On July 3, 1983, 14-year-old Springfield, Virginia schoolboy Dave Grohl went to Washington DC for a free Rock Against Reagan festival headlined by Dead Kennedys. The gig would change his life. “I had just discovered punk rock and here were some of the best punk bands in America playing on my doorstep,” he recalled in 2009.
‘When I showed up [Texan ‘crossover’ thrash/hardcore band] D.R.I. were onstage. I couldn’t even believe [what I was seeing], so much so that afterwards I bought their 22-song 7” [debut EP] from their singer out of their van. That whole night… I’ve got chills just thinking about it. It was so unbelievably moving. It was like our own personal Altamont, our Woodstock. And that’s when I said, “Fuck the world, I’m doing this.”
