Dave Grohl’s ‘Hanukkah Sessions’ to return with live covers featuring Beck, Pink, Tenacious D and more

Dave Grohl held a secret show in Los Angeles on Monday (December 5), performing a set of covers – with a packed slate of special guests – for the first live edition of his ‘Hanukkah Sessions’ series.

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According to Variety, the show went down at the 250-capacity Largo venue, where the Foo Fighters frontman – as well as his regular ‘Hanukkah Sessions’ collaborator Greg Kurstin – performed nine songs. It was the first time they’d ever recorded the series in front of a live audience, with both of the first two editions tracked in Kurstin’s home studio.

The show was hosted by famed dramedy director Judd Apatow, with profits from ticket sales being donated to the Anti-Defamation League. Apatow also joined Grohl, Kurstin and their all-Jewish band for their opening song, a cover of ‘Spinning Wheel’ by Blood Sweat & Tears.

Up next (per Variety) was Pink, who took the stage and declared, “My name’s Alicia, I’m a Jew,” before leading the band on her own song ‘Get This Party Started’. Her appearance was followed by one from Inara George – a bandmate of Kurstin’s in The Bird And The Bee – who sung lead on a cover of ‘The Things We Do For Love’ by 10cc.

Grohl was then joined by his daughter Violet, performing an acoustic rendition of Janis Ian’s ‘Edge Of Seventeen’, which she dedicated in the memory of its late producer, Brooks Arthur. Tailing her was Beck, who, like Pink, opted to sing one of his own songs – ‘E-Pro’ – before handing over to Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O for a play-through of their 2009 hit ‘Heads Will Roll’.

Rounding out the main set was ‘The Spirit Of Radio’ by Rush – covered by Grohl, Kurstin and both members of Tenacious D (Jack Black and Kyle Glass) – followed by a performance of Randy Newman’s ‘I Love L.A.’ (re-titled to ‘We Love L.A.’) that saw Grohl welcome all previous guests back onstage. An encore, too, saw Beck and Tenacious D return to cover the David Lee Roth version of ‘Just A Gigolo’.

I was at the Hanukkah Sessions last night. AMA from Foofighters

Grohl is yet to formally announce a release date – or any other concrete details – for his and Kurstin’s third series of ‘Hanukkah Sessions’. Released to celebrate songs by Jewish musicians, the first series was drip-fed over the Hanukkah season of 2020, and saw the pair cover songs by Drake, the Beastie Boys, Peaches, Bob Dylan, Mountain, Elastica, The Knack and The Velvet Underground.

The series returned last year, with Grohl and Kurstin covering tracks from Billy Joel, Van Halen, Barry Manilow, Lisa Loeb, the Ramones, Amy Winehouse, The Clash and KISS. Though initially released on YouTube, both series were made available on streaming platforms last December.

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