It looks liks Them Crooked Vultures, the new supergroup featuring Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, and Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, will take the stage for the first time this Sunday at the Metro in Chicago as part of a Lollapalooza after party.
Nice guys don't always finish last, and Dave Grohl is living proof.
Foo Fighters, one of the only rock acts to consistently deliver gimmick-free platinum records, has become such a welcome staple of rock radio (and my iPod) that I sometimes forget that Grohl was once in another band that was, you know, kind of awesome.
The Foo Fighters will take a short break from their extended hiatus when they play a very special Fourth of July party this Saturday — at the White House! Rolling Stone has learned that the band will perform a short set as part of the annual festivities on the South Lawn, which has an unblemished view of the capital’s elaborate fireworks display. Earlier this week, President Obama invited staffers and their immediate families to the official First Family celebration; and it should be noted that back in January, it was many of those same staffers who campaigned for the Arcade Fire to play their much-deserved victory ball on inauguration night.
Will we see a picture of Dave flashing a toothy grin with the President? I hope so.
Here's a great old MTV News clip of another great band playing at the White House during the Clinton years.
According to Blabbermouth, Josh Homme, frontman of Queens of the Stone Age, is said to be collaborating with rock legend Dave Grohl and Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Homme's wife Brody Dalle commented on the project, saying that she is "not at liberty to talk about it, but i think [the project] is pretty f*cking amazing. Just beats and sounds like you've never heard before."
While this is a trio of absolutely epic proportions, remember that none of them are strangers to each other in the least. Grohl played drums on Queens of the Stone Age's breakout album, Songs For The Deaf, and John Paul Jones conducted an orchestra for Foo Fighters' performance of "The Pretender" at the Grammys.
In any case, this is definitely a project to keep an eye on, since there is almost zero chance of this being anything less than spectacular, and Grohl and Homme have a reputation for being great collaborators.
Alice in Chains, the Seattle grunge mainstay who actually broke big before Nirvana or their other peers, will be releasing their first album since 1995. It's also their first new music since the passing of lead singer Layne Staley from a heroin overdose in 2002. The band reformed with new singer William DuVall in 2005 and toured with Velvet Revolver in the summer of 2007.
The LA Times stopped in to catch the final days of their recording with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Rush, Superdrag) and found the band in good spirits.
Will the first grunge band to break be the last one standing? The new album is slated for a September release by Virgin/EMI -- we'll find out then.
