In the hands of any other band, Wednesday night's Target Center concert by the Foo Fighters could have easily qualified as an exercise in rote arena-rock cliches. Things like its mid-show "acoustic" set, naughty-word shout-outs, drum solo and -- gasp! -- the hiring of a string player are the stuff that Jack Black movies and VH1 flashback specials are made of.

There's one reason the Foo got away with all those antics on Wednesday, though, and its name is Dave Grohl.

The most affable and just plain likable frontman in modern rock, the Foo's main guy still has an unpretentious everyman charm that made it hard not to eat up his group's nearly two-hour performance. Not to mention, Grohl also writes some pretty catchy radio hits, which were scattered throughout the show. Wednesday's 10,000-plus attendees did as much singing as they did head-banging.

The Foo opened with two songs from their new album, "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace," "Let It Die" followed by the single "The Pretender." Each showcased the extra layers in the band's new eight-piece lineup, including original Foo guitarist Pat Smear (who quit in 1998), former Wallflowers keyboardist Rami Jaffe and Minneapolis' own Jessy Greene on violin and cello.

Perhaps to appease the purists, though, Grohl scaled the band back to its core four-piece lineup early on for favorites such as "Learn to Fly" and "This Is a Call." He was unabashed about the grandiosity of the show.

"I've played that 7th Street [Entry], 400 Bar, First Avenue [stuff]," Grohl said, referencing the Minneapolis clubs that hosted the Foos and his old band Nirvana, "but tonight I'm playing this big place." He also gave a shout-out to local punk legends Hüsker Dü and a nod to Greene: "It took us 14 years, but we've finally got a piece of Minneapolis in the band."

The semi-acoustic set bled into a full-on rock finale via "Everlong," still the band's crowning achievement. Other radio staples, including "Monkey Wrench," "All My Life" and "Best of You," ended the show on pure, unadulterated, who-cares-if-it's-cliched arena-rock bliss.

Wednesday's three-band lineup was an absolute steal in value ($25-$45). Unfortunately, System of a Down singer Tankian -- whose other band has set arenas ablaze on its own tours -- was out-of-place in his first solo outing. Not only did his new band not play any of his old songs (no surprise), it didn't play anything with nearly as much oomph or fire.

However, opening band Against Me! showed more intensity and passion in its half-hour set than the other two acts combined. Quick-bursting songs like "New Wave," "Americans Abroad" and "White People for Peace" encapsulated the raw, revolutionary, Clash-like punk spirit that birthed both the Foo Fighters and Tankian's bands. Too bad they don't play that kind of music on the radio, or the Florida quartet undoubtedly would have played to more than a quarter-full arena.

See the full Foo set list and fan comments at www.startribune.com/music. Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658