Taylor Hawkins on the ‘greatest gig’ he ever saw
The tragic loss of Taylor Hawkins is still being felt amid the rock world. Celebrated by his Foo Fighters friends and family, the only way they knew how — with a live show of epic proportions at Wembley Stadium — Hawkins knew the value of what a live performance could do for somebody. Like most of the rock and roll set, Hawkins understood what witnessing their favourite band deliver a powerful performance could mean for a young kid.
As the supremo drummer for the Foo Fighters, Hawkins made an unusual foray into the spotlight. While most drummers are happy to hit the skins, break their sticks and cut their knuckles to a smattering of directed applause before slinking off into the night, Hawkins always gave a little more to his performances. As a child and inspired by the likes of Roger Taylor and Stewart Copeland, Hawkins didn’t just want to be a drummer, he wanted to be a rock star.
It meant almost all of his performances with the band, and even before as Alanis Morissette’s touring drummer, were flecked with a sense of showmanship that few can level up to. Safe to say, the worthiness of a killer rock show was never lost on Hawkins, and when he was asked about the greatest gig he had ever witnessed, he effused about the show like the rock and roll fan he was.
Picking out a favourite show is a difficult thing to do, largely because singling one performance is too narrow a spectrum to operate within. And Hawkins equally found the confines of the question a little snug, so he made sure to name-drop another of his favourite acts: “Oh, man, besides Nirvana they were one of the last special, magical bands.”
However, for Hawkins, there was one band and one show that spoke to his soul as a rock star in waiting: “There was something about Jane’s Addiction that was bigger than the four people in the band. I was from down south in Laguna, which is basically like being from Cornwall as opposed to London if you know what I mean, and me and my friends hitched all the way up to LA to watch them.”
It wasn’t just the journey getting to the show, but the otherworldly group that welcomed them. “Jane’s Addiction, at the time, were basically just freaks,” the drummer continued. “Nobody had dreadlocks, nobody had nose rings, back in ’87. Perry Farrell was just a provocative and insane lead singer. He was just fucking crazy, and they were this amazing band. They were like this heavy metal band from the valleys who got really into Siouxsie And The Banshees. You had your little faggy-goth vibe and your muscular heavy metal vibe, combined with the energy of punk bands like Black Flag. That was my best gig ever, definitely.”
When you add all of the components together: hitchhiking with friends, a new and inspiring band, the energy of punk, the outrageousness of heavy metal and the power to bring it all together, it is easy to see how this would become Hawkins’ favourite gig of all time.
