UK Foo Fighters & Pearl Jam UK | Times Like These #saveourvenues #letthemusicplay #FF25

For over a decade we have toured the UK, performing in many of the venues currently at risk of closure. What can WE do to help grassroots music at this time of crisis?

The idea to collaborate on this track was born a few weeks ago. When Jay (UK Foo Fighters) posted on Kev's (Pearl Jam UK) live stream saying, "play some Foo Fighters Kev!?". Kev obliged playing a few bars of 'Times Like These' and we both watched his feed fill with dozens of requests saying, "you guys should do a duet!". Well here it is folks! And for a pretty damn good cause too we think?

Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam both have very special relationships with the UK music scene. I know for one, Dave Grohl credits the UK and its music fans massively for his bands' international success.
Fitting that today also marks 25 years of Foo Fighters. #FF25

UK Music - Let The Music Play
"UK live music has been one of the UK’s biggest social, cultural, and economic successes of the past decade. But, with no end to social distancing in sight or financial support from government yet agreed, the future for venues, concerts and festivals and the hundreds of thousands of people who work in them looks bleak. Like other countries such as Germany and Australia, we need the Government to help the music industry, which contributes £5.2 billion to the economy annually and sustains almost 200,000 jobs to ensure it remains world-leading following the damage caused by this pandemic. Until these businesses can operate again, which is likely to be 2021 at the earliest, government support will be crucial to prevent mass insolvencies and the end of this world-leading industry. On July 2nd 2020, UK Music and members of the UK Live Music Group, alongside a coalition of live music businesses including artists, venues, concerts, festivals, production companies and industry figures launched a campaign, Let The Music Play, to highlight the importance of the sector to the UK’s economy."

Read more to find out what UK Music & Music Venue Trust are asking for, why it is needed, what they are doing and what you can do. Read more:-

UK Music
https://www.ukmusic.org/policy/let-the-music-play
Music Venue Trust
https://saveourvenues.co.uk
Pearl Jam UK
https://pearljamuk.com

UK Foo Fighters - Standing in for Foo Fighters!?

So…… Dave breaks his leg at Gothenburg and was forced to cancel a number of Sonic Highways tour dates including both nights at Wembley Stadium (London) and Murrayfield (Edinburgh).

Shortly after the announcement we started receiving messages from followers of both UK Foo Fighters and Foo Fighters saying, “are you standing in Jay?”, “are you free Jay?”, “have you had the call yet guys?”.  We kinda laughed it off at the time but it was also very humbling to receive such acknowledgements and to be considered as a worthy stand-in.
Cue Tom Pugh from Given To Live (a live music related project we have been working with)…..
Tom had organised fundraisers for the Wembley shows with the support of Foo Family UK, planning to put on a number of original acts at Wembley Stadium Crystal Clubs to coincide with Foo’s performances on 19-20th June at Wembley Stadium.  Tom calls up the very next morning after the Foo’s announcement and says, “I’m going to have to cancel our fundraisers……. unless you fancy headlining both nights?”.  To cut the story short….. we did! And if you didn’t know, we even went to Edinburgh on 23rd June and did it again!  Those performances were so special in so many ways, for one, we learnt that Foo Fighters fans who had travelled from all over the world to see Foo Fighters were now coming to see UK Foo Fighters.  We were now ‘standing in’…… no pressure!

It was an honour and a privilege to do what we did!  As we always say, “we hope you approve Dave and Foo Fighters?”.  We are delighted to announce that collectively we raised over £10,000 for Given To Live.  Tom has already been working hard to put the money to use and we look forward to hearing of more great stories from him over the coming months. Dave has already been helping too: Kayleigh meets Foo Fighters by Given To Live

So….. a massive thank you to all Foo Fighters fans who came to see us play at Wembley and Edinburgh from a very proud Jay, Arron, Alex, Jamie, Nick and Ollie (UK Foo Fighters).  See you on the road and at the after parties!

Press:-
http://www.gigwise.com/news/101205/foo-fighters-cancelled-wembley-show-uk-tribute-band
http://www.nme.com/news/foo-fighters/86287
http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/06/foo-fighters-tribute-band-fills-in-for-real-foo-fighters-with-last-minute-gig-in-london/
http://loudwire.com/tribute-band-uk-foo-fighters-rock-nearby-wembley-venue-foo-fighters-cancellation/
http://www.palatinate.org.uk/?p=60214

UK Foo Fighters | Given To Live | Leeds Music Trust | Sonic Motorways

Imagine your favourite band is coming to a town near you and it’s been a year or two since you last saw them. You book your tickets, perhaps a day or two off work, a hotel, the train.

