This Foo Fighters' 'Imagine'/'Jump' Mashup Quickly Went From A Funny Bit To A Heartfelt Tribute Today
This is a funny little bit the Foo Fighters did every night on the Concrete and Gold Tour.
Each member of the band would break into a random rock n' roll cover once frontman Dave Grohl introduced them - the likes of which would usually include 'Another One Bites The Dust', 'Blitzkrieg Bop', and other arena rock anthems - and then keyboardist Rami Jaffee would always immediately break into the opening piano chords of John Lennon's 'Imagine' while Dave talked about peace, love, togetherness, living in the now, etc., just really buttering everyone up.
Right as he would have the audience melted into this hypnotic trance, ready to belt out the song with him, he'd just start singing Van Halen's 'Jump' over the chords, slowly, and Taylor Hawkins would come in with the single-word backup vocals, and it was hilarious. It's a great sounding cover/mashup, as well! By the end, the crowd was always into it and singing along with smiles painted across their faces.
After the passing of guitar god Eddie Van Halen yesterday, I thought about this mashup almost immediately. Not necessarily about how funny/clever it was, but more just about how nice it was, and how genuinely happy it made people. Sure, it's preposterous - but fuck, I kinda hope they work it into the regular rotation for a bit more now that Eddie's gone. It could stand as a pretty heartfelt tribute in my eyes.
RIP Eddie Van Halen