Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins says that there’s “no more alternative rock any more.”
He was a guest on Matt Wilkinson’s Beats 1 show this week – and, during the interview, he reflected on what it was like covering Guns N’ Roses’ It’s So Easy with Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan at this month’s Firenze Rocks Festival in Florence, Italy.
And Taylor also credits Guns N’ Roses with being a catalyst to what would become alternative rock – but he doesn’t believe the genre now exists.
Taylor says: “We got some amalgamated version of Guns N' Roses on stage and the fucking stage exploded! It was insane!
“Axl comes out spinning around in a circle, Dave’s banging his head, Duff’s looking at me with his muscles clenched and Slash is doing some insane solo – and our bass player is on side of stage drinking a beer, laughing. It was amazing!”
He continues: “We talk about the changing of the guard when Nirvana’s Nevermind came out and it really kicked open the door and kind of got rid of what people called plastic hair metal.
“I really realised it just being up onstage with Axl the other night – they were the first tickle if you will, into what became alternative rock.
“When I heard Appetite For Destruction when it first came out, it was scrappy and you knew there was danger in that band.
“The songs have endured and there’s no more alternative rock any more – we’re just a bunch of dads playing music now. All of that has gone by the wayside.”
Foo Fighters will head back out on the road next month, where they have dates scheduled across North America throughout the summer and into October.
Foo Fighters 2018 tour dates
Jul 06: Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion, MD
Jul 07: Camden BB&T Pavilion, NJ
Jul 12: Toronto Rogers Centre, ON
Jul 14: Wantagh Northwell Health & Jones Beach, NY
Jul 16: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Jul 17: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Jul 19: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena, PA
Jul 21: Boston Fenway Park, MA
Jul 22: Boston Fenway Park, MA
Jul 25: Cuyahoga Falls Blossom Music Center, OH
Jul 26: Noblesville Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center, IN
Jul 29: Chicago Wrigley Field, IL
Jul 30: Chicago Wrigley Field, IL
Sep 01: Seattle Safeco Field, WA
Sep 04: Edmonton Rogers Place, AB
Sep 06: Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome, AB
Sep 08: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Sep 10: Portland Moda Centre At The Rose Quarter, OR
Sep 12: San Jose SAP Center, CA
Oct 08: Phoenix Talking Stick Resort Arena, AZ
Oct 10: Denver Pepsi Center, CO
Oct 13: St Louis Scottrade Center, MO
Oct 15: Detroit Little Caesars Arena, MI
Oct 17: Milwaukee Wisconsin Entertainment & Sports Centre, WI
Oct 18: St Paul Xcel Energy Center, MN
