ONE of the biggest rock bands on the planet played a remarkable surprise gig just miles away from Wiltshire on Friday.

Frome’s Cheese and Grain welcomed world-renowned Foo Fighters as part of their publicity for their highly-anticipated headline announcement for this year’s Glastonbury Festival.

The band played an intimate 2.5 hour set to a stunned crowd of 650, most of whom had been selected from the band’s fan mailing list in a 50-mile radius of the town but also a lucky 100 who had assembled outside the venue who were let in.

The Somerset venue had been selected by the band and Glastonbury organisers as they did not want to play a big city venue.

Tracey Rawlins, marketing manager for the Cheese and Grain, said: “The Foo Fighters were so friendly and gracious. They chatted to staff throughout the day and even sat in the café and had lunch, mingling with our staff and posing for photographs.

“They commented on how much they loved the venue and were very impressed that we are a not for profit social enterprise. Frontman Dave Grohl personally promised to return as he enjoyed playing in Frome so much.”

Tickets were drawn in a mysterious campaign which involved fans being sent ‘boarding passes’ from the band and confirmation of where the concert was going to be held was not revealed until the day before.

Mrs Rawlins added that even the venue staff were not told until Thursday afternoon.

“We knew we had potentially something big booked in as SJM Concerts had been to the venue a few times in the previous eight weeks to run through their requirements with us,” she added.

“They wouldn’t reveal who it was, though, but we like everyone else speculated and guessed that Glastonbury Festival was involved.

“We are so grateful to Emily Eavis, our patron, for putting us forward for this exciting event. It went like clockwork, all our staff worked hard and we thoroughly enjoyed working with SJM and Showsec. It has certainly put us on the map as a venue."

Over 2.4 million people watched the livestream on the internet as the band rattled through their vast back catalogue of hits including Learn To Fly, Monkey Wrench and The Pretender.