Introduction
Dave Grohl is one of the most productive and inspiring artists in the History of Rock music! How could we, as a cover band, not share our enthusiasm about his creations, collaborations and his career (so far)?! So we did it. Dave Grohl & Friends is a multimedia show featuring video and live music which is performed live by Les Enroules. It covers many bands with which Dave has played either as a constant member or as a one- shot collaborator (live or in studio). The list is endless, but the most representative ones are the Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Queens Of The Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Tenacious D, L7, Juliette & The Licks, Soundcity OST. Aside from the music, we will also be showing several short videos (excerpts from live shows, interviews, documentaries, etc.) where Dave and his friends share pieces of their thoughts, ideas and memories. The video part is presented by VJ Renour.
Overview
In this booklet, you will learn more about this project and the people behind it. You will also get some of the band's multimedia references. The document finally presents the details of the show, with technical specifications and a typical setlist given as an example.
Contact Info
Phone : +32498642463 Email : [email protected] Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/LesEnroules Twitter : @lesenroules Website : http://DaveGrohlAndFriends.com The Dave Grohl and Friends project
Dave Grohl started his career as a drummer in a rock band called Scream in the Seattle area. After a while, the band got stuck somewhere in the states in the middle of a tour. They were broke. Dave got contacted by someone suggesting that a band was seeking for a drummer of his kind, because their own drummer had left abruptly the band in order to pursue his career in another one. He agreed to join that band, which name was Nirvana. The band was about to record the album Nevermind and to change the history of Rock. The rest of the story you most probably know: Nirvana became really popular, and became the center of gravity of the Grunge movement, followed by other bands like L7 (Dave even had a relation with L7’s bassist, and replaced its drummer on stage at some occasions as well). But Nirvana's story ended with the tragic death of its singer, main composer and frontman Kurt Cobain who shot himself in the head. A few months before this, Dave had recorded a demo of some of his own songs, in which he sang and played the guitar parts. He even had them listened to by Kurt Cobain who apparently found the songs very interesting. This was the demo for the first album of the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl’s next band, that became famous a while after Cobain's death. At that point, Dave Grohl recruited several musicians to join him in the Foo Fighters (namely Pat Smears, who occasionally appeared in Nirvana). In the Foo Fighters, Dave composes, plays the guitar and sings. He also starts to join part time other projects and bands. One of the first is Josh Homme's Queens Of The Stone Age, where he gets back behind the drumset for the utmost successful album Song For The Deaf. He is also known to play with Tenacious D, Jack Black’s band as stage and studio drummer. He plays the drums with other artists like Slash or even The Prodigy and is a studio drummer for other artists like in the second album of Juliette And The Licks (the band of Juliette Lewis, who is best known for her role in Natural Born Killers, the Oliver Stone's controversial movie with an awesome soundtrack, also including L7, Rage Against the Machine, Leonard Cohen, ...). More recently, Dave Grohl has joined several super bands (Them Crooked Vultures with Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, or even more recently Teenage Time Killers) and has started the making of documentaries and even TV shows around the theme of music (Soundcity or HBO's Sonic Highways). With such a track record and such an influence on Rock in general, our cover band – Les Enroules – was very enthusiastic about paying Dave Grohl a tribute. But we felt that we should not restrict ourselves to a single band, and that we could do more than « just » playing representative songs of that history. We have thus come up with a setlist of tracks from bands Dave Grohl played with (in studio and/or on stage) or produced. Moreover, we felt like setting a multimedia show. We joined with VJ Renourd, a video professional and a long-time friend of the band. The concept is now three fold, and could be called a « Rockumentary ». Here are the three components :
1. a classical live component : we play between 15 and 25 songs from Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age, Tenacious D, L7, Juliette and the Licks, Soundcity, …
2. a video component : VJ Renourd displays a mix of videos including music videos/clips, original bands' live performances, documentaries, and direct/live videos from the show.
3. an instructive/fun component : we display facts and figures overlaid over the videos, consisting of « did you know that... » sections with anecdotes concerning the band/songs while they are played live.
