This Day In Music History: February 19th, 1995 – Foo Fighters play their first show at a keg party in Seattle, Washington

After the death of Kurt Cobain in April 1994, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl was at a crossroads. Dealing with the unexpected death of his friend and bandmate, it left multiple unsolved problems. Chiefly among them was obviously the death of Cobain, and in the not even 4 years since Grohl joined Nirvana as their drummer, they quickly became musical compatriots. The other big obstacle was basically this – how do you play music again after an event like that?

We know what happened next, of course. Grohl quickly formed Foo Fighters and released an eponymous debut album in July 1995, where Grohl also performed all instruments (save a guitar part on “X-Static”, performed by Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs). The record became a success, which was interesting because it wasn’t created to be such by Grohl. From there on, he recruited William Goldsmith and Nate Mendel of Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as Pat Smear of The Germs + former Nirvana touring guitarist.

Countless Grammy nominations, awards, and millions of albums sold came soon afterward. And on February 19th, 1995, Foo Fighters made their debut performance at a keg party in Seattle, Washington. The band’s first public performances came soon after, though the band’s self-titled debut album wouldn’t arrived until that July. Still, the band’s early performances weren’t the kinds of venues you’d expect a band like them to be. Though the band now obviously plays arenas and even baseball stadiums, Dave Grohl and company have been known to play secret shows at smaller venues – just like the old days.