OTTAWA - Opening for a musical legend such as Bob Dylan isn't for the faint-hearted or the musically insecure.

Fortunately, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is used to opening -- and closing -- for legends, so there was no trace whatsoever of stage jitters as Grohl and the band kicked the show off for Dylan at last night's Scotiabank Place gig.

In one of music's more remarkable remakes, Grohl's gone from backing the moribund master of grunge Kurt Cobain and Nirvana to fronting the Foo Fighters. The band -- as outgoing and playful as Nirvana was morose and reflective -- has produced a decade of music, documented in the Foo Fighters' new live acoustic album Skin and Bones, which will be out Nov. 7.

It's a good fit for the promiscuous prankster in Grohl. Throughout the band's hour-long set, which at times degenerated into a delightful cabaret, there was at least as much, if not more, comedy than music.

The 7,000 fans attending were entertained with Grohl's jokes and stories about the lighter side of being a Foo Fighter.

Dressed from head-to-toe in black -- perhaps taking a cue from Mr. Dylan? -- Grohl alternated between the guitar and the upright piano, covering many of the band's key songs

He joked that the band had become more than a supergroup, "a super-duper group."

Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett performed with considerable passion on My Hero, Next Year -- which Grohl dedicated to the ever-touring Stompin' Tom -- and a chamber orchestra version of Another Round.

Before playing their 1996 hit Big Me, Grohl had a story to tell. As was typical for the night, the story was as long as the song.

"People would throw full packs at us every time we played it," Grohl recalled, referring to the song video that was inspired by bouncy television commercials for the candy Mentos. "We stopped playing it because I was tired of the bruises."

The band busked a round on the title track Skin and Bones and Best of You before ending their hour-long set with Everlong.

With Skin and Bones, the Foo Fighters have cemented their place in pop and provided a neat bookend for Grohl's career to Nirvana.