News Dave Grohl on the “best live band I’ve ever seen in my life”
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was fortunate to have been living in DC when the punk-rock scene was thriving. During these years in the 1980s, Grohl developed an obsession with music that became all-encompassing.
Although he was born in Ohio, Grohl later moved to Washington, D.C., which proved to be a masterstroke. The Nirvana drummer had first been indoctrinated into punk thanks to visiting his older cousin in Chicago. While on holiday, she took him down to see local bands at the independent venue, The Cubby Bear, which proved to be a crucial moment in his life.
While Grohl had already started to play the guitar, which he learned thanks to a songbook of material by The Beatles, bands such as the Fab Four felt distant. They were from a different era and no longer active; therefore, the only way that he could appreciate their work was through their string of records.
However, the punk outfits that Grohl fell in love with as a teenager were easily accessible in a live environment, and his favourites were Bad Brains, who embodied the spirit of the D.C. scene. The hardcore icons operated by their rulebook and consistently blew Grohl’s mind whenever he was fortunate enough to be in their vicinity.
During an interview with Red Bulletin in 2021, Grohl opened up about his love of the punk pioneers and named their track ‘Sailin’ On’ one of the songs he wishes he’d written. He elaborated on his selection: “Bad Brains were America’s greatest hardcore punk-rock band in the ’80s. They were from Washington, DC, and were the best live band I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“I was in love with their music – it was so fast, so distorted, so dissonant,” he added. “It made me want to drink a hundred beers and break windows. Now, if that’s not a good enough reason why I wish it had been written by me”.
Grohl has discussed his love of Bad Brains on several occasions before. Intriguingly, the Foo Fighters frontman’s favourite album in their canon is a bootleg, which expresses his super-fan credentials and further highlights how much of a stranglehold they had on him as a teenager.
“I was living in DC in the early ’80s and got into the hardcore scene, but nobody else blew me away as much as Bad Brains,” he told NME. “I have never ever, ever, ever, ever seen a band do anything even close to what Bad Brains used to do live.”
Furthermore, Grohl stated Bad Brains were one of the key reasons he chose to chase a career as a musician. He revealed: “They made me absolutely determined to become a musician; they basically changed my life and changed the lives of everyone who saw them.”
Bad Brains played a pivotal role in shaping Dave Grohl’s life, steering it onto a trajectory that he remains forever grateful for. The fortuitous turn of events leading him to D.C. became a defining chapter, with the catalyst being the transformative impact of Bad Brains’ live performances. While witnessing numerous bands, none could match the sheer magnificence and unparalleled energy that Bad Brains brought to the stage. Their influence not only left an indelible mark on Grohl but also became a cornerstone in the mosaic of his musical journey.
