A love fest for the hardy Foo Fighters

Throughout the Foo Fighters’ nearly two-hour concert at the Universal Amphitheatre Thursday, grown men screamed their love for leader Dave Grohl with all the eardrum-bursting hysteria of preteen girls at an ‘N Sync show. The former Nirvana drummer proved worthy of their adoration, a populist guitar god whose skill and amiable self-indulgence continue to move his band toward arena-rock heaven.

On the first of two sold-out consecutive nights, the accessibly scruffy Grohl wielded his instrument with precision, grandiosity and wit. He amused himself with antics that also thrilled fans, as when he plunged into the audience with his guitar during a super-extended “Stacked Actors,” balancing above seats in mid-venue for some musical call-and-response with guitarist Chris Shiflett, bassist Nate Mendel and drummer Taylor Hawkins. The quartet’s pumped-up, angular-to-melodic blend of grunge, punk, metal, classic rock and Washington, D.C.-style hard-core proved reasonably versatile. The music became somewhat repetitive, but the players worked hard to finesse variations with fluid dynamics and a few tempo changes.

Selections from last year’s “One by One” and earlier collections emphasized Grohl’s knack for galvanizing moments, from the relatively primitive classic “This Is a Call” to the more sensitive anthem “Times Like These.” Despite the aggressive crunch, the songs were often introspective and positive; “Tired of You” isn’t a kiss-off but a pledge of devotion.

Grohl clearly enjoyed being in the spotlight, but he had fun stepping into the background during the encore, when he happily flailed away at the drum kit while surprise guest Liam Lynch took over guitar to perform his novelty tune “United States of Whatever.”