Hanukkah

On the fourth night of Hanukkah Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin gave us a classic coming-of-age song. Mid-way through this year’s “Hanukkah Sessions,” the Foo Fighters leader and producer invited Grohl’s 16-year-old daughter, Violet, to the stage for a moving cover of Janis Ian’s 1975 hit “At Seventeen.”

“I learned the truth at 17/ That love was meant for beauty queens/ And high school girls with clear-skinned smiles/ Who married young and then retired,” Violet sang in a voice too young to be as world-weary as the character in Ian’s song. Strumming an acoustic guitar as dad Dave gently brushed the drums behind her and producer Kurstin provided light-touch, jazzy piano backing, the preternaturally poised teen brought a hush over the room as she painted a world of teen angst that swings from hope to angsty despair and back again.

And, in a touching moment, proud dad Dave gave his daughter a huge smile and two fists up for her elegant efforts at song’s end.

“Born Janis Eddy Fink, a 23-year-old Janis Ian wrote one of the all time classic coming of age anthems ‘At Seventeen’ — here it is as interpreted by Violet Grohl,” read the video’s description. It’s just the latest impressive showing by Violet, who also joined her dad and a parade of all-stars paying tribute to late Foo’s drummer Taylor Hawkins at a pair of memorial concerts in London and L.A. earlier this year, where she effortlessly pulled off moving covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Jeff Buckley’s “Last Goodbye.”

So far this season, Kurstin and Grohl have teamed with the former’s The Bird and the Bee bandmate Inara George for 10cc’s “The Things We Do For Love,” P!nk on “Get the Party Started” and director Judd Apatow for Blood, Sweat & Tears’ “Spinning Wheel.” This is Grohl and Kurstin’s third year posting eight nights of covers of songs made famous by Jewish musicians. In a twist, this year’s efforts were all recorded live at Los Angeles’ intimate Largo on Dec. 5 with a cast of all-star guests taking the stage at the 250-capacity club.

Grohl and Kurstin released the first “Sessions” in Dec. 2020 in the midst of the first winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping one new cover for each night of the holiday. In the midst of a concerning rise in antisemitic incidents and hate speech in the U.S., proceeds from the Largo night went to the Anti-Defamation League.

Watch “At Seventeen” below.

On night three of Hanukkah Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin dipped into an all-time classic from one of their favorites. “Once referred to as the ‘biggest Jewish band to come out of Britain,’ 10cc’s MOTs Godley, Crème and Gouldman recorded a ton of hits — here’s one of the many: ‘The Things We Do For Love’ as sung by Inara George!” they wrote in the description to the latest video from their 2022 “Hanukkah Sessions” series.

Singer George — Kurstin’s partner in the indie pop duo The Bird and the Bee — soared with the swoony ballad, belting out the song’s dreamy lyrics about walking through any kind of weather for love as Kurstin banged out the track’s barroom roll on his piano and Grohl hled down the beat. As a bonus, Tenacious D’s Jack Black and Kyle Gass casually added in some background sweet harmonies.

This is Grohl and Kurstin’s third year posting eight nights of covers of songs made famous by Jewish musicians. In a twist, this year’s efforts were all recorded live at Los Angeles’ intimate Largo on Dec. 5 with a cast of all-star guests taking the stage at the 250-capacity club that also included the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O and Grohl’s 16-year-old daughter, Violet. Night one featured beloved director Judd Apatow rocking through a cover of Blood, Sweat & Tears’ 1969 Grammy-nominated Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Spinning Wheel.” On night two, P!nk rolled up to “Get The Party Started” with a run through her signature 20001 bar mitzvah jam.

Grohl and Kurstin released the first “Sessions” in Dec. 2020 in the midst of the first winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping one new cover for each night of the holiday. In the midst of a concerning rise in antisemitic incidents and hate speech in the U.S., proceeds from the Largo night went to the Anti-Defamation League.

Watch “The Things We Do For Love” below.

