The 28th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on April 18th. We already knew that John Mayer and Gary Clark Jr. will perform for Albert King following Mayer’s induction speech for the blues great, The Eagles’ Don Henley will induct Randy Newman, singers Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson will honor the late Donna Summer by performing on her behalf and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins will induct Canadian prog-rockers Rush. Today, a bevy of additional performers have been announced.

Mike McCready, guitarist for Pearl Jam, will team up with Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell to perform with Rock Hall inductees Heart. Usher will honor Quincy Jones with a performance. Director Spike Lee and musical legend Harry Belafonte will pay tribute to Public Enemy. Singer Carole King will perform for Lou Adler, Soundgarden’s  Chris Cornell will induct Heart, Cheech & Chong will present Adler with his award, while Jackson Browne and John Fogerty will perform with Randy Newman.

Those of us who can’t attend in person will have to wait a month to see the festivities as HBO will air the induction ceremonies on Saturday, May 18 at 9PM ET/PT.

Last month Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players made their late night television debut on The Late Show with David Letterman with Stevie Nicks singing You Can’t Fix This. Next week, the group will return to the late night airwaves as the musical guest of Jimmy Kimmel.

Jimmy Kimmel Live will team with Sonos to present a Sound City Players performance on Hollywood Boulevard this Tuesday, March 5. The version of the Sound City Players that will play includes all of the Foo Fighters, Rick Springfield, John Fogerty, Rick Nielsen, Lee Ving, Krist Novoselic and Alain Johannes. You can expect to see at least one of the songs the ensemble plays on Tuesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. Event producers expect 10,000 fans to attend the concert.

Sound City Players @ Hamerstein Ballroom, February 13

Photos: Michael Jurick

Dave Grohl brought his Sound City Players ensemble to New York City this week for a show before a capacity crowd at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Wednesday night as well as the group’s network television debut on Thursday. For Wednesday’s show, Grohl brought together members of the Foo Fighters, Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, John Fogerty, Rick Springfield, Fear’s Lee Ving, Alain Johannes, Chris Goss and Brad Wilk of Rage Against The Machine for the marathon performance.

[All Photos by Michael Jurick]

Photographer Michael Jurick shot the show and turned in a set of stunning photos…

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More videos have surfaced from the debut performance of Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players ensemble which took place on Friday night during the Sundance Film Festival at Park City Live in Park City, Utah. Yesterday we hipped you to footage of the Foo Fighters teaming up with John Fogerty for Fortunate Son and today we’ve mined YouTube for four more incredible performances.

First up, watch as Stevie Nicks leads Grohl, the rest of the Foo Fighters and a few friends through Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams off Fleetwood Mac’s iconic Dreams album…

Stevie Nicks and Sound City Players – Dreams

Next, watch as Nicks and Grohl offer a tender rendition of Stevie’s Landslide with the help of additional Sound City Players on violin and accordion…

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Last night marked not only the debut of the Dave Grohl-directed Sound City documentary but also of the Foo Fighters front man’s Sound City Players ensemble at the Sundance Festival in Park City, Utah. According to a report from Spin, the Sound City Players’ debut performance spanned over three hours and included spots from Rick Springfield, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Fear singer Lee Ving, Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen, Masters of Reality boss Chris Goss and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor as backed by Grohl and the Foo Fighters for the most part by the time it was finished.

As we wait for more footage from what looks to be an amazing show to surface, we did come across this killer clip of the Foo Fighters backing Fogerty on Fortunate Son…

Foo Fighters w/ John Fogerty – Fortunate Son

The Sound City Players’ next gig takes place at the Hollywood Palladium on Jan. 31.

The months in the planning 12-12-12: The Concert For Sandy Relief benefit concert is finally here. We’ll update this post with a setlist, photos, videos and our thoughts as the night goes along. The expected order of performances is Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band > Roger Waters > Bon Jovi > Eric Clapton > Rolling Stones > Alicia Keys > The Who > Kanye West > Billy Joel > Chris Martin > Paul McCartnirvana.

Setlist:

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – Land of Hope and Dreams, Wrecking Ball, My City of Ruins, Born To Run (w/ Jon Bon Jovi), Living On A Prayer

Roger Waters: In The Flesh, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2, The Ballad Of Jean Charles de Menezes, Money, Us and Them, Comfortably Numb (w/ Eddie Vedder)

Adam Sandler: Hallelujah (w/ Paul Shaffer)

Bon Jovi: It’s My Life, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Who Says You Can’t Go Home (w/ Bruce Springsteen), Living On A Prayer

Eric Clapton: Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out, Got To Get Better In A Little While, Crossroads

Rolling Stones: You Get Me Rocking, Jumping Jack Flash

Alicia Keys: Brand New Me, No One

The Who: Who Are You, Bell Boy, Pinball Wizard, See Me Feel Me/Listening To You, Baba O’Riley, Love Reign O’er Me, Tea and Theatre

