Warren Haynes and Dave Grohl combined forces to lead a surprise Sunday night Snow Jam concert at The Orange Peel in Asheville. Grohl recently chatted with Rolling Stone about the circumstances surrounding the performance and his decision to play Nirvana’s “All Apologies” as part of the show.
The idea to throw a concert on Sunday night came on Saturday during an after-party for the second night of the 30th Annual Warren Haynes Presents The Christmas Jam. “[The concert] happened because of this snowstorm that hit, knowing we probably weren’t going to fly out [on Sunday],” Grohl explained to Rolling Stone. “[On Saturday night] at 4 a.m., we’re at the after-party for Christmas Jam. I said to someone, ‘We got to find somewhere to play.’ And everyone was talking about this place the Orange Peel.”
Word went out about four hours before the start of Sunday’s Pop Up Snow Jam that the concert would take place and tickets sold out within an hour. “It takes a certain kind of spirit — or a certain kind of confidence or stupidity — where you brazenly walk into [something like] this,” Dave told Rolling Stone. “Before this show, Warren and I were sitting backstage with no idea of what we were going to do. I didn’t know if we were going to do the ‘Play’ thing. I didn’t know if we were going to do covers. [It was], ‘Well, what do you know?’ ‘I know ‘this,’ do you know ‘that’?” The pair went on to team with members of Dave’s “Play” band, Warren’s Gov’t Mule and other musicians in town for a batch of classic rock gems including The Who’s “Eminence Front,” “Helter Skelter” by The Beatles and Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter.”
An emotional moment came with Dave Grohl behind the kit for “All Apologies” from his days in Nirvana. “Warren said, ‘Do you want to do ‘All Apologies’? That used to be thin ice and delicate ground for a long time, for good reason. That’s something that had to be handled gently,” Grohl revealed. “When he mentioned that song, my initial reaction was, ‘I can’t do that. I shouldn’t do that.’ But then I think about the people that the song means so much to and has been a part of their lives — that joy and love should be shared. And then, as we were playing it, the audience starts to sing along, and I’m crying my eyes out onstage trying to keep it together — what a beautiful moment. And who am I to keep people from that beautiful moment?” Watch Sunday’s “All Apologies” captured by Bo Slaughter:
Head to Rolling Stone for more from Grohl and here for a full recap and video from Sunday’s Pop Up Snow Jam concert.
