The best part of music–any kind of music, really–is who we share it with. Sometimes listening alone on your headphones is a powerful experience, but it rarely compares to being in a crowd while your favorite band plays live, or to dancing with your friends. But what happens when that experience of sharing live music with a huge group gets completely participatory? As the Rockin’ 1000–a group of 1,000 Italians based in the city of Cesena–proved, friggin’ magic happens.
The Rockin’ 1000, a project that’s the brainchild of creator Fabio Zaffagnini, is the new holder of the title of “the world’s most epic rock band.” (Sorry, Tenacious D.) It’s literally a 1,000-piece rock orchestra that got together in a field in Cesena to perform the Foo Fighters’ “Learn To Fly” as a single band, with a veritable army of singers, drummers, bassists, and lead and rhythm guitarists. The entire experience was then captured using aerial, close-up, and wide-angle footage, proving that whether it’s one be-mohawked drummer killing it or a massive crowd shot of everybody not just enjoying the music but actually making it, rock and roll as a communal experience is still a special thing. At the end of the video, a surely-exhausted Zaffagnini addresses the crowd to talk about how it’s really just a project intended for the Foo Fighters themselves. “Italy is a land where dreams can not easily come true,” he says, in the saddest triumphant speech ever, “But it’s a land of passion, and creativity.” Dave Grohl’s reputation as “Rock’s Coolest Uncle” virtually guarantees that he’ll hobble his broken leg out onto a stage in Cesena sometime in the near future–and we’re hoping that the Rockin’ 1000 get to join ‘em onstage.