Is it possible to be in Turin for the Eurovision and in Paris inside the Stade de France at the same time? On Saturday, May 14, Rockin’1000, the band that managed to bring the Foo Fighters to Cesena in 2015, succeeded in the quest: thanks to the video made for the Eurovision final, aired just Saturday night and the great live show realized the same evening in Paris in front of a packed stadium, the Biggest Rock Band on Earth amplified its message of peace to the fullest.
Last April 8, indeed, the band Rockin’1000 had descended on Turin’s Piazza San Carlo to record the official Eurovision commercial: a parade of 500 musicians from all over Europe, including singers, drummers, bassists, guitarists, and strings, performed an unreleased version of “Te Deum,” Eurovision historical theme song, arranged in a rock style. A special contribution was recorded that day: the musicians performed to the notes of “Give peace a chance” by John Lennon, giving an emotional moment dedicated to peace, the central theme of the 66th Eurovision; the content aired at 9 p.m. Saturday, May 14, during the opening of the final that declared Ukraine as the winner.
During the same minutes, in front of more than 50,000 spectators, Rockin’1000 finally returned in a live version after almost three years of a forced stop with a great concert at the Stade de France in Paris that featured on stage 1088 musicians from 25 countries in the world and a setlist consisting of 21 songs which have made Rock History and about 200 accredited guests among journalists, influencers, promoters, and industry insiders who have been waiting for this event for a long time.
ust before the performance of Killing in the Name by Rage Against The Machine, Fabio Zaffagnini – CEO of Rockin’1000 and Artistic Director of the show, took the stage, delivering a touching speech that leaves no doubt about Rockin’1000’s stance on what is happening in the world: “After two years of fear, of prison, of death, a murderer ruined our party, our fucking well deserved party, our rebirth. Meanwhile, other bastards have made new weapons, new bombs. Because obviously all these bastards like war. So many heroes are fighting and dying to defend their home. But there are other heroes, who live in the land of this murderer, they are rebelling to pull him off the pulpit and throw him in the mud, where he deserves to be. They end up in jail. They are my heroes too, and we, Rockin’1000, we are with you! We have no weapons to give you, because war is not our thing. We can only give you the grenades that come out of our drums, the missiles that we launch from our amps and our war cry will be one: fuck you I won’t do what you tell me!”
The protagonists
The second edition of Rockin’1000 in Paris involved 1088 musicians from all over the world who played live, simultaneously a two-hour rock repertoire: 359 guitarists, 166 bassists, 238 singers, 216 drummers, and, for the first time in France, 109 keyboardists, bringing to the turf of the Stade de France, the greatest standards of Rock music.
Coming from 25 countries belonging to the 4 continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and South America): 846 musicians from France only, 160 from Italy and, following from Germany, Belgium, Austria, United States, Monaco, Poland, Switzerland, UK, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Tunisia, Algeria, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Philippines, Portugal, Sweden, and Ukraine. The musician who came from the furthest away is a guitarist from the Philippines, while the oldest musician is a 70-year-old German singer, and the youngest is a 16-year-old French drummer. Finally, pink quotas are growing: for the first time, with 309 females and 779 males, nearly 30 percent of Rockin’1000 musicians are women. Among them is also a young Ukrainian guitarist.
The characters
As in 2019, two strategic figures were happily confirmed: Philippe Manoeuvre, an absolute reference in Rock’n’roll and a true rock icon in France, was the perfect master of ceremonies and godfather of the concert. Thanks to his experience and mastery of the stage, as well as a deep understanding of the audience, everyone felt at home, from the musicians to each and every audience member. Conducting the unique orchestra was the Maestro Alex Deschamps, composer, author, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist: a powerful stage presence who coordinated, guided, and motivated all the instrumental sections, jumping and running all over the stage, never sparing himself.
The central block was dedicated to the special guest Matthieu Chedid, known as -M-, French singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, beloved by the Parisian audience who accompanied him by singing at the top of their lungs every song. Among the special contents, it was much appreciated that of Richard Kolinka, Téléphone’s drummer, who played the legendary track “Un autre monde” in the drum section. Opening the show, warming up the audience before the start, the DJ-set was signed by Émilie Mazoyer, radio host and producer specialized in rock music. Surprisingly, even the famous American drummer Aric Improta (Night Verses and Fever 333) went wild playing Lithium with the Thousand!
Suggestive solos and focuses were performed by Rockin’1000’s Music Gurus, in charge of the band’s 5 instrumental sections: Augusta Trebeschi (singers), Lele Borghi and Alberto Paderni (drums), Stefano Re and Claudio Cavallaro (guitars), Biagio Esposito (basses) e Davide Marani (keyboards).
