John Paul Jones, along with Seasick Steve made a surprise appearance at the Foo Fighters Sunday night show at the Milton Keynes Bowl. The Them Crooked Vultures band mates, along with Steve performed “Back In The Doghouse”, a track from Seasick’s new album ‘You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks.’

Here’s a first hand report from Michaela Firth:

After recovering from the mix of mud and sunshine at Glastonbury where we saw bands as varied as  U2 , Biffy Clyro, Coldplay,Morrisey, Two Door Cinema Club , Pendulum , Don Mclean  & Elbow , we spent last weekend at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes , where we had not one , but two helpings of the Foo Fighters.Having missed Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones guest with the Foo Fighters on the second night of the Wembley gigs in 2008 ( we were the on the first night) , we took no chances and secured tickets for both days.It was worth the effort.

The Foo Fighters played to over 130,000 fans over  the two nights ,  delivering a two and half hour set each night, covering off all the hits and a number of tracks from the new album ,
‘Wasting Light’. On the first night , Saturday 2nd July , Dave Grohl was clear in stating it would be a special night , so my son Dan and I exchanged glances and suggestions of who might join them.

The first guest was Roger Taylor the Queen drummer , who apparently inspired Taylor Hawkins the FF drummer to pick up drum sticks. Dave Grohl also introduced Bob Mould commenting ” The Foo Fighters would not be here , if it was not for this man !” They played “Dear Rosemary”. Finally during the encore , he introduced Alice Cooper  who delivered a rousing version of ‘Schools Out ” to a delighted crowd. All fans went home satisfied , after a fantastic firework display and Dan and I started to think about whom they might bring on for the Sunday night.  Sunday night came , and Dan managed to secure a place near to front of the stage with his mates , and left me to enjoy the gig from a distance  with a friend. Dave again brought on Bob Mould , and shared his story. He also introduced Butch Vig , who produced both the Foos latest album and the iconic Nirvana album -Nevermind . It did seem that this was the extent of the special guests and my friend , whom I told about the previous nights guests, seemed to be a little disappointed . This was to change …

Then during the encore Dave started to tell a story of a man who he had met at the recent Isle of Wight Festival . He described a man who had been at the very first gig Dave had played as a drummer with  Nirvana. Dave continued to say this man was one of the nicest he had met ….he introduced Seasick Steve. ……it was then I wondered …..and in the next breath Dave Grohl shouted that they would be joined by the legend who is ….John Paul Jones.

I screamed , people around me gave such a deafening cheer and I wandered how Dan and his friends were receiving this guest being so close to the stage ? They performed ” Back In The Doghouse” from Seasick Steves’ new album  “You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks”.

It was amazing to hear the strong baseline drive the track, which was just about audible above the screams and noise of the crowd. It was amazing! You could see they all really enjoyed the opportunity , no more than Dave Grohl , who on drums , beamed all the way through the track. You could feel the sheer delight and admiration of being onstage with the man who he described as  the ‘legendendary ‘ JPJ . Dave has made no secret that he was inspired by Led Zeppelin and even has a John Bonham three circles symbol tattoo. There was a genuine joy of sharing the stage with Seasick Steve , who has followed his career from the start .

So as a crowd we were delighted , inspired and in awe of them  all playing together, I get the feeling that Dave Grohl was equally delighted , inspired and maybe a little in awe!

What struck me was the conversation as we left the Bowl – young kids describing that ‘bloke fromLed Zeppelin’ , older people reeling. So what a delight, what a privilege to have tickets for  fantastic night. Overall a  fantastic weekend and I’m not sure I know how they will top this ! Maybe if Robert was to join Jimmy and John , and Dave took up his dream role of being their drummer….now there’s a thought!

John Paul also joined Seasick Steve for the iTunes Festival performance at the London Roundhouse. During the show the pair were joined by Alison Mosshart and Jack White for a cover of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Write Me A Few Lines,”John was also on hand at last week’s Werchter Festival in Germany for another ad-hoc power trio festival appearance.