Halestorm have recorded a predictably raucous rendition of the Who’s 1974 hit, “Long Live Rock,” to accompany a documentary also titled Long Live Rock.
The song, with its big riffs and anthemic vocals, is a perfect fit for the group. Singer-guitarist Lzzy Hale exalts rock & roll with the same deference as Roger Daltrey, even on Pete Townshend-penned lines like, “We were the first band to vomit at the bar.” The accompanying video shows Hale and her bandmates recording the song, along with footage from the documentary, which comes out next month.
The film, Long Live Rock … Celebrate the Chaos, focuses on the audiences that attend rock festivals — specifically the hard-rock and heavy metal fans. Filmmaker Jonathan McHugh, who previously made the doc Cosplay Universe, teamed with producer Gary Spivack, who books festivals for Danny Wimmer Presents, for the film, which features interviews with members of Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slipknot, Rage Against the Machine, Halestorm, and many others. A trailer is available on the doc’s website.
A world-premiere live screening of the film, along with a Q&A, will take place on March 11th at 9 p.m. ET. The movie will get a wide release the next day via Watch Now @ Home.
The roots of the Who’s “Long Live Rock” also lie in a music documentary. In 1972, the group was working on a TV special and album titled Rock Is Dead — Long Live Rock! about the band’s history. Townshend later shifted his ideas from the film into what became Quadrophenia. “Long Live Rock” eventually came out on the 1974 compilation, Odds & Sods, which collected castaways from the Who’s career, but it wasn’t until 1979 that it became a hit when it was re-released as a single to accompany the Who documentary The Kids Are Alright.
