Dave Grohl Surprises With Live Hanukkah Sessions Show

Dave Grohl and instrumentalist Greg Kurstin brought their "Hanukkah Sessions" series to the stage Monday (Dec. 5) when the two musicians led a surprise show with special guests at the 250-capacity Los Angeles club Largo, as Variety recapped.

Grohl, the Foo Fighters bandleader and former Nirvana drummer, and Kurstin, a member of the group The Bird and the Bee and a Grammy-winning producer, have covered songs by Jewish artists over the last two Decembers as part of their "Hanukkah Sessions" videos. On Monday, they were joined onstage at various points by Beck, the pop star Pink, the band Tenacious D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass), Grohl's daughter Violet Grohl, movie director Judd Apatow (who hosted the show) and more.

See the setlist and photos near the bottom of this post.

"We've gone for the unpredictable," Grohl said from the stage at one point, the rocker referencing the mishmash of artists and songs. During the gig, he played the drums while Kurstin played the keyboards. The show benefitted the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) at a time when antisemitism is rearing its ugly head in the mainstream. (Kurstin is Jewish, Grohl is not.)

The evening was also being filmed, ostensibly for the upcoming "Hanukkah Sessions" videos. Down beneath the set and photos, relive all eight "Hanukkah Sessions" videos from 2021.

From Variety:

Grohl proclaimed 'Largo is a rock club,' just after Beck's performance — and Jack Black proved it, nailing the high notes (and the low notes) in Rush’s 'The Spirit of Radio,' ostensibly the night’s penultimate song.
Grohl took the lead for an all-hands-on-deck run-through of 'We Love L.A.' to close out the eight-crazy-nights portion — but, there was one more unexpected twist: an encore of David Lee Roth's version of 'Just A Gigolo,' with a bemused Beck holding a lyric sheet and becoming a dance partner for Jack Black while his Tenacious D bandmate Kyle Gass added occasional backup vocals.

Dave Grohl + Greg Kurstin "Hanukkah Session" Live Setlist - Dec. 5, 2022 (via Setlist.fm)

"Spinning Wheel" feat. Judd Apatow (Blood, Sweat & Tears cover)
"Get the Party Started" feat. Pink (Pink cover)
"The Things We Do for Love" feat. Inara George (10cc cover)
"At Seventeen" feat. Violet Grohl (Janis Ian cover)
"E-Pro" feat. Beck (Beck cover)
"Heads Will Roll" feat. Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover)
"The Spirit of Radio" feat. Jack Black (Rush cover)
"We Love L.A." (Randy Newman cover)
"Just a Gigolo" / "I Ain't Got Nobody" feat. Kyle Gass (David Lee Roth cover)