Foo Fighters announced that they are playing two secret shows in intimate venues: Irving Plaza (NYC) on Thursday April 30th and Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ) on Saturday May 2, 2026. Holy shit; I’m so glad I waited for a NY or NJ show, which wasn’t on their tour schedule! Tickets for both events were going on sale at their perspective venues at 10am on April 30th. I had to make a quick decision: do I go to NYC and take the chance at a 1,200 capacity venue or stay in NJ and drive 40mins to Starland, a 2,500 cap venue and arrive at 4am when their parking lot opens to wait in line until tickets go on sale. This was a no brainer for me. I’m going to Starland. I asked my sisters and a few friends but no dice. Looks like I’m going on this journey alone.
The whole point of buying tickets in person is to beat the bots and scalpers, which I can totally get behind. This is especially necessary when stadium bands play small venues. Let the fans get tickets at a reasonable price for once! The venue limited each person to buying 2 tickets max and the person who bought the tickets have to go to the show. Did I mention tickets were only $30?!
I wake up at 3am, pack some snacks, water, and a book or two, and I’m on the road by 3:20am. I arrive on Jernee Mill Rd (where the venue resides) at 4am, but it took me 30mins to get into the lot because of all of the other cars waiting to get in. I park my car at the VFW across the street and grab my things, eager to get in line. The line is running along the perimeter of the parking lot, with about 400 people already waiting. I posted up in line, parallel to the street, between the Starland sign and the woods. It’s dark out, the birds are chirping, it’s a little chilly, but the rain has luckily passed. A Starland employee was counting the line and stopped two people behind me to tell the guy to hold his pen. I figured it was a marker, so I asked what number we’re at and he said he couldn’t tell me but that we’re good. Awesome! So now all we have to do is wait. They started giving out wristbands around 5am, I got mine around 5:45am.
The day was getting lighter, still overcast, but at least I could read a book now if I wanted to. The people in the line around me were really cool. One guy next to me went back to his car and brought a few towels and offered one for me to sit on. I was grateful. Lots of people brought those outdoor sporting chairs which was a very smart idea. Someone even brought a small air mattress and the other guy next to me (with the pen) brought an outdoor lounge chair. Respect. I don’t know why I thought it would be ok to stand the whole time. I guess because I’ve done it before for Green Day in way colder conditions - I wrote about that experience too, if you’re interested.
Around 7:30am, the venue opens up to give people access to their bathrooms which I thought was pretty cool considering they had a porta potty. They also started selling bagels, muffins, coffee, and that infamous pizza that they sell during their shows. I didn’t leave my spot, even though I trusted my line friends to save it if I needed to. I didn’t even finish the first chapter of the book I brought because I enjoyed the conversations we were having and it honestly made the time go by quickly. I spotted a Dave look-a-like walking around and pointed him out. My line friend with the pen got all excited, shot up out of his lounge chair to take a selfie with him, prompting lots of other people to do the same. It was pretty funny.
The venue decided to start selling tickets a little earlier. Hallelujah! The vets in line were all talking about how this is how tickets used to be sold and how we hope more venues do this because it was such an amazing experience. Here’s a little news coverage on it - fast forward to about 1:30 to see me in a white Lavender Disaster hoodie and the Dave look-a-like right after. I finally get into the box office at 11:15am to secure my 2 tickets. Fuck yes. Let’s go. See you on Saturday, Foos!
We arrive around 6:45pm to find another huge line to wait on. Luckily the line was moving quickly but once we got in, there was no end in sight for the merch line. Show starts at 8pm. We finally get up to the merch table with time to spare, some things were sold out already, but that’s ok, we got our shirts. Now it’s time to get through this dense crowd and pick a place to stand. I knew exactly where I wanted to go since I’ve been to many Starland Ballroom shows before. We posted up in our spot and who do I see directly to my left, an amazing drummer from the local music scene! She seriously rocks, check out GETLOST.
8:00pm comes around and Foo Fighters take the stage! They played a bunch of deep cuts and many of their hits. Some of my favorite songs they played were “Hey, Johnny Park!”, “Aurora, “This is a Call”, “Monkey Wrench” and “Stacked Actors”. They played for 2.5 hours, definitely getting our money’s worth! [Dave kept making a joke that because we paid $30 for a ticket that they’re going to give us our moneys worth.] Here is the complete set list if you’re interested.
The crowd was vivacious. The band was energetic and having a blast, as always. I love Dave’s stage banter. It was cool hearing about Ilan, the new drummer, and how his first drum teacher [who Dave met that night] inspired Dave to buy a yellow drum set when he was 16 which he eventually used to record Nirvana’s Nevermind. The drum teacher was in a band called The Hooters. He saw him playing the set in one of their music videos. Here’s a clip I found of him talking about it. How fucking crazy is that?
All in all, waking up early and waiting on a line for several hours to get tickets to one of my all-time favorite bands in a small venue that I grew up going to is something I was never going to pass up on. I’m very glad I did it and that I actually had the day off on a Saturday to go to the show. It almost seemed meant to be. I would 100% do it again. Who’s coming with me this time?!
Peace & love,
Caroline
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