Twos company and three's a crowd they say, and it's advice heeded when it comes to the sweet art of music making for today's show openers – Drummer Ben and Bassist Mike are all that is necessary to make a rampant noise as Royal Blood.
Their ascent since forming in 2013 is astounding, although when you hear them at play, you can hear why, and how, they've done it, writes Sammy Jones.
Today Royal Blood look like they are really enjoying things, and theirs is a set strong and rock-sexy. They have a swell line in stadium-sized riffs, which proves particularly handy today, of course, and what would for many an act form a challenging space and spot on the bill is easily dealt with.
They tempt us with a little Sabbath sway (Iron Man) and from their own platter Little Monster and Come on Over are on the money.
Far from faltering, they nail it. Hard.
'He's a bit leathery, ain't he?' one punter says within earshot.
Yep, sure he is. Oh, and Iggy Pop is also way cooler than you will ever be too.
Punk's Godfather arrives in a leather jacket, which is swiftly done away with – and he is soon twisting his way through set opener No Fun which is at odds with his set, because this is great fun.
I Wanna Be Your Dog follows bringing a nighttime party to the late afternoon.
He waves at the folks lining the banks of the Bowl, “...the cheapo people,” he says, “I love you...I'm a cheapo too, look how old my jeans are!
“I'm Iggy...it means everything for me to be here,” he says, before The Passenger rolls out nicely with Iggy kicking the legs high as he skips around the stage, poking his tongue out, pulling faces, waving. He's affable, but with that unmistakable edge.
Fast Cars, Five Foot One, 1969, the songs keep on coming, and though he occasionally stops for a seat, he works that stage like a man possessed when he's on his feet.
Iggy is a reminder of what music should be, and under his direction, is – arresting, edgy, risky and encompassing.
“I wanna thank the Foo Fighters for letting me play, this is a cool joint,” he tells us.
And you, Mr Pop are the coolest of guests.
Note to any young pretenders out there in 'new band' land. Let Iggy be a lesson to you.
Music is more fun when it's real.
They shouldn't even be in these parts this evening by rights. Wembley Stadium was to have hosted the Foo Fighters earlier in the summer, before Dave Grohl took that terrific tumble from the live stage. It scuppered plans, made the headlines and caused one of the greatest frontmen of our time to do more than just quiver his front lip.
Surgery behind him, and recuperation is happening on the road. It's going to take more than broken bones to stall the rock n roll here.
As breaks go, Grohl's leg fracture was a beauty, and nearly three months on, a support cast is in place in Milton Keynes tonight.
London's loss is our gain, as becomes even more apparent when the quintet – swelled further by the live keys of Rami Jeffee dash headlong into set opener Everlong, lifted from The Colour and The Shape opus, the starting point of a two and a half hour set.
It's time to get comfortable, and Dave Grohl has the best means at his disposal; he spends the majority of tonight's show playing from the comfort of his famous throne, which he designed himself - Dave shares his sketches with us this evening.
This throne has quickly evolved into the stuff of legend – and it's a real beauty, an illuminating wow-zer adorned by guitar necks. A throne by name, sure, but a rockin' chair by rights, surely?
In the best rock n roll antic since Paul Stanley from Kiss flew above our heads at the Download Festival, the throne motors Dave down the runway several times during the evening.
The National Bowl has hosted many an A-lister over the years, but Grohl is the only one who has taken the stage in a gargantuan, motorised chair and it's a sight to behold.
Monkey Wrench, Learn to Fly, Something From Nothing and The Pretender are all aired early doors, but this is hardly the sound of a band spilling their musical load prematurely, is it?
They've an armoury of awesome tracks, and Dave suggests, they could go at it all night.
“It's been 11 weeks since the incident and the last fu••in' thing I wanted to do was cancel those fu••ing' shows...I said 'We gotta get back here as soon as we can,” Dave tells us, “...so tonight we're gonna play some extra long sh•t for you...and we're just getting warmed up.”
Grohl might be the showman, but behind him is a band having fun on their third visit to our town – and guitarist Pat Smear is the one who moves the most, accompanied by a regular smile.
Bassist Nate Mendel is looking smart-casual in his pullover and shirt combo: “It almost looks like you could be in Yes...” Grohl tells his musical comrade.
Guitarist Chris Shiflett cuts a quiet figure on the stage, apart from where it matters, and this guy is a guru at the guitar.
“Who is Milton by the way?” drummer Taylor Hawkins asks, stepping out from behind the kit.
Not that they want to investigate history of Milton Keynes for the moment, they want to make it.
“Would you please welcome our two sweet friends, Mr Roger Taylor from Queen and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin...I don't know if you all have seen a super group...this is a super-duper group! Let me tell you that the Foo Fighters are living out our rock n roll fantasy with you tonight!”
And the Queen classic Under Pressure follows, with Hawkins leading the vocal range splendidly.
There are echoes of the Foo's last visit to MK when both JPH and Roger Taylor guested too, but hey, you'll not hear anyone moaning about repetition in these parts.
All My Life, Times Like These and These Days precede a blistering version of White Limo from the Wasting Light opus. We've been waiting for it and the intensity plays against some of their more melodic moments perfectly.
White Limo is a white-knuckle ride though their devilishly noisy side, and reminds us that they can still bruise the fret as required.
For a fleeting moment, the Foo wool comes unstrung during Arlandria, but though this show should be great, it needn't be perfect – this is rock n roll, which is an unkempt beast after all.
They don't even waste time with the obligatory encore, instead playing straight though – For All the Cows, Aurora (“If I look out and see Rose on the barrier, I know everything's going to be alright,” Dave says, dedicating the song to the super fan) and Best of You wrap things up, before the band retires.
Tonight they turned a stadium show into an 'intimate' party for 65,000, and we had the best of them.
