Turnstile just brought hardcore back to Saturday Night Live 45 years after one particularly chaotic performance seemingly scared the show away from the genre.
The Baltimore band made its SNL debut on Saturday, October 3, during an episode hosted by Dakota Johnson, becoming the first hardcore act to take the show’s stage in over four decades.
The Grammy Award-winning band kicked things off with an epic drum solo into the song “BIRDS,” off their 2025 album Never Enough. The band later returned for a medley of “I CARE” and “DULL,” performing against a wall of phones with an elaborate light show surrounding them.
The historic appearance had already become something of a joke before the band even played. In an SNL promo, cast member Ben Marshall noted that it had been 45 years since a hardcore band performed on the show, while Turnstile jokingly promised not to destroy the studio.
That history dates back to 1981, when FEAR appeared on SNL at the invitation of John Belushi, a fan of the band. Their famously unruly set included an audience packed with slam dancers and reportedly resulted in thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to NBC’s Rockefeller Center studio.
READ MORE: Grammy-Winning Indie Rock Band Kicks Off Tour After Ex-Guitarist Indicted for First-Degree Murder
FEAR wasn’t the only act to land in hot water with the late-night show. The Replacements were banned following their famously rowdy 1986 appearance, while Elvis Costello was blacklisted after unexpectedly stopping “Less Than Zero” during his 1977 performance and launching into “Radio Radio” instead.
View this post on Instagram
But fans seem to love this choice.
“First real band they’ve had on in ages. Not that manufactured bubblegum crap,” one person noted in the comments on Instagram.
“Been so worried about the next generation…after watching this…yeah..they’ll be good 👍,” said another.
Even people who weren’t necessarily a fan of the genre appreciated the performance. “Not for me but pretty cool to see music like this on mainstream TV,” one wrote.
“Easily the best part of the episode,” said a fourth, which stands out considering pop superstar Taylor Swift made an appearance.
Johnson used her opening monologue to joke about her “two very public, very lame breakups with two very awesome musicians” before revealing her supposed “literal therapist,” Swift.
“I’m not your therapist, actually,” Swift joked. “You just show up once a week at my house with an empty bottle of wine and ask if I want some.”
The pair recently collaborated, with Johnson starring in one of Swift’s new music videos alongside Colin Farrell. The music video made its debut during the MTV Video Music Awards on September 27.
Related: Madonna Says Sabrina Carpenter’s Team Ghosted Her for ‘5 Days’ in ‘Awkward’ VMAs Speech
Leave a Reply