Load your band into the van and hit the road

February 19, 2024 6:21 PM

What Drives Us [1h30m] is a documentary about being an on-the-road rock and roll band. It's an interesting journey of self-discovery. Directed by Dave Grohl. Includes interviews with unexpected people.
posted by hippybear (13 comments total)

Oh gosh I saw this documentary a while ago and loved it SO MUCH.
posted by jessamyn at 6:27 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]

Started watching just to see who was in it and then looked at the clock and realized 30 minutes had flown by, so fascinating and enjoyable!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:48 PM on February 19

So good.
posted by my-username at 12:49 AM on February 20

"Things went horribly wrong when I discovered rock and roll" --The Edge

This is great, thanks for posting.
posted by chavenet at 5:00 AM on February 20

Dave Grohl, p.g.a.

Awesome. \m/
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:09 AM on February 20

I was the roadie for the Sons of Champlin from 1968 to 2010. I quit, but they are still performing. I have smoked a joint with Jerry Garcia, and when I met Janis, she was wearing red panties and sandals.

Here is my website about the experience.
posted by Repack Rider at 10:49 AM on February 20 [9 favorites]

I'll have to give this a try. Reminds me of Hitless Wonder which is a fun read about being in a touring rock band in the 90s.
posted by Thrakburzug at 3:11 PM on February 20

One of those posts where i just clicked the link and watched the whole damn thing in one sitting. Great stuff. My daughter is a vary talented musician, but struggles with social anxiety and as much as she wants to find a band to be in and be a family with and get in a van and do this, she's not there yet. I'm sending this link to her for inspiration. I could see myself as that dad who drives the van. living the dream.
posted by OHenryPacey at 3:13 PM on February 20

This is absolutely amazing, thank you hippybear! I was never a huge Nirvana/Foo Fighters fan for no particular reason, but I do find it awesome to see Dave Grohl use his access to make something beyond music that resonates with a lot of people.
posted by mollweide at 6:03 PM on February 20

Oh, The Minutemen photo in front of the back of the van (one presumes Econoline) that has the Three Stooges decal on the window at 42:22!
posted by mollweide at 6:29 PM on February 20

Haven't had a chance to watch it yet but anyway, Dave Grohl really likes rock history. He also directed the documentary Sound City about the studio of the same name in 2013 and the miniseries where he and the Foo Fighters travel around hitting different studios to record the Sonic Highways album.

Taylor Hawkins too. He's not in this I think but he was always popping up in docs I would watch. If it was about prog, hard rock or just drumming in general, he'd be there. I'm going to miss his presence.

That youtube channel is mainly a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan channel and it had something I had never seen before: Chad Smith playing Hocus Pocus at the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert.
posted by LostInUbe at 3:09 AM on February 21

I thought it was ok - they had to interview famous-enough people to draw critically with one young band to represent the actual action - but there are plenty of semi-famous bands traveling in vans right now who I think would have had more to say. I thought it was kind of shallow too - people are gassy, they carry their problems on to the van. I mean, for a bunch of artists, that's not very deep or interesting. And they kept interviewing Lars Ulrich of Metallica, who says they never even toured in a van.

The early punk rockers stuff was pretty cool, and nice to see.

I wouldn't express these complaints either, but they 'old man'-ed it at the end, with "we are the rock bands from the 1990s still touring (Foo Fighters, AC/DC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, etc) and the only rocks bands, there are no new ones" . No you are not.


Jerry Jeff Walker wrote a better song about band touring in 1976.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:10 AM on February 21

There were some odd choices, you got the feeling that they went with people they knew more than "Let's get an overview of van touring life" but whey, labor of love.

The early punk rockers stuff was pretty cool, and nice to see.

I assume you've listened to Get In the Van (Rollins) but if not, it's a classic.
posted by jessamyn at 8:44 AM on February 21 [1 favorite]