Turnstile, the Baltimore hardcore band that spent the winter collecting its first two Grammy Awards, made its first appearance on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, performing as the musical guest on an episode hosted by Dakota Johnson.
The Oct. 3 episode marked a notable booking for the long-running NBC sketch show, which has historically favored pop, hip-hop and mainstream rock acts in its musical-guest slot. Turnstile's appearance came during the band's "Never Enough Tour Pt. 2," which launched in Milwaukee on Sept. 9, according to The Baltimore Banner. The band pushed back its Oklahoma City tour stop from Oct. 3 to Oct. 5 to make room for the taping.
Formed in Baltimore in 2010, Turnstile is fronted by Brendan Yates and rounded out by guitarists Meg Mills and Pat McCrory, bassist Franz Lyon and drummer Daniel Fang. The band has spent a decade and a half expanding outward from straightforward hardcore into a sound that folds in elements of pop, R&B and dance music, a shift that reached its fullest expression on last year's album "Never Enough."
A Breakout Year Capped by Grammy Wins
That record won Turnstile its first two Grammy Awards in February — best rock album for "Never Enough" and best metal performance for its track "Birds" — a milestone for a band that built its following largely through DIY hardcore shows before crossing into wider recognition. The band kept up the momentum through the year, releasing a companion remix project, "Never Enough: Versions," in August that included reworkings by Elton John and Hayley Williams, and touring extensively across Europe and the United Kingdom, per Consequence.
Johnson, hosting for the third time, was promoting "Verity," the psychological thriller she stars in alongside Anne Hathaway that opened in theaters Oct. 2. Her pairing with a hardcore band making its network-television performance debut underscored how far "SNL" has strayed this season from a purely pop-centric musical lineup, a booking pattern that has also included KATSEYE, Rosalía and Gracie Abrams this fall.
For Turnstile, the appearance adds a mainstream marker to a year that has otherwise built the band's reputation through touring and awards-show recognition rather than television exposure. The band's current tour continues through the fall, with the rescheduled Oklahoma City date now set for this week.
