Turnstile stepped onto Saturday Night Live this weekend for their debut, and they did something no hardcore band had done in 45 years: they played the show. The Baltimore punks brought a wall of phones and a serious light show to their medley of “I CARE” and “DULL,” and drummer Daniel Fang opened the night with a hellacious solo on “BIRDS.”
The episode also featured a surprise appearance from Taylor Swift, who presented host Dakota Johnson with a cake for her birthday. That meant Swift and Turnstile were in the same room, though the band joked about not trashing the studio the way their hardcore forebears had done.
A Long Gap Between Performances
Turnstile promoted the episode by joking that they wouldn’t wreck the studio like their predecessors. Cast member Ben Marshall noted that it had been 45 years since a hardcore band appeared on SNL. That gap traces back to the show’s first brush with loud punk rock.
FEAR Caused the Original Damage
The show’s fear of hardcore came from a titular band. FEAR performed on SNL in 1981, brought on by John Belushi, who was a fan of the band. The performance included an audience full of slam dancers, including Ian MacKaye and Harley Flanagan, along with Belushi himself.
FEAR’s four-song set caused $20,000 worth of damage to NBC Studios at Rockefeller Center. That damage started a four-decade distaste for hardcore.
Other Bad Boys of SNL
The Replacements added to the record in 1986. Their drunken performance got them banned for life, the last straw being Paul Westerberg shouting, “Come on, fuckers,” on stage during “Bastards of Young.” But the original bad boy of SNL performances was Elvis Costello.
During his 1977 appearance as a replacement for the Sex Pistols, whose members had visa issues, Costello stopped the Attractions shortly into “Less than Zero” and played “Radio, Radio” instead. His label and Lorne Michaels did not want that set. He was blacklisted until 1989.
Turnstile’s Next Shows
Turnstile followed their SNL debut with a muddy set at ACL on Friday night. Their upcoming tour runs through November, with stops at The Zoo Amphitheatre in Oklahoma City, The University of Kansas on The Hill, Arsenal BG Ballpark, Austin City Limits Music Festival, FORM Arcosanti, Ventura County Fairgrounds, The Amp at Craig Ranch Regional Park, Observatory Festival Grounds, and Dodger Stadium’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival.
Tour tickets are available through their official channels.
What This Performance Actually Means
Turnstile’s debut ends a long stretch for hardcore on SNL. The show has a history of banning and blacklisting punk acts, and Turnstile’s performance suggests the door may finally be opening again.
The band’s joke about not trashing the studio was a nod to that history. They kept their promise, at least as far as anyone knows.
The Hard Numbers
- 45 years since a hardcore band played SNL, per Ben Marshall
- $20,000 in damage from FEAR’s 1981 performance
- COS20 promo code for $20 off $200+ orders
- October 5th — Turnstile at The Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City
The Order of the Troublemakers
- Elvis Costello — blacklisted after his 1977 “Radio, Radio” set, banned until 1989
- The Replacements — banned for life after their 1986 drunken performance
- FEAR — caused $20,000 in damage in 1981
Turnstile’s debut was a low-key start by comparison. They played their songs, the phones lit up, and the lights stayed on. The show has spent decades avoiding loud punk rock, and Turnstile just walked through the door. Whether this performance changes the show’s long history with punk remains to be seen, but for now, the Baltimore punks have done what no hardcore band has done in 45 years.
See the video the story is built around at Consequence.
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