If you’ve been tracking the ongoing saga of Dave Grohl’s leg injury as anxiously as we have, then you know the American tour is in full swing. This week the Foo Fighters came to New York City and took on Citi Field, which in seating capacity “makes Madison Square Garden look like a keg party,” as Dave said. Nancy and I were at the first night, July 15, and both of us agreed that it was one of the best shows we’ve ever seen. Why? Some of the highlights:

Opening act Royal Blood laid down one hell of a rocking set. I spend my days in the office listening to XFM London, so I’m very familiar with their music. Nancy hadn’t heard of them before, and we were both impressed by their performance. They seemed to go over well with the crowd that was trickling into the stadium after work, too, and I caught a number of people bobbing their heads to the music (it was too early for the solid headbanging for those of us who weren’t in the pit, no offense to Royal Blood).

After Royal Blood left the stage, a giant Foo Fighters banner draped the stage and the screens switched to highlights from the Foo’s HBO show Sonic Highways to cover the set change. And then with a mighty wail, the Foo Fighters took the stage, Dave in his giant drug-inspired throne. My initial thoughts about the seat resembling a more comfortable Iron Throne were quickly pushed out of my brain by finding out that the throne moves. It. Moves. So while Dave was still largely confined to his seat, he was able to move out the giant runway and get closer to more members of the audience. Nothing beats Grohl for sheer energy: I have never seen a man confined to a chair that had–simply had–to rid himself of his nervous energy by kicking his good leg for two hours. And not just tapping it, kicking it like he was playing a bass drum. I can’t wait to see him perform healthy again.

Speaking of what could have been a tour-ending injury, I have to hand it to the Foos. Life gave them lemons, they said “dafuq is this shit?” and transformed those lemons into limes, which they in turn threw in tequila. And by this I mean they used that broken leg in epic style, creating merch around it, changing song lyrics to refer to it, and sharing the story of the broken leg with an epic slideshow. Seriously, Dave narrated the entire incident complete with videos and slides of him finishing the performance in Sweden, doped up on drugs with a morphine pump in hand, and x-rays of the injury before and after (and the sight of those slides in particular made numerous audience members cringe and shudder). The whole way that Dave Grohl has pushed through this injury is damned inspirational.

It’s also hysterical. How many of you remember this meme?

You may, in fact, have been “Johnny Cash eating cake under a bush” high. It’s possible. But I sincerely doubt you’ve been “I’ma just design me a throne with lighting that moves like a Dalek, oh, and while I’m at it I’ma play a guitar solo with my air cast” high. Dave Grohl, on the other hand, has been this high, and it resulted in brilliance:

The Foo Fighters played full out for two plus hours. I don’t know of another band that does that–I’ve certainly never seen one. They enjoy the hell out of themselves while they’re up there, and the audience enjoyed the hell out of the show as a result. They played old hits from their back catalogue, new songs from Sonic Highways, as well as some of the classic rock songs that inspired them growing up. They’re an awesome cover band, doing blistering renditions of “Under Pressure,” “Next to You,” and “Stay With Me” (that last was with special guest drummer Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, featuring Foo drummer Taylor Hawkins on vocals). I would like an entire album of the Foos covering songs, please. Can we get that?

While this was the first time I had seen them live, this show was so fantastic that it placed the Foo Fighers firmly at the top of my list of “Bands I Will See Whenever They Tour.” I can’t wait for them to come around again. In the meantime, we have You Tube.