Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty + More Join Dave Grohl Onstage at Sundance ‘Sound City’ Party

In what may have been the greatest night of live band karaoke the world has ever seen, Dave Grohl premiered his ‘Sound City‘ documentary at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday (Jan. 18) in style.


Rolling Stone is reporting that a concert lasting three hours and featuring 17 guest musicians rang out at Park City Live in Park City, Utah. With his Foo Fighters serving as house band, Grohl called up such legends as Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty and Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick to jam with him. In addition to Landslide’ and ‘Dreams,’ Nicks sang a new song she wrote with Grohl, ‘You Can’t Fix This,’ which was inspired by her godson’s overdose.

Fogerty, with his “I won’t play Creedence Clearwater Revival songs anymore” era long behind him, cranked out four classics, ‘Bad Moon Rising,’ ‘Fortunate Son,’ ‘Proud Mary’ and ‘Born on the Bayou.’ Some of the other stars to join in the fun were Grohl’s former Nirvana bandmate Krist Novaselic and Corey Taylor of Slipknot. Even Rick Springfield got in on the fun, singing two of his biggest hits, ‘Jessie’s Girl,’ ‘I’ve Done Everything for You’ and another Grohl collaboration, ‘The Man That Never Was.’

‘Sound City’ is a documentary about the legendary Van Nuys, Calif. recording studio where many classic albums were recorded, and features interviews with such names as Tom Petty and Mick Fleetwood talking about their time there. Grohl, who recorded ‘Nevermind’ with Nirvana inside its walls, was so enamored with the studio that, upon its closing in 2011, he bought its Neve 8028 console for his home studio.

“I consider this to be the most important thing I’ve ever done, artistically, of all the albums I’ve made, of all the bands I’ve had the pleasure of being in,” Grohl said at the premiere. “I really feel like the ‘Sound City’ movie, its intention is to inspire the next generation of kids to fall in love with music as much as I did.”

source: ultimateclassicrock.com

Dave Grohl Issues Foo Fighters Statement

The band aren't splitting up, just taking a well earned rest

After a little bit of speculation in the past few weeks, Dave Grohl has confirmed that we won't be seeing much of the Foo Fighters for a  while.







He said on Facebook:

Hey everyone...

Dave here. Just wanted to write and thank you all again from the bottom of my heart for another incredible year. (Our 18th, to be exact!) We truly never could have done any of this without you...

Never in my wildest dreams did I think Foo Fighters would make it this far. I never thought we COULD make it this far, to be honest. There were times when I didn't think the band would survive. There were times when I wanted to give up. But... I can't give up this band. And I never will. Because it's not just a band to me. It's my life. It's my family. It's my world.

Yes... I was serious. I'm not sure when the Foo Fighters are going to play again. It feels strange to say that, but it's a good thing for all of us to go away for a while. It's one of the reasons we're still here. Make sense? I never want to NOT be in this band. So, sometimes it's good to just... put it back in the garage for a while...

But, no gold watches or vacations just yet... I'll be focusing all of my energy on finishing up my Sound City documentary film and album for worldwide release in the very near future. A year in the making, it could be the biggest, most important project I've ever worked on. Get ready... it's coming.

Me, Taylor, Nate, Pat, Chris, and Rami... I'm sure we'll all see you out there... somewhere...

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

Dave

All that being said, the band said something similar in 2008 after their Wembley Stadium shows so how long this break is remains to be seen.

source: planetrock.com

Stars rock New York to fight poverty

NEW YORK - The Black Keys, Foo Fighters and Neil Young rocked New York's Central Park on Saturday with a free concert highlighting efforts to combat extreme poverty around the world.

An estimated 60,000 people flocked to the Manhattan park's Great Lawn for the event organized by the Global Poverty Project. Unlike past benefit concerts, the main aim was to raise attention, not money.

Tickets were free, but to qualify, online concertgoers had to accumulate points by watching videos on globalcitizen.org about various elements of extreme poverty, ranging from malaria to mothers dying in childbirth.




Points also added up when those applying passed on information via social networks like Twitter.

The Global Poverty Project says it has more than met its goal of securing pledges worth more than $500 million this year from aid agencies and other donors, some of which were announced between sets at the concert.

But the concert itself was about bringing the anti-poverty message to ordinary people.

With the United Nations wrapping up its annual General Assembly, this was the perfect moment to push for mass participation in the cause, Global Poverty Project CEO Hugh Evans said.

"Politicians, you know what they do?" Evans licked his finger and stuck it in the air. "They look to see where the wind is blowing. Civil society decides where that wind is blowing," he told journalists near the stage, with the Manhattan skyline in the background.

"We want to build a movement. It can't be just one concert."

In addition to the concert headliners, there was a rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine" by John Legend and performances from K'naan and Band of Horses.

Rockers used the stage to promote the poverty awareness message, helped by short videos on huge screens showing the work of anti-poverty campaigners.

"We believe these problems are solvable. All it takes is the will of the leaders, the will of the people, and that's why we're here," Legend said.

Karen Sullivan, a 43-year-old teacher attending the concert, said she agreed there was a need to get people talking about extreme poverty around the world, and accused the media of failing to spread the word.

"I think people want to know, but don't have the avenues," she said. "People say Americans don't care and I get very angry about that. I think Americans do care. They just don't know what to care about."

Perhaps many in the huge crowd, though, were at least as excited by the one-off opportunity to see their rock gods as by the idea of helping the world's poor.

"Mostly we just wanted to see the Foo Fighters. We got lucky," said fireman Stan Kowalski, 30.

Organizers say they want supporters of the Global Poverty Project to Tweet President Barack Obama and his Republican opponent Mitt Romney with requests for a detailed discussion on foreign policy during the upcoming presidential debates.

source: interaksyon.com

Foo Fighters Drummer Will Play Iggy Pop in 'CBGB'

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins will portray Iggy Pop in the forthcoming film CBGB, the Hollywood Reporter confirms. This will be Hawkins' first significant acting role, though he has had comedic roles in a handful of Foo Fighters videos. It's unclear how substantial the role will be – there's a good chance that it's a small part and Hawkins was cast in part because he somewhat resembles the Stooges rocker in his prime.

Other parts in the film have been cast as well, including The Borgias actress Mickey Sumner as Patti Smith, The Big Bang Theory star Johnny Galecki as Television manager Terry Ork, Malin Akerman as Blondie singer Debbie Harry and Rupert Grint as Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome. Alan Rickman will star as Hilly Kristal, the owner of the famous punk rock hot spot.

source: rollingstone.com

Foo Fighters' 'Million-Dollar Demos' Leak Online

Previously unheard demos of "Have It All" and "Come Back" from the Foo Fighters' contentious early recording sessions for their album One by One have surfaced, GrungeReport points out.

When the Foos started recording One by One in 2002, things were already on the rocks. The group was on the outs after a lengthy tour, while drummer Taylor Hawkins was recovering from a near-fatal drug overdose. The sessions at Grohl's home studio in Virginia and Conway Studios in Los Angeles yielded less than positive results, and Grohl put recording on hold.

In a 2002 Spin interview following the release of One by One, Grohl admitted that the band wasn't quite ready to record yet. He added, "We basically made what Taylor called 'the million-dollar demos.'"

The demos are, unsurprisingly, a bit rougher around the edges than the finished album cuts. Closer "Come Back" clocks in a few minutes shorter and lacks the added instrumentation. Still, their overall quality is quite impressive, especially for demos – a testament to the Foo Fighters' impeccable ability to craft rock gems even under less-than-perfect circumstances.

source: rollingstone.com