The band that Dave Grohl wished he drummed for
Few rock artists are as blatantly fanboy-like as Dave Grohl. Whether it’s getting to induct his heroes Rush into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or investigating the historic music scenes across America in the Sonic Highways documentary series, Grohl is always game for exploring the history of rock music. In fact, don’t even get him started on Led Zeppelin.
During an interview with Classic Rock back in 2011, Grohl was asked if he had a secret wish list of musicians that he wanted to work with. Grohl took the opportunity to take a personal history through some of his most potent influences. He also went all the way back to his punk rock origins around Washington, D.C., in the early 1980s, the root of some of his best songs.
“When I was a kid I learned how to play drums from listening to my favourite bands’ albums – Bad Brains, Minor Threat and stuff like that,” Grohl explained. “And then I’d go to see that band in a tiny club like [legendary Washington DC punk den] the 9:30 Club or something. And in the back of my mind I always had this fantasy – wow, what if the singer came out and said: ‘Sorry, you guys, we can’t play tonight, our drummer is sick… unless there’s someone that knows all of our songs.’ And then I would get up and [mimes playing a drum kit] bam, bam, bam, bam.”
Grohl told a similar story at the start of the documentary Foo Fighters: Back and Forth. Evidently, Grohl has a bloodlust for some of his fellow drummers to go down. So, what band would be the first to come to mind? Maybe someone who Grohl is most famously a fanboy of? Nope: the slightly unexpected choice for Grohl is Australian rockers AC/DC.
“I feel that way with all of my favourite bands,” Grohl added. “Like, if I went to go see AC/DC and they needed a drummer that night, I would be the drummer of AC/DC for one night. Or Killing Joke. Or Motorhead. There’s part of me that wants to do it with everybody, you know.”
Grohl doesn’t appear to have ever fulfilled his dream, but he has jammed on AC/DC songs with Brian Johnson on occasion, including at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts earlier this year. As for Motorhead, Grohl has definitely logged some time with Lemmy.
Check out Grohl smashing away on ‘Ace of Spades’ with Lemmy and Slash down below.
