When a group of online fans got together and launched FooFightersLive.com (FFL) way back in February 2006 we had one main goal – documenting the live history of the band in as much detail as possible, including setlists, photos, recordings and everything else we thought other fans would want to know about the shows they experienced.
20 years later the website has expanded far beyond the initial scope and with the latest iteration of its development we’ve taken the bold decision to relaunch the website with an entirely new name, something more reflective of the much broader scope of data we’re now covering.
Today (July 16) we are therefore happy to announce that in just five days FooFightersDB.com, or FFDB for short, will be launched as a complete replacement of this existing website.
You can head over to the new domain name right now and add it to your bookmarks ahead of the launch next week.
Why a new name?
As we touched on above FFL had already grown beyond the initial scope of the website, we began documenting recording sessions early in the sites life and have continued to update that section over the years. We also added simple pages for releases and songs, as well as some other sections.
When we first started brainstorming ideas for the next iteration of the site a couple of years ago it soon became clear that our ambitious plans meant the FFL moniker just wasn’t cutting it. It was now so much more.
After a little more brainstorming we settled on FooFightersDB, we felt it best described what we plan to be – an all-encompassing, ever-expanding Foo Fighters Database. Just as IMDB is the go-to movie database online, we are aiming to be the go-to Foo Fighters Database. We’ll be referring to site with both the full name as well as the acronym FFDB.
New Features, Lots more content and expansions to existing content
The new website has been built entirely from the ground up, with only the raw data being carried over from FFL. The design is fresh and modern with a light and dark theme both available to match your preferences. We’ll be showing you a few previews of the new site in the coming days on our social media pages, so keep an eye out if you want a sneak peek.
Live Shows
Make no mistake; despite losing the ‘live’ moniker we’re not lessening our focus on the performances, quite the opposite. We’ll continue to document shows past and present in the same detail you’ve enjoyed over the last 20 years with a continued focus on accuracy, all key details documented and those all-important recordings.
We’ve also made several improvements. Firstly, you’ll be able to find, and filter shows in many ways – as well as browsing past shows by year like before you’ll now be able to browse by touring cycles, individual tours with further filters for types of shows (Regular shows, TV, Festivals etc), countries and more. Want to quickly see festivals in Australia over the last 30 years? TV Shows in the US in the year 2000? No problem.
For each individual show we’ve added posters, if they exist, as well as a few statistics – how many times the band have previously played in that venue, city or country plus a breakdown of the setlists by release. Speaking of setlists, we’ve also now made those clearer and added a verification system so you can easily see if the setlist is known to be exactly, or only partially correct, to what was played. More soundcheck data has also been added.
When it comes to recordings, we really went back to the drawing board to try and find the best compromise between making listings clear to newcomers who just want to hear a show whilst retaining all the technical details for the hardcore collectors. So gone are most of the potentially unclear labels and abbreviations, and in their place are clear titles and descriptions as to what a recording is and where it came from.
Each recording also now has its own dedicated page where you can listen or watch on demand many sources, read any detailed notes and of course, over 1000 audio recordings remain available for direct download (A free account is now required). There is also an overview page of all recordings which, again, can be filtered in many ways to find just the recordings you’re looking for.
Related performances have also seen some love. You will be able to easily find shows by specific acts (e.g. Them Crooked Vultures, Chevy Metal, Jackson United) by the band member they are associated with (E.g. all Chris Shiflett related acts) and several hundred more of these related shows have been added, with more to follow.
We have added a new stats overview page which features, you guessed it, a wide range of stats surrounding live shows. Total shows, shows by the years, most and least popular songs, there will be plenty of data and graphs for the statistically minded with again, even more planned for the future.
Finally an exciting new feature, once you've created a free account you'll be able to navigate the shows, mark those which you attended, and then get an extensive page of personal statistics on your account page - see which songs you've experienced most often, which band members you've seen over the years, and more.
Sessions
As with live shows, our coverage of sessions continues to be exhaustive, and you can now find and filter sessions by several metrics including displaying only sessions for a particular release (e.g. all sessions for Sonic Highways) or finding all sessions by a particular broadcaster (e.g. all appearances on Howard Stern’s show).