The total duration of the show is between 1 and 2 hours and a half. At several occasions, the live and the videos are interconnected, as some parts are played synchronized with the video, or interacting with it (for example a mini « drum battle » between Dave Grohl on screen, and our band's drummer live). The show is split in two parts, where the first one is a real « rockumentary », displaying more videos and facts & figures, whereas the second one is more a rock gig, more traditionally complemented by videos. In total, the show is at the same time fun, instructive, professionally delivered and musically awesome. The Band and its Background The Band - Les Enroules
Les Enroules is a cover band formed in 2001. For almost 15 years (and many gigs), the band has always kept its set lists very eclectic. In total, they’ve covered more than 200 songs from dozens of bands, among which (non exhaustive, and in alphabetic order): AC/DC, Aerosmith, Alphonse Brown, America, An Pierle, Anouk, Arctic Monkeys, Avril Lavigne, Axel Bauer & Zazie, BB Brunes, Beach Boys, Beastie Boys, Beatles, Billy Idol, Bloc party, Blue Oyster Cult, Cake, Calogero, Chad Kroeger, Danko Jones, Dave Matthews Band, Desert Sessions, dEUS, Dire Straits, Dog Eat Dog, Don Mc Lean, Dream Theater, Eliott Smith, Elmer Food Beat, Eric Clapton, Evanescence, Foo Fighters, Fool's Garden, Franz Ferdinand, Gerald de Palmas, Ghinzu, Girls in Hawai, Grand Jojo, Granddady, Hoosiers, Hooverphonic, Incubus, Iron Maiden, James Brown, Jamiroquai, Jet, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Jett, Juliette and the licks, K's Choice, Kaiser Chiefs, Keren Ann, Krezip, L7, Lenny Kravitz, Les Enroules, Limp Bizkit, Lone Star, Louise Attaque, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Machiavel, Mark Knopfler, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Misirlou, Muse, Neil Young, Nickel Creek, Nirvana, No doubt, Noir Désir, O'Brothers, Oldelaf, Pantera, Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, Police, President of the USA, Prodigy, Queen, Queens Of The Stone Age, Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine, Ram Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, REM, Rod Stewart, Roxette, Run DMC & Aerosmith, Shaka Ponk, Sheryl Crow, Shocking Blue, Six pence none the richer, Smashing pumpkins, Soundcity, Spin Doctors, Steelers Wheel, Supergrass, System Of A Down, Téléphone, Tenacious D, The Breeders, The Cardigans, The Chemical Brothers, The Connels, The Corrs, The Cranberries, The Doors, The Killers, The Kooks, The Pixies, The Rembrands, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Them Crooked Vultures, Travis, Tryo, U2, Ugly Kid Joe, Van Haelen, Vanessa Carlton, Velvet Revolver, Weezer.
Les Enroules are known to enjoy playing for their audience, and generously share their energy without taking themselves seriously. At several occasions, they also create thematic medleys. They are thus able to entertain the audience with medleys lasting more than 30 minutes without any musical pause. The band’s line up has changed many times. The number of musicians on stage has varied a lot with time, from 5 members to a dozen. Currently, the band members are :
Geoffroy Delmotte and Julie Van de Vyver (vocals).
Benoît Caby (guitar). Ben plays on Ibanez JS-100 guitar, Gibson Les Paul Classic guitar, Marshal LM-6100 amp with 1960A 4x12” cabinet, Boss GT-3 effects and on Simon & Patrick acoustic guitar
Jean-François Boulet (guitar and backing vocals). JF plays on Godin LG Hmb and Ibanez SA160 electric guitars, Simon&Patrick Woodland Cedar acoustic guitar, with a Mesa F-30 amplifier. He uses an Ibanez T9 Tube screamer, an MXR M133 Micro amp as effects.
Frédéric Toussaint (bass and backing vocals). Fref plays on a Musicman Stingray 4 bass, Fender Squier Precision bass, Fender BXR200 amp, boost and overdrive pedals
Thibault Helleputte (drums). Thib plays on a 5-pieces Mapex Saturn Deep Water Ash Burl with 10x7, 12x8, 14x12, 16x14 toms and a 22x20 bassdrum (with plain resonant head, i.e. no mic hole) with a DW collector’s 14x6 snare drum in glass white ply finish, with Zildjian and Sabian cymbals.
Sébastien Tollenaere (VJ Renourd) : VJ Renourd has extensive video expertise, having produced and directed many documentaries, commercial acts, artistic videos, etc. He uses Akai APC Tools, ARKAOS Grand VJ and a 2M/E ATEM live switcher with 3 FullHD Cam. References and media
Some current and former members have temporarily embraced or still pursue a professional career in music, like Frederic Toussaint (bassist) who played with Stephanie Crayencour, and Andrew Wynen (guitarist), now in various bands in the UK (mainly Gelato), and frequently touring in EU or other countries. Renourd, our VJ, is also a video professionnal.
Most of the band members were also the founders and the pillars of Olivia, a non-profit organization active in Wallonia for the promotion of arts/culture by and for young people. This organization was quite famous in the mid-2000 for several of its recurring events, like the « Acoustiques Anonymes » an open stage gathering several hundreds of people two to three times a year, or the « Silence Saturn », a short film festival.
