Hundreds of guitarists join a 1,000-strong ensemble for a stadium-rocking rendition of Guns N’ Roses’ Paradise City

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Italian mega-band Rockin’ 1000 covered Guns N’ Roses’ hit Paradise City at its show at the Stade de Paris, in the French capital (May 14) and now you can watch the footage...

Given the numbers involved and the unruly nature of a show involving a crowd of rock musicians losing their s**t, it’s an astonishingly tight performance. 

There are some concessions to pragmatism, notably the decision to skip the outro solo, but that’s likely to everyone’s benefit. Especially, as a rough count of the names in the closing credits suggests that over 350 guitarists were present in the stadium – which is probably too many lead guitarist egos to prove cohesive.

Regardless, it’s another electric guitar extravaganza and an inspirational accomplishment for the Rockin’ 1000 – and they have form. The enormous, revolving collective of musicians was formed in 2014, by Fabio Zaffagnini – a marine biologist and Foo Fighters fan from Cesena, Italy – in an effort to grab the attention of Dave Grohl with their performance of Learn to Fly.

The aim was to persuade Grohl to pay them a visit and Zaffagnini’s efforts proved wildly successful, with the video garnering over 60 million views and duly persuading the Foo Fighters to put on a three hour show in Cesena on November 3, 2015.

Since then the band has continued to perform with an ever-rotating cast of musicians, and has jammed with the likes of Courtney Love, hosted its own Summer Camp and performed a string of headline stadium shows around Europe. Each one a mind-boggling organisational triumph. Insert your own rider/tour bus jokes here...

During their recent Paris show, the group also covered Foo Fighters once again, this time performing My Hero in a moving tribute to Taylor Hawkins.

The Rockin’ 1000’s next gig is in Geneva, Switzerland on September 3, 2022 and it’s a fundraiser for Ukraine Aid – a charity supporting refugees who were forced out of their homes by the Russian invasion earlier this year.

For tickets, information, or to participate in their shows, head to the Rockin’ 1000 site.