He might be a world-famous rock star and internationally recognised as ‘The Nicest Man in Rock’ but that doesn’t mean that Dave Grohl has forgotten his early days as an unknown concert-going rock fan.
As proof, the multi-instrumentalist took time out before headlining Asbury Park, New Jersey’s Sea Hear Now festival in September to visit music photographer and Sea Hear Now co-founder, Danny Clinch’s Transparent Clinch Gallery Pop Up Art Tent, where he produced two sketches to be auctioned for charity.
Drawn on corrugated ‘Prohibited Items’ signage, swiped from the festival site, both serve as a reminder of Grohl’s ’80s adolescent years, with the first drawing showing how to make a beer bong using a funnel, a valve/tap, two-and-a-half-foot of plastic tubing and some metal clips.
The second sketch depicts a retro, step-by-step method — presumably employed by Grohl on at least one occasion — of using a modified cassette tape to smuggle hash into a concert by dismantling the plastic casing, removing the spool of tape and filling the void with lumps of the concentrated devil’s lettuce extract.
The drawings are now being auctioned individually, each winning bidder will also receive a 11x14 print of Dave Grohl, taken by Clinch during the Foo Fighters' set at Sea Hear Now 2023.
Proceeds from both sales are being donated to multiple charities in the Asbury Park area including the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monmouth County; the Cazzeek Brothers; Konscious Youth Development & Service, aka KYDS; Garden State Equality; Catsbury Park; Clean Ocean Action; and Operation Beachhead.
The auctions are open until 27 December, with bids already in excess of $5,000 for each drawing at the time of writing. To place a bid, visit the auction’s webpage.