Kanye West: Clique > Mercy > Power > Jesus Walks > All Of The Lights > Run This Town > Diamonds From Sierra Leone > Diamonds > Touch The Sky, Gold Digger, Good Life, Runaway, Stronger

Billy Joel: Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway), Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song), Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas > New York State Of Mind, River Of Dreams, You May Be Right, Only The Good Die Young

Chris Martin: Viva La Vida, Losing My Religion (w/ Michael Stipe), Us Against The World

Paul McCartney: Helter Skelter, Let Me Roll It, 1985, My Valentine (w/ Diana Krall), Blackbird, Cut Me Some Slack (w/ Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic), I’ve Got A Feeling, Live and Let Die

Alicia Keys: Empire State of Mind Pt. 2

All proceeds from tonight’s concert benefit the Robin Hood Relief Fund and will be used to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Please head to the organization’s website to donate to the cause.

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During their appearance at September’s Global Citizens Festival, Dave Grohl announced from the stage that it was going to be the Foo Fighters last gig for awhile, as they were headed into an extended hiatus after touring the globe in support of their 2011 release Wasting Light. With his new found free time the affable Grohl, who will be the keynote speaker at next year’s SXSW Music Festival and will also step behind the drum kit for the new Queens of the Stone Age album, has revealed that he will be hosting his own show for SiriusXM Radio Show entitled Dave Grohl Presents Sound City. The show, which premieres today on the Classic Vinyl Station at 4PM, will run for nine weeks documenting stories about the famed and now defunct Sound City Studio, where albums like Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Nirvana’s Nevermind were recorded.

Grohl is also directing a new documentary about the studio, which is set to feature the likes of John Fogerty, Tom Petty, Trent Reznor, Joshua Homme, Fleetwood Mac, Krist Novoselic, and Cheap Trick.

Check out the trailer…

• List Time: 9 Acoustic Hip Hop Covers (via Hyper Vocal)
• Lenny Kravitz to star as Marvin Gaye in a new biopic
• Cover Alert: Kevin Barnes (of Montreal) tackles The Beach Boys
• Stereogum “deconstructs” the Mumford-ization of pop music
• Download This: Velvet Underground – The Boston Tea Party – January 1969
• Jeff Tweedy produced slowcore band Low’s new studio album The Invisible Way 

Check out the full schedule for Dave Grohl Presents Sound City…

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As we’ve been telling you about for the past few weeks, an array of rock royalty will take the Madison Square Garden stage on December 12th, 2012 for a one-night-only fundraising concert called 12-12-12 to aid the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Previously announced performers included Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Roger Waters, Kanye West and The Who. Today, organizers have added Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl, Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder and all of Bon Jovi to the bill.

Tickets for “12-12-12” will go on sale Monday, December 3 at 12:00 p.m. ET through Ticketmaster phones, outlets and via ticketmaster.com, www.thegarden.com and www.radiocity.com. Tickets will be available at a variety of price levels. Ticketmaster will waive its ticket service charges for 12-12-12. VIP packages will be made available through the Robin Hood Foundation.  Information on those packages is available by contacting The Robin Hood Foundation at 212-844-3564.

The concert will be streamed over the internet and televised. That information will follow soon.

As had been previously reported, the Austin City Limits Music Festival will expand to two weekends in 2013 following in the footsteps of Coachella. ACL Fest organizers have just announced the dates of the two weekends in 2013 the event will be held: October 4 – 6 and October 11 – 13.

In other news, Dave Grohl has posted a letter to his fans about the Foo Fighters’ plans (or lack of plans). He makes it clear the band isn’t breaking up, but that they are about to take a lengthy break:

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

Finally, Phish bassist Mike Gordon has updated his famed hotline (212-330-9092) and among stories of cooking mishaps, discusses the fact that his solo band won’t be touring this fall. Gordon said in the message that though the group was hitting its stride at their last gigs, they are taking time to re-invent the project by working on new material, a new stage design and more “new” elements.

In April of 2011 the Foo Fighters kicked off an extremely busy year and a half of promotional and touring appearances behind the Grammy-winning album Wasting Light. That touring cycle came to an end last night at the first-ever Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, an event that also saw Neil Young and Crazy Horse make their long-awaited return to the Big Apple after more than eight years.

[Photo via @pawhite]

The festival was put together with the aim of raising awareness to the plight of those living in extreme poverty. An array of celebrities, heads of charitable foundations and award-winning humanitarians spoke to the crowd about the festival’s mission in between acts with one of the last speeches coming from the event’s founder – Hugh Evans. K’Naan opened the concert with a quick, three-song set that included his global hit Wavin’ Flag, while Band of Horses made the most of their short time-slot with impressive takes on Knock Knock, The Great Salt Lake, No One’s Gonna Love You and The Funeral. John Legend made a surprise appearance and paid tribute to a man who spent the last decade of his life living next to Central Park – John Lennon – by delivering a stirring rendition of Imagine.

