Stream Foo Fighters Docuseries ‘Sonic Highways’ On HBO Go

We’ve just stepped into the Ed Sullivan Theater and the lights have dimmed. A massive screen in front of Dave Letterman’s desk reads, “Every city has a sound. Every sound has a story.” This is the world premiere of the Foo Fighters’ road trip docuseries, Sonic Highways, hitting HBO this Friday, October 17th.

The series chronicles the band’s most recent tour around the country. Frontman Dave Grohl‘s twist on the familiar theme of a band road trippin’ with a camera is as follows: for their upcoming eighth album, the band has recorded a new song in eight different cities across the U.S., starting with Chicago, home of the blues.

At first glance, it seems a tad pretentious to direct and produce your own eight-part series, but as soon as the episode begins, it’s clear the Foo Fighters have not only done this for the incredibly loyal fans they’ve acquired over the last two decades, but also to bring awareness to lesser known members and forgotten tales of the music industry.

It kicks off with classic blues: Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Etta James, and Buddy Guy, who even sits down for an interview, and explains to the camera how he got his start playing guitar. “I used to nail rubber bands to the wall,” he says, “I just liked the sound.” Next came Chicago’s wild child, Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick, who explained the shift in the city as blues turned to rock n’ roll then to punk. At this point, the episode feels like a more polished version of an episode of VH1: Behind the Music, in the sense that anyone outside the Foo Fighters fan base can take something away from this series, especially if you’re a music buff.

Dave Grohl makes a point to focus on notorious producer, Steve Albini, who famously engineered Nirvana’s In Utero, the controversial follow-up to to label-friendly Nevermind. Albini’s story is fascinating, and while Grohl razzes him for always acting like “a cynical dick,” he also praises his questionable methods, in which Albini produces an album, the band pays him, and he calls it a day. There are no royalties: zilch. “An architect doesn’t walk up to a house he built a hundred years earlier and say, ‘Hey, the house is still standing, I should get a bonus,'” Albini says matter-of-factly, something almost unheard of in the industry.

The last five minutes features a music video of the Foo Fighters recording the song they just wrote, which has been inspired by the cityscape around them. It might sound a tad corny, and that it is, but again, if you’re a fan, you’ll love it.

The Decider team was lucky enough to be a part of an exclusive concert from the Foo Fighters following Tuesday’s premiere, but if all goes according to plan, the band will play following the Friday night airing in Chicago at the The Cubby Bear, the legendary Wrigleyville bar where Grohl saw his first show as a kid.

Sonic Highways airs on HBO and HBO Go at 11:00 pm EST, and you’ll be able to stream the concert live on HBO’s Facebook page.

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Photos: HBO