Walking into the Manhattan Center or Hammerstein Ballroom or whatever on Valentine’s Day Eve 2013, there was a palpable buzz of mystery and confusion regarding the evening’s entertainment. A capacity crowd gathered with ages spanning 16 to 60 for a performance from the Sound City Players, a super-group featuring Dave Grohl and all of the Foo Fighters, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty and a whole host of others who never all played at one time together. So how was this all going to work? What songs were they going to play? Would Paul McCartney show up? Why hadn’t anybody bothered to check my Balcony level ticket while I sauntered all evening around the GA floor?

The show kicked off not with a bang, but with a projection screen descending upon the stage to intro the most pertinent moments from the Sound City documentary for which these shows, the third of four so far, had been organized around. Then as, would be the custom for the rest of the show, the screen flashed the name of the upcoming performer, and ascended to reveal Alain Johannes and the best possible backing band in the world. Grohl and Johannes had a natural chemistry having previously toured with Them Crooked Vultures, and ripped through classic Eleven tracks as well as a Josh Homme-less cover of Queens of the Stone Age’s “Hangin’ Tree”.

“We’re in for a long fucking night, you know that right,” teased Grohl roughly five minutes into a three hour show.

Up next was Masters of Reality’s Chris Goss who continued the QOTSA connection as well as the ear-popping intensity. “Domino” was the highlight of that particular set as Grohl and Goss took a special pleasure in chugging through the track’s many guitar hero worthy bits.

If alt, possibly stoner, rock left you feeling comfortable in your position on the floor, then Lee Ving and his punk-rock exuberance would ensure that didn’t last for long. Covering Ving’s seminal American hardcore punk band Fear’s most up-tempo songs, the backing band took relish in the “1, 2, 3, 4’s” that would kick off every song into an indomitable frenzy.

At some point one would have to take a bathroom break during this indoor marathon, and if you did right before Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen and Nirvana’s Krist Noveselic hit the stage you likely could only hear the opening pangs of “Hello There” while returning to the floor. What was unmistakable, even from outside the line of sight, was that Dave Grohl had jumped behind the drum kit for the first time. Taylor Hawkins handled frontman duties admirably, and shirtlessly, as the ball-cap wearing Nielsen led the band through “I Want You To Want Me” and “Surrender” soliciting some of the most audible sing-a-longs of the night. Pat Smear did his patented half shimmy, half duck-walk and all was well.

Then it was Rick Springfield’s turn at bat as his sleeve-less, 63 year old arms put everyone fretting about hitting the gym to immediate shame. Although the man is in no need of a career resurrection, should he ever manage to persuade the Foos to tour as his backing band then a much larger audience would be in for a refreshing, power-packed treat.

“Rick fucking Springfield,” praised Grohl, “How many songs do you know where you play three notes and everybody knows what it is?”

Dave was of course referring to the opening of Jessie’s Girl which brought out the best in Springfield and his new band-mates.

If the crowd hadn’t already expended all of their available energy by then, John Fogerty’s arrival in playing “Travelin’ Band” spurred rollicking excitement and plenty of people closer to my age clasping their face in dis-belief that they’d get to see such a living legend. Fogerty can still cull up that undeniable rasp from the glory days of Creedence Clearwater Revival as he and his brothers in flannel worked through “Bad Moon Rising”, “Born on the Bayou”, “Fortunate Son”, and yes, “Centerfield”.

That left room for one last turn from the Sound City Players, this time soliciting a much more shrill sort of cheer. In all her California-gypsy majesty walked out Stevie Nicks who twirled, gesticulated, and, most importantly, sung with a passion far removed from a massive arena show. This allowed Nicks’ voice to ring true and call to memory all those times listening to her timeless heart-sick songs. Naturally, the set kicked off with Grohl playing the role of Tom Petty in the duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”. In a night full of stories about the old Sound City, Nicks offered up her own about coming to Grohl with a song after her God-son had overdosed. The passion of the night’s events culminated as every member of the Foo Fighters backed covers of “Dreams” and “Gold Dust Woman” while Grohl and Nicks stood center stage for “Landslide”. The show ended with “Gold Dust Woman” which swirled with unlimited, Neil Young-esque, raw guitar power as Nicks convulsed and wailed.

As Nicks and Grohl walked off stage arm in arm, the projection screen came down one last time as the gathered throngs who had foolishly checked their coats paid a toll much higher than the $4 per item charge. After a great catch-up with friend and Spinner head-honcho Dan Reilly, I gathered my thoughts on this unique event. Although the cinematic approach to the affair was admirable and enjoyable, the gaps, although seamless, made for a different sort of show that had to go through piques and valleys in crowd attention and energy rather than a straightforward narrative. Overall, the Sound City Players live show is a, sigh, fun-ducational experience that deserves that be shown to the largest audience possible with some interactivity fresh out of Bjork’s playbook. Here’s hoping that if the Sound City Players roll on into the summer, they tackle some larger, outdoor spaces and keep the cost down from the $107 after fees ticket so that everyone can take in this monumental musical achievement.