FOO FIGHTERS: HIATUS? WHAT HIATUS?

Dave Grohl tells Rolling Stone that the Foo Fighters will do their next album with Butch Vig, who he of course worked with nearly twenty years ago on Nirvana's Nevermind. (Dave also filled in for Vig on drums on "Bad Boyfriend," from Garbage's most recent album). He says that he and Taylor Hawkins are already working on new songs. I kind of thought that Them Crooked Vultures would be a year long project, but maybe that won't be the case. I do hope they work together in the future though. On the other hand, I've read that bassist Nate Mendel is reuniting with Sunny Day Real Estate for a tour, so who knows if there's an actual schedule for the Foos to return to active duty.

ON iTUNES: FOO FIGHTERS GREATEST HITS EP

Tomorrow sees the release of the Foo Fighters' Greatest Hits album. A deluxe version will have a DVD of the band's videos. But iTunes will have a cheapter EP version, which will just have the two new songs, "Wheels" and "Word Forward," as well as the acoustic version of "Everlong" and a cover of Paul McCartney's "Band On The Run" which is exclusive to the EP. Dave Grohl and Sir Paul are total bros: Dave played drums for Paul at the Grammys last year (and I think he joined them for "Band On The Run" at one of Paul's shows in the summer of '08). I watched part of the Foo Fighters exclusive Facebook show on Friday night, and it was pretty cool.

Of course, that's probably the last we'll see of the band for a while, since Dave is about to spend the next few months with Them Crooked Vultures. I imagine the other Foos - drummer Taylor Hawkins and guitarist Chris Shiflett - will do solo stuff, and bassist Nate Mendel may work with Sunny Day Real Estate again.

THE RUSH/FOO FIGHTERS JAM

OK, this will be my last Rush post for a while, at least until I go to their concert. I don't know how I missed this, but back in March, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson joined The Foo Fighters on stage at their show in Toronto. Actually, they just joined Foo drummer Taylor Hawkins during his drum solo, and they rocked out on Rush's instrumental classic "YYZ." I found out about it a great fansite, Rush Is A Band. 

One of the interesting parts of the recent Rolling Stone feature on Rush was one part where Neal Peart describes seeing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video on MuchMusic, he got in touch with the band's management to offer them an opening slot on their tour. The band's management said no, because Nirvana were "alternative." Funny that all these years later, Geddy and Alex jammed on Dave Grohl's stage, albeit without Dave himself.  

It's been a pretty good year for the Foos. They recently jammed with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl recently sat in with Paul McCartney, and they are going to play at VH1's Who tribute concert. 

In other Foo Fighters news, they've just released an iTunes EP, including their cover of Arcade Fire's "Keep The Car Running." 

A BIG NIGHT FOR THE FOO FIGHTERS

The Foo Fighters just played  England's Wembley Stadium, and were joined by Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones for two Led Zeppelin songs. Drummer Taylor Hawkins sang while Dave Grohl played drums on "Rock And Roll," and then Taylor got behind the kit and Dave got back out front for "Ramble On." While neither of them approaches the awsomeness of Robert Plant, it must have been pretty cool to see. Apparently Page said backstage that Zeppelin may rise again after Robert's current tour ends. We'll see. 

Meanwhile, apparently Dave performed at a concert in Liverpool with Paul McCartney recently. And later this summer, the Foos may jam with The Who at the VH1 Rock Honors. 

But what's cool about Dave Grohl is, he's probably just as psyched to jam with Lemmy or H.R. from Bad Brains. He's about the music, not about the fame.