Cal Jam 18: Foo Fighters Joined by Iggy Pop, Tenacious D, Garbage, Greta Van Fleet For Second Annual SoCal Event

Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic – Foo Fighters
Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters performs at Cal Jam 2017 on October 7, 2017 at Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino.

Cal Jam returns for its second annual installment Oct. 5-6 at Glen Helen Regional Park and Amphitheatre in San Bernardino, Calif., with headliners/curators Foo Fighters joined by Iggy Pop With Post Pop Depression, Tenacious D, Garbage, Greta Van Fleet, Silversun Pickups and more.

The announcement promises “guitars, guitars, guitars” with the Saturday lineup filled with bands including Deer Tick,  Gang of Youths, Slaves, Manchester Orchestra, Black Mountain, Giant In The Trees (Krist Novoselic’s new band), Metz, Yungblud, Thunderpussy, Anna Van Hausswolff, Fea, Kingfish and others to be announced.

While only Saturday, Oct. 6, includes a full music lineup, Friday includes special attractions for campers as well as a party headlined by Billy Idol, comedian Bridget Everett, and Mexrissey, a Spanish-language Smiths cover band, which sounds exactly like the kind of thing Foos frontman Dave Grohl would be into.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, May 17, 10 a.m. PST.

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Campers will be treated to outdoor midnight movies and given waterpark access, as well as to the newly Friday Night Comedy Tent curated by comedian Tim Hanlon, also known as Grohl’s cousin.  All ticket holders will gain access to carnival rides, a Rock N Roll Museum, pop-up record shop and “a hillside full of flappy guys.”

One-day GA is $99 plus fees, with Saturday buyers having the option to add Friday night for $30. All camping packages include entrance to the Friday party. 

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The Foos have had to fit the Cal Jams in between lengthy touring plans already, with a major North American leg coming at the end of 2017 and running into May of 2018. They hit Europe in June and have another lengthy North American run starting in July that includes arenas as well as baseball stadiums, with two shows at Fenway Park in Boston as well as two at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field in Chicago. 

Although the touring continued into 2018, last year’s Foo Fighters headlining was still good enough to put the band at No. 80 on the Top 100 Worldwide tours, with $26.7 million grossed. 

And, while nothing has been announced, it should be noted that the last time Grohl, Novoselic, and Deer Tick’s John McCauley got together, there was a Nirvana reunion gig that included deep cuts such as “Very Ape,” “Moist Vagina” and even “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” with Pat Smear on guitar (2014 at St. Vitus Bar in Brooklyn).

Iggy Pop’s Cal Jam 18 set is being billed as an exclusive one-off reunion with the all-star Post Pop Depression band that backed him on a handful of shows he did in support of his 2016 album of the same name. That band features Queens of the Stone Age frontman and longtime Grohl buddy Josh Homme, as well as QOTSA alum Dean Freita and Troy Van Leeuwen joined by Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders. 

Tenacious D, the supergroup featuring rock God (and sometimes movie star) Jack Black and Kyle Gass, just announced during Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta that it will release a sequel to its 2006 film “The Pick Of Destiny.” 

Last year’s inaugural event (not counting the California Jam in 1974 that included Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Emerson Lake & Palmer in front of 300,000 people) featured two full days of artists including Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Cage The Elephant, LIam Gallagher, and The Struts.

That event reported to Pollstar 24,837 tickets sold and $2.26 million grossed.