An Italian man has successfully wooed Foo Fighters with a “crazy” plan to have 1,000 musicians play a synchronised rendition of the hit Learn to Fly, in order to persuade the American band to play in his town.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl committed to a trip to Italy on Friday, the day after a video of the performance in Cesena’s Hippodrome Park went viral.
“Ciao Cesena,” Grohl began, in an Italian address posted on the Foo Fighters’ YouTube channel. Grohl, who said he spoke “just a bit, a bit” of Italian, then thanked the performers for the video.
“We’re coming, I swear,” Grohl said. “We’ll see each other soon.”
The video of The Rockin’ 1000 project has collected more than 11.5 million views since it was posted on YouTube on Thursday. It is described on the site as “a miracle that will not be repeated ever again in music history”.
Fabio Zaffagnini devised the plan in May 2014 and launched a crowdfunding campaign later that year. In seven months, the campaign collected €44,788 (Dh180,666), according to Italy’s Ansa news agency.
Organisers sorted through thousands of videos to determine who would make the final cut of 350 guitarists, 250 singers, 250 drummers and 150 bassists.
At the helm of the performance was composer Marco Sabiu, who has worked with Ennio Morricone, Luciano Pavarotti and Kylie Minogue.
Grohl did not commit to a date for Foo Fighters’ Cesena show, though the band has two dates scheduled in Italy in November. After breaking his leg in June during a performance in Sweden, he has performed much of the band’s world tour from a throne.
