Madison Aguilar, Contributing Photographer

“What’s up, Toad’s?” was a question — accentuated with an expletive — that no one would have expected to hear from Dave Grohl before Monday.

That afternoon, the Foo Fighters announced they would perform a pop-up show at Toad’s Place, on the heels of a Sunday pop-up show in Washington, D.C. The announcement that one of the best-known rock bands, which has won 15 Grammy Awards and sold out stadiums around the world, was playing a 1,000-person venue drew hundreds of fans within hours. 

Tickets were sold in person at Toad’s Place, starting at 4 p.m. on Monday. Hundreds of people gathered in line to buy them for $30 each, winding around Yale’s Humanities Quadrangle and Ezra Stiles and Morse Colleges before 5 p.m.

Doors for the concert opened at 6 p.m. Tuesday, after some fans camped out in front of the venue overnight in hopes of getting as close to the stage as possible.

Michael and Suzy Redgate were among the fans who stood in line for two and a half hours on Monday when ticket sales were announced. Michael Redgate said he heard about the surprise show from a friend’s Facebook post.

It prompted him to drive from Trumbull, Connecticut, to wait in line for the tickets. Michael was ecstatic over the “old-school” ticket system — reminiscent of the 1980s, “when you used to sleep out for tickets,” he said.

Redgate said he preferred in-person ticketing to online sales. “It’s the bots, it’s the computers — they trick the system and they’re all scalpers trying to resell tickets,” he said.

Ed Dingus, the manager of Toad’s Place, said the Foo Fighters wanted to prioritize a small show for the “real fans.” Dingus explained that he knew about the show for about three weeks but kept it under wraps, even from Toad’s employees, who did not find out about the performance until Saturday.

Even fans without tickets were determined to see the band perform on Tuesday.

University of New Haven students Nick Paradise and Nate Swercewski waited in line without tickets. When asked about their game plan, Paradise said, “The plan is we don’t have a plan and we’re going to figure it out at the front door.”

Swercewski added: “Who else is stupid enough to wait in line without a ticket, besides us?”

In fact, there were many others with the exact same plan.

Among those hoping for a lucky ticket was 55-year-old Joanne Lamstein. Lamstein and her friends zealously followed the series of teasers the Foo Fighters had posted throughout the week and deduced that the surprise concert would be at Toad’s. They traveled from New York with the small hope they would buy tickets. 

Her six friends were able to secure tickets on Monday. Lamstein, who arrived a bit later than her group, was unable to secure a ticket. She camped out at Toad’s overnight.

“It’s a great opportunity to let younger people who don’t have the means come and meet a new band,” Lamstein said, “to bring rock and roll back.”

For the original generation of Foo Fighters fans who were around for the band’s creation, the vintage experience of box office ticketing and camping out for the best view was a blast from the past. For the newer generation of listeners, there was a sense of inherited nostalgia that the Foo Fighters show revitalized.

Lamstein held a poster that said “Be my hero, let me be your +1,” with the hope of finding someone with an extra ticket. However, with the minutes inching closer towards showtime, her luck seemed to be running out. 

Around 7:45 p.m., a Toad’s Place worker came out with unmarked blue wristbands and proceeded to hand them to a few people he appeared to have handpicked — among them Lamstein, Swercewski and Paradise. 

The Toad’s worker suggested the wristbands would likely get them in. After waiting anxiously, all three made it just as the show was about to start.

The band performed a set lasting roughly two and a half hours. The setlist featured several fan favorites, including their “Everlong,” “The Pretender” and “Best of You,” as well as early hits such as “Stacked Actors” and “Along + Easy Target.” 

It was the Foo Fighters’ 1,573rd show, according to merchandise made specially for this performance.

Toad’s Place opened in 1975.