Nirvana reinterpreted by Bruno Mars with Slash, the Stones by Yungblud
Last December 11th, an event was held at Garcia’s, a 250-seat venue inside the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, which featured a supergroup of rock stars united for the occasion and an impressive list of surprise guests. The evening, led by Slashboasted of the presence of – among others – Bruno Mars, Eddie Vedder, Anthony Kiedis, Brandi Carlile and Yungblud.
Organized as a Christmas party for Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries holding company, the event took place around the Dirty Bats bandformed by the Guns N’ Rose guitarist, supported by his bandmate Duff McKagan on bass, by the drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers Chad Smith and by the manufacturer Andrew Watts.
According to what was reported by setlist.fm, the evening saw the artists involved try their hand at a series of covers of classics, as well as featuring some historical songs performed by their original authors. The task of opening the dance was entrusted to Yungbludwho sang “Start me up” by The Rolling Stones, “Stay with me” by The Faces and “War pigs” by Black Sabbathwhich the British singer-songwriter had already paid homage to “Back to the beginning” and to the VAMs with the cover of “Changes”.
She then saw herself on stage Brandi Carlile, who performed “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelinhis song “The story” and “Tie your mother down” by Queen. It was then the turn of Anthony Kiediswhich performed “Ace of Spades” by Motörhead, “Search and Destroy” by the Stooges by Iggy Pop, “Nervous Breakdown” by Black Flag, “If you want me to stay” by Sly & The Family Stone and “Whipping Post” by the Allman Brothers Band.
Subsequently Eddie Vedder he reached the stage to perform three songs by Pearl Jam: “Corduroy”, “Better Man” and “Wishlist”. Vedder then proposed the covers of “Waiting on a friend” by Rolling Stones“Sonic reducer” dei Dead Boys and “(What’s so funny ’bout) Peace, love and understanding” by Elvis Costello. The last great artist to animate the event was Bruno Marswho led Dirty Bats in a series of iconic songs: “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin, “Roxanne” by The Police, “Fire” by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Dirty Diana” by Michael Jackson and “Smells like teen spirit” by Nirvana. As highlighted by “Stereogum,” Mars had mashed Kurt Cobain & Co.’s iconic song with Jackson’s “Billie Jean” several times over the years, but apparently had never performed a full version until Thursday night.
The evening ended with a collective moment on “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry and “Rockin’ in the free world” by Neil Young.
According to some rumours, Leonardo DiCaprio was also present in the audience, and certainly Orlando Bloom, who shot the video reported above.