The band knows the stage, knows cultural events in general and knows how to please the audience without hesitating to introduce some less known / less « commercial » items in their shows at some points. With Dave Grohl & Friends, in particular, Les Enroules and VJ Renourd manage to serve a masterpiece of rock culture, while also keeping interested and amused the part of the public that may be less familiar with this genre.
Les Enroules is a cover band. However, they, at some point, created some of their own songs, just for fun, without playing them a lot live. One of them is from a genre that diverges from the band's main influences, and is some kind of good joke, but was the opportunity to create not only a song, but also a music video. The song (Trevor le cookie) was recorded in studio, while Renourd created a piece of stop motion animation. The result is still visible on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8yITYJoNM8).
As for other references, videos and photographs, the band proposes its facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/LesEnroules/) and of course the project's web page: http://DaveGrohlAndFriends.com. Specifications
We describe in the next pages the audio, video and lightshow specifications. In case the organizer may not provide the specified audio or video equipment or staff, it will inform the band as soon as possible in order to find another suitable technical solution, and offer a budget for the elements that cannot be provided. Audio specifications
The organizers will make available a sound system with subs (no DJ system) capable of providing a power adapted to the capacity of the venue (linear from 30Hz to 16kHz) without distortion to the console, which will ideally be located at 2/3 of the room/area, facing the center of the stage. A stage monitor system will also be made available by the organizers, in the form of at least 6 different feedback circuits, tuned before the show in presence of the band. A technician familiar with the equipment will be present during the balance and the show as well as a sound engineer for live mixing. The engineer will make himself available at least for one rehearsal with the band prior to the event. The patch list below is to be applied.
CHANNEL MIC INSERT Kick 1 Beta91 Compressor / Gate Kick 2 Beta52 Compressor / Gate Snare top SM57/MD441 Compressor Snare bottom SM57 Compressor HiHat KM184/SM81 Tom-Tom 10" E604 Gate Tom-Tom 12" E604 Gate Floor tom 14" E604/MD421 Gate Floor tom 16" E604/MD421 Gate Overhead left KM184 Overhead right KM184 Bass Guitar DI Compressor Electric Guitar #1 SM57/E609 Compressor Electric Guitar #2 SM57/E609 Compressor Acoustic Guitar DI Lead Vocal #1 SM58 Compressor Lead Vocal #2 SM58 Compressor Electric Guitar #1 Vocal SM58 Compressor Bass Guitar Vocal SM58 Compressor Video specifications
Idealy the show must benefit from three projection/display zones: i) one centered at the back of the stage (min 4 x 2.25m i.e. 16/9 format screen) displaying an HDSdi signal directly sent by our VJ; ii) two lateral projections (ideally same sizes as the center display) displaying a second HDSdi video signal also directly sent by our VJ.
The type of display can be either beamer-based or LED screens. In case of beamers, those must provide at the very least 4000 lumens power, and be positioned at 10m from the projection zone. Accordingly, 3 HDsdi cables must run from the stage to the technical booth (facing the stage and offering direct visual contact with the three projection zones). The technical booth must provide a min 3m x 60 cm table for the VJ equipment, and adequate power supply. Additionally, an equipped cameraman and a broadcast video mixing console must be provided (we can arrange for this but then again, a budget has to be available). The cameraman will make himself available for at least one rehearsal/briefing with the band prior to the show.
A video feedback system must also be provided. It must be composed of 42” screens: 2 on the stage arranged between audio monitors. Each must receive an SDi signal going through SDi-to- HDMI boxes before connection to the screens. An additional HDSdi line must run from the central technical booth to these screens. Both screens show the same signal. Lightshow specifications
The band asks for a standard light show, with a dedicated person to operate it, aware that the lightshow should not prevent the audience benefiting from the video projections (specially in the first part of the show more video-oriented, while the second part is more a traditional rock concert). This person will make himself available for at least one rehearsal/briefing with the band prior to the show. Example
We describe in the next pages how a typical version of the show would look like, for an approximate duration of 2 hours. This is just an example and the band can adapt to other time constraints Part I -- "Rockumentary"
The show opens on a video introduction where Dave tells a part of his history, with a visual countdown.
At the end of the countdown, the band starts with Nirvana - In Bloom. The end of the song is merged with the beginning of Nirvana - Come as you are while the singer introduces the show's concept. The band switches to Nirvana – The man who sold the world. Synchronized with David Bowie images (the song is originally from him). Lyrics are displayed in real time. People can sing along. At the end of the song, JF & Geof start Nirvana – Something In The Way. Without any blank, the band starts Foo Fighters – Razor, followed by a video transition video with a short documentary over Kurt Cobain.
