While the Sound City studio wasn’t the prettiest venue to record in, the role it played in the careers of some of rock’s most illustrious names gave it its own allure.

Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, and the Grateful Dead among others have the former factory space to thank for hosting the beginnings of numerous hits and records. With his first experience at the studio dating back to his days with Nirvana, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl took his appreciation of the studio to the big screen at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah with his new documentary Sound City and a supergroup tribute performance to boot on Jan. 18.

According to Rolling Stone, before kicking off a three-plus hour show with 17 musicians on deck, Grohl asked the festival crowd, "It's going to be a long f***ing night – you know that, right?”

Grohl’s presence was heavy both on-screen and on-stage as he teamed up with numerous acts including John Fogerty, Stevie Nicks, and Rick Springfield at different times. Each of the artists from the Sound City Players supergroup have stepped into the Van Nuys studio at least one time throughout their musical careers and left with something substantial to show for it.

In Sound City Grohl also examines the redeeming qualities of the venue like the vaunted analog Neve 8028 console. Despite its instrumental role in rock history, however, the superior console had become another symbol for the fatal reluctance of the studio’s owners to modernize from analog to digital systems.

"Sound City was our home away from home,” Stevie Nicks told Fox News. “It is where we recorded Buckingham-Nicks and Fleetwood Mac.  All the days and nights we spent their recording songs that never saw the light of day, and hanging out with other artists…They say it is where real men went to make records. And that's the truth."

For more on the documentary, head to SoundCityMovie.com.