For a new, free festival, the Global Citizen Festival was well run as in-and-out was a relatively quick process and delays between sets were kept to a minimum. More vending and bathrooms would’ve been appreciated. Like the Foo Fighters, The Black Keys have spent plenty of time on the road over the last 12 months and it showed. Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney and their formidable backing band ran through one hearty rocker after another with impressive precision including seven songs from 2011′s El Camino. Their heavy sound filled the large concert field which comfortably held the approximately 60,000 in attendance. Fuzz-tones, catchy choruses and Auerbach’s heartfelt vocal delivery were highlights of the impressive The Gold On The Ceiling, Lonely Boy, I Got Mine closing segment.

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Once YouTube upped its limits allowing users to upload videos of any size, the portal has been filling up with many exceptional clips containing entire shows from nearly every band you can think of. We want to show our readers these videos and we’ll do so every Friday moving forward. Tomorrow we’ll be introducing a new weekly feature called Full Show Friday in which we’ll hip you to a killer video featuring a full concert from some of our favorite acts.

As a pre-cursor to tomorrow’s launch of Full Show Friday, we’ve prepared a list of 10 amazing, full-show videos from the past seven months featuring the likes of Wilco, MMJ and Radiohead.

1. Tenacious D @ Rock am Ring 2012

Here’s pro-shot footage of The D’s set at Germany’s Rock am Ring festival from June.

00:00 Rize of the Fenix
06:00 Low Hangin’ Fruit
09:25 Senorita
13:00 Deth Starr
17:30 Roadie
21:30 Throw Down
25:00 Saxaboom
26:40 Kielbasa
30:10 Kickapoo
34:40 The Metal
38:35 Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)
44:50 The Who Medley
47:55 Fuck Her Gently
50:30 Tribute
56:00 Double Team

2. Move Me Brightly – A Tribute to Jerry Garcia

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A charity concert called Global Festival that aims to raise funds and awareness towards global poverty will be held on the Great Lawn of NYC’s Central Park on September 29th. Event organizers have put together a power-packed lineup of Neil Young, the Foo Fighters, The Black Keys and K’naan. This inaugural fest will be free to the public but you’ll have to secure tickets via lottery.

Here’s details about how the tickets will be distributed…

Global Poverty Project developed an online and app-based platform called Global Citizen through which potential concertgoers get placed in the lottery by taking action for the various causes and charities represented by the event – from making donations to educating themselves in depth about various issues. The cost of the event is being funded primarily by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Sumner Redstone Charity Foundation, along with partners like UNICEF and Rotary International.

Crazy Horse will back Young at this event, which was put together by the Global Poverty Project along with famed promoter Goldenvoice/AEG.

[via Rolling Stone]

Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger was the host and musical guest of last night’s Saturday Night Live season finale. First up was Mick leading Arcade Fire, with The Strokes’ the Strokes’ Nikolai Fraiture on bass, through the Stones’ 1965 hit The Last Time…

Next, Mick fronted the Foo Fighters on 19th Nervous Breakdown > It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll (But I Like It)

From there, Mick teamed up with Jeff Beck for Tea Party…

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Earlier this week rumors were circulating on Rolling Stones message boards that Mick Jagger would use next Saturday’s appearance on Saturday Night Live as a platform to announce the return of the Stones and a forthcoming tour. While nothing concrete has come out of those rumblings yet, we now know that Jagger will be joined by other rock royalty on the season finale of the long-running SNL.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Foo Fighters and Arcade Fire will join Jagger during the SNL finale on May 19. Details are sparse, but considering Mick doesn’t have a true solo band these days, we were wondering who he’d perform with. Arcade Fire has been laying low since The Suburbs’ tour ended last year, while the Foos are still playing festival slots worldwide. If this goes down as reported, next Saturday will mark Dave Grohl’s record 11th appearance on SNL as musical guest. He’s previously appeared on the show with Nirvana, Tom Petty, Tenacious D, Them Crooked Vultures and of course, the Foo Fighters. Meanwhile, Arcade Fire has been the show’s musical guest twice. We’d think the bands will each back up Jagger on a tune a piece. We’ll keep you posted on any further news.

As we mentioned last week, all signs pointed to legendary rockers Pearl Jam adding another U.S. festival date and today we received our confirmation. Seattle-originated stalwarts Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam will headline September 21 and September 22 respectively of Music Midtown in Atlanta. Music Midtown is a long-running festival held in The Big Peach that took a five-year hiatus before returning last year. The two-stage event will take place in Piedmont Park.

In addition to Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters, the other bands set to play Music Midtown are The Avett Brothers, T.I., Florence & The Machine, Ludacris, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Avett Brothers, Girl Talk, Van Hunt, Civil Twilight, LP and Oh Brother. Tickets will initially cost you $55 per day or $100 for the whole shebang and go on sale this Saturday via Ticketmaster. Prices are expected to jump during the summer.

Here’s the breakdown by day…

Sept. 21: Foo Fighters, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, T.I., Avett Brothers and Van Hunt.

Sept. 22: Pearl Jam, Ludacris and Florence & The Machine. Girl Talk, Civil Twilight, LP and Oh Brother

[via AJC, hat tip - Kevin Tankersley]