A ton of artists have began doing Instagram Live sessions with their fans over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, but there are some you just never expect to actually get ahold of. Dave Grohl is one of those untouchables, but Pat Finnerty was lucky enough to get to hang out with him virtually.
Finnerty is a Pennsylvania-based musician who’s been toying around with Instagram Live videos over the last few months. His latest project, dubbed “Grohlathon,” was an attempt to get Grohl to join in on one of these video sessions to sing Sting‘s section of Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing.” The event was posted in a series of hour-long videos on Finnerty’s Instagram, which featured a cardboard cutout of the rocker.
“My whole fucking life has been spent looking at Grohl,” Finnerty enthused to Rolling Stone. “In high school, all I did was listen to Nirvana. And if I want to watch a documentary now, there’s Grohl. And he plays with the Beatles. He plays with Led Zeppelin.”
Nine hours into the “Grohlathon,” which occurred this past Saturday (Aug. 15) and consisted of a chain of connections and social media posts, Grohl joined in on the action while he was attending a dinner party with some friends. Actor Andrew Sikking sent a request to join the stream, and only a drum kit was in sight at first.
“What the fuck are you guys doing?” Grohl asked as he peered over the camera and came face-to-face with the cardboard version of himself on the other side of the stream. Finnerty introduced himself to the musician and explained his story and his online “show” in the video teaser.
Finnerty has since posted a few other videos from their conversation on his Instagram, including the two jamming together, with Grohl on the drums. Check them out below.
“Grohl. Is it good to be Grohl?” Finnerty asked the Foo Fighters frontman. “Oh yeah, it’s the fucking best,” Grohl replied.
20 Ways to Binge on Rock + Metal History While in Quarantine