This Is What 1K People Covering Foo Fighters Sounds Like

The project has been a year in the making
By Elizabeth Armstrong Moore,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 31, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

What started off as an idea in May 2014 and turned into logistical and technical gymnastics in the months leading up to the big event has just been pulled off. One thousand people from all over Italy gathered in a field in the northern town of Cesena to perform the 1999 Foo Fighters hit "Learn to Fly"—all to try to convince the actual five-man band, which hasn't played in the Romagna region since 1997, to return. The result, as AV Club puts it, is "a hell of a sound." Moreover, the singers, drummers, bassists, and guitarists all look like they're having a blast. Viewers seem to be enjoying it as well; the video, posted yesterday to YouTube, has notched more than 4 million views as of this writing.

"What we did here is just a huge, huge miracle," brainchild and project head Fabio Zaffagnini says to the camera at the end of the performance. Zaffagnini dubbed the project Rockin' 1,000 and raised nearly $50,000 via crowdfunding to pull it off, reports loudwire. And he's not the first; last year a crowdfunded campaign to get the band to play in Richmond, Va., proved successful. The object of Zaffagnini's affection has certainly taken notice. The band is already set to play in Casalecchio Di Reno, Italy, about an hour from Cesena, in November, reports Billboard, and not long after the video went live, the official Foo Fighters Twitter account released a simple tweet: "Che bello, Cesena." About eight hours later came this update: "Ci vediamo a presto, Cesena.... xxx Davide." This translates to, "See you soon, Cesena," and Davide is, presumably, Dave Grohl. (See how much money the Richmond, Va., fans raised to get the band to play.)

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