Now imagine that life is not quite so straightforward.  That your disability, lifelong health condition or personal circumstances prevent you from accessing a computer, public transport or crowds.  Perhaps you need a support worker or a companion to go with you.  Perhaps you are a carer who struggles to leave a dependent or you live in a refuge.  In which case, you are one of thousands of music lovers across the UK who, every year, due to no fault of their own, miss out on the chance to see their favourite bands live.

In an effort to remedy this situation, Foo Fighters tribute band, UK Foo Fighters, fronted by Dave Grohl lookalike, Jay Apperley, recently headed to the Blues Bar in Harrogate, North Yorkshire to record their version of Foo track ‘In the Clear’, taken from the Foos’ 2014 ‘Sonic Highways’ album.  In an unusual move for a tribute band, the UK Foo's will be releasing the song on iTunes, with proceeds going to Bristol-based charity Given to Live and Leeds Music Trust (a music charity based in the Old Chapel Music Studios in Leeds) supported by Ricky Wilson and his Kaiser Chiefs.  The aim of both of these projects is to break down social barriers and offer disadvantaged youngsters access to live music and musical skills. 

Jay, who recently had a dream come true when he was given the chance to sing with the real Foo's at Brighton Concorde, says, "When Dave Grohl invited me to front his band last September, in front of the world’s press, he changed everything.  He didn’t have to do what he did, it wasn’t about him (it never is with Dave), he knew he was making my dream come true.  Foo Fighters recorded ‘In the Clear’ at Preservation Hall, New Orleans in 2014.  Dave’s inspiration for the song was the music history of the region and the people of New Orleans, their community spirit and their recovery since the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  This project is my way of celebrating our local music scene but more importantly, of helping others to access live music and, perhaps, if they get the chance to meet their idols, make their dreams come true.  Just like Dave did for me."

Tom Pugh, founder of Given To Live, thinks what the UK Foo's are doing is amazing, saying, "For the charity to be recognized in this way shows me how important what we do is.  I have so much respect for Jay and this project means that we can really move the charity up a level, going from helping one or two vulnerable people a year to enjoy live music to, perhaps, helping two or three a month."

UK Foo Fighters cover of ‘In the Clear’ will be available on iTunes April 18th.

By Jacqueline Grima - April 1st, 2015

Fact File

Featuring world renowned saxophonist Snake Davis.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_Davis
Snake’s most famous collaboration was on Take That’s – Million Love Songs

Music video produced by: Ontsofa Limited
Edited by: Declan Creffield
Audio recorded in the 'Kaiser Room' (Kaiser Chiefs rehearsal room) by: Adrian Burch & David Whitaker of Czar Street Studios (at Old Chapel Leeds).
Ricky Wilson from Kaiser Chiefs is a patron of Leeds Music Trust

Holy Shits | Concorde 2 | Brighton

Rolling Stone Magazine

Foo Fighters Play With Cover Band, Premiere New Material at Secret Show

The Foo Fighters played a secret gig at Brighton, England's Concorde 2 on Wednesday, performing under the alias "the Holy Shits." While the group usually packs arenas, only 600 fans caught this surprise concert, which featured a mix of greatest hits, songs that had dropped off the band's set lists and one brief snippet of Sonic Highways material. There was also a cool moment where frontman Dave Grohl invited the lead singer of the tribute band UK Foo Fighters to come stage and sing Wasting Light's "White Limo" with the real Foo Fighters. Read more

By Daniel Kreps - September 11, 2014

Consequence of Sound

Foo Fighters perform with Foo Fighters tribute band during secret UK show

The band’s performance of “Big Me” was dedicated to a UK Foo Fighters tribute band in attendance. “We don’t wanna shit the bed in front of the UK Foo Fighters. They’ll be like, that’s not how it goes,” Grohl quipped. Later, Grohl invited the tribute band’s lead singer to the stage to join the band in their performance of “White Limo”. Read more

by Alex Young - September 11, 2014