The official setlist in order of performance:
- Won’t Get Fooled Again (The Who)
- Un Autre Monde (Téléphone)
- C’est comme ça (Les Rita Mitsouko)
- Antisocial (Trust)
- Born To Be Wild (Steppenwolf)
- Gold On The Ceiling (The Black Keys)
- Don’t Look Back In Anger (Oasis)
- Killing in the Name (Rage Against The Machine)
- Space Oddity (David Bowie)
- Another brick in the wall (Part 2) (Pink Floyd)
- Under Pressure (Queen/Bowie)
- Sympathy for the devil (The Rolling Stones)
- Mojo -M-
- Je Dis Aime -M-
- Machistator – M-
- Medley – M-
- La Seine – M-
- Lithium (Nirvana)
- My Hero (Foo Fighters) a special tribute to Taylor Hawkins
- Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
- Paradise City (Guns’n’Roses)
ROCKIN’ 1000
In 2015 Fabio Zaffagnini and a few friends came up with the ridiculous plan to make a video of 1000 musicians playing The Foo Fighters “Learn to Fly” in an attempt to convince the band to come to their hometown of Cesena and do a concert. The gamble paid off. The video went viral with more than 59 million views and The Foo Fighters added a date to their tour to fulfil the dream. And so ROCKIN’ 1000 was born. High off their success, from 2016 ROCKIN’ 1000 continued to grow in Italy. Their first concert was organised at the Stadio Cesena in front of an audience of 13,000. Their second gig at the Stadio di Firenze in Florence brought out a crowd of almost 30,000 with the presence of their rock star guest performer, Courtney Love. In 2019 the Stade de France in Paris hosted nearly 55,000 spectators for a one off concert. 2020 saw the release of the film “We are the Thousand, The Incredible True Story of ROCKIN 1000” directed by Anita Rivaroli and produced by Indyca. ROCKIN’ 1000 is the brainchild of Fabio Zaffagnini, produced with Claudia Spadoni, Martina Pieri, Mariagrazia Canu and Francesco “Cisco” Ridolfi.
CREDIT SHOW ROCKIN’1000 PARIS 2022
ROCKIN’1000 TEAM
Fabio ZAFFAGNINI CEO & Artistic Director
Claudia SPADONI General Manager & Executive Producer
Cisko RIDOLFI Resp. Operation & Technical Supervisor
Martina PIERI Marketing Manager
Maria Grazia CANU Media Relation and PR Manager
Michele TELARO Chief Strategic Development
PRODUCTION TEAM
Francesca FADALTI Tour Manager/Producer
Matteo CHICCHIARELLI Technical Director
Roberto BERNABEI Site Manager
Davide PEDROTTI Light Designer
Nicola COSTAMAGNA Light Designer Assistant
SOUND DEPARTMENT
Luca STEFANI Sound Design & FOH
Michele Sem CIGNA Sound Engineer
Marco ZAFFUTO Backliner
Simone LIVIERI Backliner
Davide ZEZZA Backliner
Giacomo ROCCHI Recording
ARTISTIC PRODUCTION TEAM
Marco Giovanni BOARINO Show Director
Andrea CELI Concept Creator & Author
Paola MILAZZO Artistic Producer
Sara FANUCCI Show Caller
Margherita VACCARI Producer Assistant
CAST MANAGEMENT
Marika SOLFRIZZI Cast coordinator
Raffaele MARCHETTI Stage Manager
Andrea RASTELLI Stage Manager
IT
Tommaso SPERONI CTO
Andrei BORCEA IT manager
MUSIC ADVISOR
Alex DESCHAMPS Orchestra Leader
Augusta TREBESCHI Singers Guru
Alberto PADERNI Drums Guru
Biagio ESPOSITO Bass Guru
Claudio CAVALLARO Guitar Guru
Davide MARANI Keyboard Guru
Lele BORGHI Drums Guru
Stefano RE Guitar Guru
COMMUNICATION TEAM
Armando GUASTELLA Brand Manager
Silvia GHARABA Social Media Manager
Debora CASTELLUCCI Party Coordinator
Giulia STRIPPOLI Customer care
PHOTO & VIDEO TEAM
Stefania MAPELLI Photographer
Andrea BARDI Photographer
Vanessa TONIONI Photographer
Marco Antonio POROTTI Video Operator
Niccolò CORTI Video Operator
Charles GOUPILLE Video Operator
INFO – www.rockin1000.com
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 