Last year the Rockin’ 1000 hit the headlines when they gathered together in a field outside Cesena in Italy, to play a huge group version of the Foo Fighters Learning to Fly. It was an impassioned gesture to get the band to come and play in this small town in the Emilia-Romagna province of Italy – and thanks to the viral success of the video, it worked! Dave Grohl and co, duly humbled by the spectacle of 1000 musicians synchronised to play their song, added a date to Cesena.

Mission accomplished, time to go home, you might think, but no. At the weekend, the story took a new turn, as the organisers through crowdfunding hired a stadium in Cesena, filled it with 1,200 musicians and 20,000 fans, and proceeded to rock through songs by bands including The Verve, Foo Fighters, Patti Smith and David Bowie (amongst others).

With the musicians filling the stadium’s pitch, conducted by the charismatic Marco Sabiu (who also conducted the Learning to Fly session), the concert kicked off with The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony . The numbers were impressive – 250 drummers, 250 guitarists, 250 bassists, 250 singers, 30 keyboard players, a group of violinists, and not to be outdone – 30 bagpipes players!!