On January 23, 2000 Dave Grohl was arrested for “Drink-Driving” after the Foo Fighters played the Big Day Out festival on the Gold Coast of Australia. Although it is no laughing matter, Grohl was popped for a D.U.I. after driving a scooter and blowing a .095.
What’s your most embarrassing moment?
“Standing on the side of a highway in Australia, being breathalysed on a scooter, with traffic driving by. Kids were hanging out of car windows shouting, ‘Alright Dave?!’ and ‘Great show!’.”
He’d had a few beers and was astonished to discover that the .095 was almost twice the legal limit in Australia. Grohl said,
“I told them I could just walk to the hotel but they said, ‘Sorry, mate, gonna have to put you in the watch house tonight.’ The drunk tank was filled with fans that saw Foo Fighters perform that day, he said, I’m slightly claustrophobic so it was a little weird. I was really cold, too, ’cause it was raining, they took my shoelaces off my shoes so I wouldn’t hang myself and stuff.”
His mugshot was not released but here’s a photo of Grohl performing before his arrest.
He was eventually fined $400.
“I guess if there’s anything to learn here,” Grohl said in a posting on Foo Fighters official website, “it’s don’t drive after a few beers, even if you feel entirely capable, like I did.”