germs, is a punk legend in his own right who rivals Grohl in terms of charisma. Still, he seemed careful not to ham it up, concentrating instead on fleshing out the tunes with muscular guitar work.

If Grohl is being upstaged by anything, it's his own past. At least Foo Fighters have come into their own as a band.

Perhaps the most telling moment came on Everlong. The song was already a familiar hit with the crowd, even on the eve of its release as a single.

Smells like a teen anthem.

SUN RATING 4 OUT OF 5