Dave Grohl and pal producer/songwriter Greg Kurstin cranked up the “Hanukkah Sessions” for a third year on Sunday night (Dec. 18) for another round of covers of songs made famous by Jewish musicians. In a twist, this year’s efforts were all recorded live at Los Angeles’ intimate Largo on Dec. 5 with a cast of all-star guests taking the stage at the 250-capacity club.
The pair also brought in a ringer to handle vocals for the first of the eight night celebration of lights: director Judd Apatow. The Bros co-producer stepped to the mic for a run through Blood, Sweat & Tears’ 1969 Grammy-nominated Billboard Hot 100 No. 2 hit “Spinning Wheel,” which, according to a Variety report on the event, was inspired by a karaoke night in Hawaii with Grohl’s family. “A little blood and plenty of schvitz went into this year’s Hanukkah Sessions — but the only tears you’ll be shedding will be tears of nachas when you hear Judd Apatow sing ‘Spinning Wheel’ by Blood, Sweat & (No) Tears!” read the video’s description.

“This is a song that means a lot to me, it was performed by the great Hank Kingsley [Jeffrey Tambor] on The Larry Sanders Show. This is a tribute to Garry and to Hank,” said Apatow at the top of the clip, referring to the infamous sidekick on the fake talk show hosted by his late friend Garry Shandling. And with that, with Grohl on drums and Kurstin on keys, Apatow sang-talked the swinging psychedelic soft rock classic on a stage decked with multiple menorahs, some stray tinsel and a killer horn section.

During Kurstin’s jazzy piano solo Apatow did some awkward dad dancing before the late-song break, announcing casually, “there’s more” before diving back in with a series of goofy faces as the band went into a song-ending freak-out. Proclaiming himself out of gas (or was it oil?) at the end, an out of breath Apatow joked, “Dave I know you do five-hour concerts, but that’s all I could do. I need a month off.”

Grohl and Kurstin released the first “Sessions” in Dec. 2020 in the midst of the first winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping one new cover for each night of the holiday. In the midst of a concerning rise in antisemitic incidents and hate speech in the U.S., proceeds from the Largo night went to the Anti-Defamation League.

Among the other guests at Largo were P!nk, Kurstin’s The Bird and the Bee collaborator Inara George, Grohl’s mighty-voiced 16-year-old daughter Violet, Beck, the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O and Jack Black. The inaugural 2020 “Sessions” featured covers of songs by he Beastie Boys, Drake, Mountain, Peaches, Bob Dylan, Elastica, The Knack and the Velvet Underground, while last year’s edition brought eight crazy nights of covers, including a black metal take on Lisa Loeb’s “Stay (I Missed You),” as well as the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana (At the Copa),” the Clash’s “Train in Vain,” Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Night,” Van Halen’s “Jump,” Amy Winehouse’s “Take the Box” and Billy Joel’s “Big Shot.”

Watch the “Spinning Wheel” cover below.

After launching the “Hanukkah Sessions” project during the pandemic, Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin brought their festival of lights celebration to life on Monday night (Dec. 5) at Los Angeles’ famed club Largo with an all-star cast of supporters.

According to Variety, the show — presented by director Judd Apatow — at the 250-capacity club featured a long list of stars singing songs by Jewish artists, with Grohl playing drums and Kurstin on keyboards. The night started off with Apatow singing Blood Sweat and Tears’ “Spinning Wheel,” which was reportedly inspired by a karaoke night in Hawaii with Grohl’s family.

In the midst of a concerning rise in antisemitic incidents and hate speech in the U.S., proceeds from the night went to the Anti-Defamation League. P!nk was on hand, proudly proclaiming, “my name’s Alecia. I’m a Jew” as the intro to her performance of “Get This Party Started,” followed by Kurstin’s The Bird and the Bee collaborator Inara George singings 10cc’s “The Things We Do For Love.”

Grohl’s 16-year-old daughter Violet strummed an acoustic guitar for Janis Ian’s “Edge of Seventeen,” with Beck performing his tune “E-Pro,” the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O singing her band’s “Heads Will Roll” and Jack Black ripping through Rush’s “The Spirit of Radio.” The night ended with Grohl on the mic singing Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.,” followed by an encore of David Lee Roth’s “Just a Gigolo.”

The inaugural 2020 “Sessions” featured covers of songs by he Beastie Boys, Drake, Mountain, Peaches, Bob Dylan, Elastica, The Knack and the Velvet Underground, while last year’s edition brought eight crazy nights of covers, including a black metal take on Lisa Loeb’s “Stay (I Missed You),” as well as the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana,” the Clash’s “Train in Vain,” Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Night,” Van Halen’s “Jump,” Amy Winehouse’s “Take the Box” and Billy Joel’s “Big Shot.”