Last week, I managed to catch the Sound City Players perform what would be their second last show at the Jimmy Kimmel Show, in which I mentioned I was concerned its experience would soil the anticipated SXSW event. Let it be known that it did nothing of the sort.
Opening the concert were The Meat Puppets, the infamous Arizona based rock outfit. They performed old school country rock and roll meets psychedelia with a passion and an intensity that is rarely seen these days, and given Dave’s precedence for the “classic” sound, they were a perfect opener. “Lake of Fire” was a highlight of the set.
As the Sound City Players walked onto the stage, Dave kicked things off with his usual “We’re going to play for a long fucking time tonight, you guys know that right?” schtick. And as usual, it was a very apt comment, with a three-or-so hour show following. The way the Sound City Players concerts work is that the Foo Fighters and a couple of friends work as the backing band, and they are joined by a slew of famous artists performing their own songs, and also the track they worked on together for the Sound City film and album.
Alain Johannes, who toured with Dave as part of Them Crooked Vultures, and has worked with bands like Queens of the Stone age was the first vocalist. He played tracks off his work with Eleven in addition to QOTSA’s “Hanging Tree”, originally sung by Mark Lanegan but written by Johannes, and the song they recorded for the album, “A Trick With No Sleeve”, which kicked off the night.
Stevie Nicks’ performance certainly brought about some of the most special moments of the set, with the highlight of the night being Dave solo on guitar, supporting Nicks during the incomparable “Landslide”. I have goosebumps just talking about it. The song really kicked into gear when they were joined by a violinist and an accordion player. Also making the Nicks set was “Gold Dust Woman”, “Dreams”, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and the Sound City track “You Can’t Fix This”.
Chris Goss was next, accompanied by Brad Wilk from Rage Against The Machine, and he was the only artist who I wasn’t familiar with on the night, though is something of a legend within certain circles – no doubt those on stage – for his work with Masters of Reality, a band whose desert rock was a precursor for Queens of the Stone Age and other bands of that vernacular.
The music, therefore, felt strangely familiar. Bands who have followed have definitely taken many pages of of Goss’ book. And certainly a few riffs. It was rock and roll at its finest, and with the Foo Fighters as his backing band, it couldn’t have worked better. Arguably the best overall set of the night, if only for the unknown nature of most of its music.
ONE TWO THREE FOUR, ONE TWO THREE FOUR!
As Lee Ving kicked off each song with these infamous words, it was hard not to have a smile on your face. This was Lee Fucking Ving of legendary punk outfit Fear, who Dave mentioned at his Keynote address that morning as one of the bands that influenced him growing up. In addition to the Sound City track “Your Wife Is Calling”, he crammed in a pile of classic Fear tracks, from “I Love Livin’ in the City” to “I Don’t Care About You”. It was about as kick arse as you can get.
Things should have taken a decidedly less rock and roll turn when Rick Springfield took to the stage next, but surprisingly the tempo remained pretty high. Springfield showed himself off as a fantastic showman, cranking out the Sound City number “The Man That Never Was”, ahead of a Sammy Hagar cover and three of his own tunes, which naturally ended with “Jessie’s Girl”. The crowd really got into that one.
The most “star studded” part of the night was when Corey Taylor from Stone Sour and Slipknot joined the stage with Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick and Kris Novecelic of Nirvana. Together they played much loved tracks from the Cheap Trick’s backcatalogue, which saw Dave on drums for a slightly metal version of “Surrender”, Taylor Hawkins and Corey Taylor take turns on vocals for “I Want You to Want me” and all the meanwhile, Kris and Rick rounding out a hugely impressive set.
The night ended in style with the frontman of Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty, who wasn’t involved in the album. Leaning against a speaker, Dave looked in bliss while John Fogerty jammed. It was a perfect way to end the night, with “Rolling on the River” and “Fortunate Son” getting the whole place singing along… and we continued to sing them as we left the venue. Fogerty also snuck in one of his solo tracks, “Centerfield”.
Earlier in the night, Dave remarked to Rick that it was their last night touring together, and unfortunately that means that planned concerts in Australia don’t look to be happening. But with one of the best concerts of the festival now behind them, they’ve undoubtedly left it all on a pretty high note. So I’m rather sorry to rub it in…
SETLIST
Alain Johannes
A Trick With No Sleeve
Why (Eleven cover)
All My Friends (Eleven cover)
Hangin’ Tree (Queens of the Stone Age song)
Reach Out (Eleven cover)
Stevie Nicks
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (Fleetwood Mac cover) (Dave Grohl filled in for Tom Petty)
You Can’t Fix This
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac cover) (Acoustic)
Gold Dust Woman (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Chris Goss, Brad Wilk
She Got Me (Masters of Reality cover)
It’s Shit (Masters of Reality cover)
Time Slowing Down (Original song written for “… more)
Domino (Masters of Reality cover)
The Blue Garden (Masters of Reality cover)
Lee Ving
Your Wife Is Calling
I Love Livin’ in the City (Fear cover)
Gimme Some Action (Fear cover)
Beef Bologna (Fear cover)
Foreign Policy (Fear cover)
I Don’t Care About You (Fear cover)
Rick Springfield
The Man That Never Was
I’ve Done Everything for You (Sammy Hagar cover)
Love Is Alright Tonight (Rick Springfield cover)
Love Somebody (Rick Springfield cover)
Jessie’s Girl (Rick Springfield cover)
Rick Nielsen, Corey Taylor, Krist Novoselic
Hello There (Cheap Trick cover)
Stiff Competition (Cheap Trick cover)
I Want You to Want Me (Cheap Trick cover)
From Can to Can’t
Ain’t That a Shame (Fats Domino cover)
Surrender (Cheap Trick cover)
John Fogerty
Travelin’ Band (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
Born on the Bayou (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
Centerfield (John Fogerty cover)
Keep on Chooglin’ (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
Proud Mary (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
