WINNIPEG - Whaddaya call somebody who hangs around with musicians? A drummer. OK, dumb joke. But there is a grain of truth to it.

Drummers have a pretty poor track record when they step out from behind the kit and try to lead the band.

Ringo Starr? Lightweight. Phil Collins? Zzzzzz. Tommy Lee? A walking version of another gag: Whaddaya call a drummer with half a brain? Gifted.

By that measure, Dave Grohl is nothing short of a freaking genius.

Not because he's easily the most influential and easily identifiable stickhandler of his generation. Not because his precision pounding was the backbeat and backbone of Nirvana.

Not because he continues to freelance as a drummer for everyone from QOTSA to NIN to Killing Joke.

But because he's pulled off the most shocking feat a drummer can achieve -- he's become more popular singing away at the front of the stage than he was swinging away at the back.

Just how popular was made clear last night at MTS Centre, where the gregarious Grohl and his Foo Fighters -- bassist Nate Mendel, second guitarist Chris Shiflett and Taylor Hawkins, the guy who hangs around with them -- held a crowd of 10,000 in the palm of their hand.

That some of those fans were in primary school when Nirvana were in their prime only drove home the point even harder.

But not harder than the Foo Fighters rocked.

Commanding a stylishly lit stage strewn with piles of mismatched amps, the post-grunge foursome set the tone for the evening with the explosively propulsive opener In Your Honor, the leadoff title track from their recent double album.

After hitting the ground running, they never looked back. As Grohl thrashed his guitar and trashed his vocal cords, the band (especially the kinetic powerhouse Hawkins) held up their end and kept the momentum going on high-powered versions of alt-rock anthems like All My Life, Times Like These, My Hero and their latest single Best of You.

We suspect few in the house -- especially those in the roiling pit in front of the stage -- would have argued they were getting anything less than the best from the Foos.

Unless, of course, they were hoping to see a show that mirrored the yin-yang nature of the half-electric, half-acoustic In Your Honor CDs.

There were no stools, Persian rugs and bongo drums on display last night; from the giant wraparound video screen to the laser light show, this was a full-throttle rock assault on the senses.

At least, that's how things looked at deadline. Due to the length of the multi-act show -- Haligonian power-popsters Sloan and Toronto indie-rockers The Constantines turned in warmly received warmup sets -- the Foos were still hitting their stride at press time, with no let-up on the horizon.

But if the gigs they played out West earlier this week were any sign, a couple of solo acoustic numbers from Dave were still in the cards, along with some typical arena-rock tomfoolery and audience participation -- and, of course, the inevitable encore and the equally inevitable drum solo.

Which reminds us: How is a drum solo like a sneeze?

You can tell it's coming -- but you can't do anything about it.