SAN FRANCISCO — Just a month after headlining Outside Lands, rockers Foo Fighters returned to the Bay Area to perform at Dreamfest, benefitting UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals.

The concert, presented by Salesforce in conjunction with its annual Dreamforce conference and held at Chase Center, included a little bit of everything before the main event, from appearances by actor Matthew McConaughey and Golden State Warriors great Andre Iguodala to a DJ spinning dance tunes as furry blow-up mascots gyrated along.

The hit-centric song list felt like it blew right by—frontman Dave Grohl commented how it was the shortest Foo Fighters concert ever—on a rotating, in-the-round stage.

Just as visible as the Foo Fighters was the cause for the evening: the largest yearly fundraiser for the hospitals.

“All right, all right, all right!” McConaughey intoned before getting right to business: That Dreamfest has raised $100 million over the years.

Iguodala then introduced 22-year-old Selah Kitchiner, a former UCSF pediatric patient who overcame liver failure and a transplant at 13 while losing her father to cancer, who is now on a path to becoming a doctor herself, having graduated college and going to start medical school. He presented her with the Colin Powell Medal of Courage for her bravery and commitment to health equity. Kitchiner is also a healthcare advocate, speaking on racial disparities in organ transplants and donations. The medal is given annually to a patient who’s demonstrated courage, empathy or leadership.

After the quick ceremony, the Foo Fighters walked single-file from a tunnel and along the side of the arena floor to climb onto the round stage.

“Do you want a rock and roll show? I’ll give it to you!” Grohl snarled as he made the first of numerous laps around the stage’s perimeter.

The Foos’ new drummer, Josh Freese, followed suit by kicking right into “All My Life.” Grohl, still exploring the stage’s nooks and crannies, eventually made his way to the drummer just in time for a rolling drum solo. The band briefly paused the song before taking it into overdrive. There were numerous dramatic pauses throughout the 75-minute performance.

No song felt done until one or more reprises had been played. “The Pretender,” which Grohl had the audience start as a singalong, contained multiple dramatic builds. The band carried that song right into the anthemic “Learn to Fly.” Here, Grohl, backed by the talented Freese, guitarists Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear, bassist Nate Mendel and keyboardist Rami Jaffee, had a chance to stretch his vocal cords with some snarling screams.

The punk-laden “No Son of Mine” kicked off a medley of sorts that included snippets of Metallica songs, starting with an instrumental “Enter Sandman.”

“We’re gonna do something a little special tonight for a friend of ours who’s here tonight,” Grohl said, later adding, “I got another one for Lars. I think you might like this one a little bit better.”

The next cover was “Paranoid.”

“This is how we get warmed up!” Grohl yelled.

Pressed for time, Foo Fighters played just one song from their latest album, But Here We Are, but they made it count with the rowdy “Rescued.” The popular “Walk” then led into a powerful hammer-on solo by Shiflett. Grohl then chit-chatted with the crowd, taking an informal poll of how many in the audience had seen his band before and reacting to the expectedly louder shout for those who had not.

“You’re my target demographic!” he declared.

During the band introductions, the Foos took turns playing bits of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” and the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Pop,” before Grohl recalled how at one point of the band’s performance at Outside Lands, Michael Bublé showed up to perform one of his songs. There was no Bublé at Dreamfest, nor did the band play one of his songs without him as they had been doing on their latest tour.

“I love the guy, but I don’t know a thing about Michael Bublé’s music,” Grohl joked.

Instead, the frontman mentioned the time constraints again—”It’s a good thing! You guys have jobs! Most of our audience doesn’t”—and the Foo Fighters carried on with the hits. First up was a soft rendition of “My Hero,” which gave Jaffee a chance to shine as his solo sounded like a blast of ’80s mellow gold past.

The classic “This is a Call” led into a nine-minute rendition of “Aurora,” which Grohl explained was the late Taylor Hawkins’ favorite Foos song. It ebbed and flowed, taking on new personalities minute by minute.

Grohl, a blue collar rocker, had the crowd practice screaming during “Monkey Wrench.” He paused to explain that as a professional screamer, he would show fans the way, and then he brought the song home with ferocity.

“This is how I pay my kids’ tuition,” he explained to the techie crowd.

Over the last few songs of the performance, he carried on a conversation with a fan who brought a sign wanting to play guitar. He teased the young man at first, feigning exasperation before the band kicked into the thunderous wall of sound of “Best of You,” but toward the end of the last song, “Everlong,” the band abruptly stopped and Grohl motioned for the fan to come forward. After exchanging a few words, the rocker handed the man his guitar, and the band—plus one—brought the song and the performance to a rousing end.

The evening was a jubilant one at Chase Center. Bands and DJs performed in the lobbies of the arena as attendees filed in. Attendees were treated with hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and afterparties on numerous levels included cocktails, snacks and various activities like silent disco and video games.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.