Tracks recorded at each session are now clearly denoted as to whether they’re released in some way or are unavailable publicly. You can see what each session was for briefly and then continue reading the complete report if you so desire, with chapters and references available.
People at each session are grouped into their roles so you can easily discover everyone credited for each.
Recordings for sessions have seen an even bigger overhaul than those for live shows. All known recordings are now grouped by each unique mix with details of that mix listed above. Unclear and generic “Soundboard 1, Soundboard 1b” labels are gone, each recording denoted clearly by the name of the release or the source it came from, like a “leaked” studio cassette. We think you’ll find this much more intuitive and easier to understand, and we look forward to your feedback.
You’ll also find a recordings overview page and stats for sessions, just like shows.
Songs & Releases
Once again, we’ve taken a huge leap forward - we now have some 200+ releases documented with albums, EPs, singles, videos and even video game releases featuring the band all covered.
Where before each release page only gave you some very brief details and stats, now you’ll be able to see all the credits, the singles of each album, and our recommendations for each release. Discogs can be a minefield with hundreds of tiny variations, we instead list only the editions of each release you need to experience all the unique music – we leave minor regional variations and such to Discogs.
Lots more data is also available for the 1200+ songs we’ve documented and like most of the site, filters will be available to find just the thing you’re looking for, such as all unreleased tracks, or tracks only ever played live.
Videos
An entirely new section of the site, you’ll be able to browse through hundreds of videos from their most well-known music videos, TV show appearances, promo videos such as the classic Hot Buns, special broadcasts such as 24 Hours of Foo and countless interviews that you may not have seen before. The videos are detailed with filming locations, behind the scenes information, and the ability to watch most of them right there on the site. This section is a work in progress; with over 30 years of videos, we still have a lot more to add!
As with each of the other sections, robust filters are available to find exactly the kind of videos you’re looking for.
Band Member & Musicians Profiles
Another new part of the site, you can now explore profiles for every past and present band member, including touring members. See a short bio as well as exploring all their contributions to Foo Fighters shows, sessions, and releases. You can also do the same for a selection of musicians who have guested with the band over the decades as well as some of the non-musical personnel, such as producers and engineers.
Create An Account
Sign up for a free account on the new site to enable you to comment on just about anything plus as mentioned above you'll be able to mark which shows you attended which then automatically generates your own personalised stats in your profile. An account will also now be required to be able to download live recordings but fear not, we are not adding any lame restrictions such as limiting download speeds or restricting you to a certain number per month. The account requirement is simply to fight against bots and scraping. You'll also to be able to track your downloads in a future update.
One thing that isn’t changing is our ethos towards advertising and paid content. Neither will feature on the new website, and we continue our pledge to never run adverts and never place any content behind a paywall of any kind.
We should also note, within the current climate of AI generated content, NONE of our data has been generated or edited using AI. Every word and every stat is generated by humans, with our usual attention to detail and accuracy remaining very important.
There is so much more to the site that we’d have to write a short essay to cover everything it has to offer so please explore the site when it launches on July 21 and we hope you enjoy it.
Future of FooFightersLive.com domain
As of July 21 the existing website will cease to exist and all links to the site will forward to FFDB automatically. We’ll try to make as many existing links as possible forward to the appropriate page on the new site, but where this isn’t possible, you’ll land on the new home page.
We will keep the FFL domain active for the foreseeable future to make sure everyone can update their bookmarks find the new site.
Donations
We never like to ask, but we do like to occasionally remind visitors that FFL and now FFDB is a non-commercial website funded by our own pockets. Running costs for the site are not extreme, but still add up, so if you enjoy what we’re doing and can give even just a small amount as a donation we will be grateful. Again, none of the site will ever be behind any kind of subscription or paywall and there are no adverts to disable, so donating will not grant you any extra perks, simply a warm fuzzy feeling. And a snazzy badge. You can donate to us via Paypal or BuyMeaCoffee.
We’re excited for you all to explore the new website and don’t forget to also follow us on our social media channels, we’re active on Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook, YouTube and Reddit.