The punk show that gives Dave Grohl “goosebumps”
Once a punk, always a punk. We’ve seen this across music history, from the pioneers of the genre who are still waving the anti-establishment flag, if maybe not as agreeably as they used to, and others who continue to practice what they preach, setting an excellent example via their life and music. Although it might not seem like it at times, one man who still holds the punk ethos dear is Dave Grohl.
While some might deem him a sellout, the Foo Fighters leader continues to add punk elements to the band’s sound regardless of how sanitised it has become. On an extra-musical level, he also lives out the punk ethos in other ways. From being one of the most amiable men in rock to calling out what he deems unacceptable and championing new bands, he strives to make a positive impact, and there’s nothing more punk than that.
Grohl is also inextricable from the punk genre. Famously, after getting into the nascent hardcore scene of the early 1980s as a young teen and developing his craft as a drummer, he left school in 1986 to join the legendary DC act Scream and become their sticksman. This chapter saw Grohl tour the world and enjoy more fulfilling experiences than anything in education could have promised. His four years in the band were monumental and paved the way for the most culturally significant period of his career, Nirvana.
Despite reaching such eye-watering commercial heights, Nirvana were always a distinctly punk group. From their punishing sonic moments to their overall approach, which included calling out misogyny and being in it for the art, not the trappings of fame, the trio brought punk ideals to the untold masses by setting such an example. This feat would have been unthinkable only a few years before when the scene bubbled underground.
When speaking to Resistant Harmony in 1992, when Nirvana were at the peak of their fame, Grohl discussed how playing such enormous shows as his band were currently doing was unnatural to him, given that he’d only been to two before Nirvana’s success. Furthermore, he was used to boiling punk gigs and not commercial sets in vast sports stadiums.
He explained: “When I started to go to punk rock shows when I was 13, I never went to see like AC/DC or whatever, so it was just weird for me to be all of a sudden up on this stage, and it’s a very bizarre feeling, like to me I just don’t understand how something that big can connect, like how a band can connect y’know so ok, say if (Henry) Rollins was on stage, 400 yards away, and you just get that same click off it.”
This trip down memory lane then prompted Grohl to reveal the punk show that gave him “goosebumps” to think about. This was a 1984 set by hardcore pioneers Bad Brains at DC’s iconic 9:30 Club. A resonant performance given to only 300 people – a tiny number compared to what Dave Grohl was now used to – represented the pinnacle of live music to the Nirvana star. He also mentioned a show by Melvins as being incredible.
He continued: “Well not off the crowd, I mean fuck, watching the Bad Brains in DC in 1984 at the 9:30 Club, which holds 300 people, is just like… I get goosebumps thinking about it, and you just can’t compare anything to that kind of energy at all – ever or the Melvins in San Diego in a room about the size of this. Stuff like that y’know, it’s so ‘in your face’ music and you’re playing music that’s intended to be ‘in your face’, and when you’re on the stage like 500 feet away from anybody it’s sorta weird. But to a lot of kids, they’ve never been to a punk rock show before, for a lot of kids this is their first punk rock show, and it can be sort of deceiving.”
Listen to Bad Brains playing a different show at the 9:30 Club below.