This is followed by a Video of Dave in his car. Blackout on stage. Synch'd with Dave's yell, the band starts Foo Fighters – Everlong.
Bass/Drum teaser of Queens Of The Stone Age - feel good hit of the summer, chained with QOTSA - No One Knows
Video excerpts from Soundcity, chained SoundCity – You can't fix this (soundcity video continues) The show continues with a virtual drum battle between Thibault (live) and Dave at the drums (videos).
The first part ends with three additional songs: Tenacious D – Tribute, L7 – Pretend we're dead. and Them Crooked Vultures – Bandoliers. An example of the display of "Did you know?" facts is pictured here on a Tenacious D picture. The show counts dozens of such facts, and some examples are provided in the next pages. Part II -- Rock gig
The second part is more a series of covers, with less emphasis on the video (though images are still displayed). See actual live pictures below. As an example:
QOTSA – Feel good hit of the summer Foo Fighters – Dear Rosemary QOTSA – Go with the flow QOTSA – I never came, chained with Nirvana - My Girl. Foo Fighters – Walking after you Desert Sessions - Subcutaneous Phat, with participation from the audience. QOTSA – I Sat By The Ocean Foo Fighters – Matter of time Juliette & the Licks – Hot Kiss QOTSA – Feel good hit of the summer (short transition version) Nirvana – Heart shaped box Nirvana – On a plain. Foo Fighters – Monkey Wrench Examples of Facts & Figures
Non-exhaustive list of facts & figures displayed on screen while playing :
« In Bloom » had been composed in years before Nevermind recording.
« In Bloom » was accompanied by a music video which parodied musical performances of 1960s variety shows. This video won Best Alternative Video at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1993.
« Nevermind » has been recorded at SoundCity Studio, where many great rock albums have been recorded by many famous bands (Rage Against The Machine, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Elton John, Santana, Kyuss, Tool, Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, Queens Of The Stone Age, Kings Of Leon, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Mastodon, Arctic Monkeys, …). The studio has gone brankrupt since.
On top of tensions because of Kurt Cobain's health, the band had arguments about a request from Kurt, after the success of Nevermind, asking for 75% of all royalties. Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic accepted, until Kurt Cobain asked this agreement... be retroactive! They finally accepted, after a week of near-breakup
This QOTSA album « … Like Clockwork » on which this song is proposed counted three different drummers: Joey Castillo – regular QOTSA drummer up to then, Dave Grohl – ad interim, John Theodore (ex-mars volta) who became the new official QOTSA drummer.
« … Like Clockwork » has been triggered by a phone call from Sir Elton John to Josh Homme. Elton John even recorded some piano parts on the studio version.
Jack Black, from Tenacious D, came in the studio just to record handclaps and stomps on « Burn the witch». This song was actually recorded earlier and at several occasions. At the time of the previous studio album (Lullabies To Paralyze), but also before that, on a Desert Session track. Desert Sessions are a musical collective series founded by Josh Homme, with contributors such as PJ Harvey, Nick Oliveri, Mark Lanegan, ....
Backing vocals on this song are performed by several singers, among which Brody Dalle, Josh Homme's wife.
Dave Grohl played the drums on all tracks of the album and subsequently toured with the band.
« No one knows » was featured in the video games « Guitar Hero: Smash Hits », « Guitar Hero » and « Rock Band 3 ».
A live version of the album has been recorded in 2007 at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels.
This album has been recorded partly at SoundCity, the same studio where Nirvana's « Nevermind » had been recorded 8 years earlier.
Grohl had been a keen admirer of Queens of the Stone Age since the band opened for Foo Fighters on tour and originally wanted to appear on Rated R. He joined Queens of the Stone Age in October 2001 when he received a phone call from Josh Homme with whom he had been friends since 1992, while Homme was the guitarist for Kyuss. Grohl put Foo Fighters on temporary hiatus, delaying their upcoming album One-by-One to October 22, 2002 because of touring duties with Queens of the Stone Age in support of the album.
« The Pick of Destiny » is also a musical comedy film where Tenacious D members Jack Black and Kyle Gass both play, as does Dave Grohl (he plays the role of Satan). Dave Grohl also sings the parts of Satan in the song Beelzeboss. Testimonial
"Dave Grohl & Friends is an awesome rock show! It has a lot of energy, is professionnally executed, and at the same time manages to be instructive about Dave Grohl, a masterpiece of Rock history. The band delivered two editions of their show at my place, and I strongly recommend it to any event organizer!"
- Xavier Beressy, Owner of the Backstage, Live & Music Café