(Credits: Raph Pour-Hashemi / Big Brother Recordings)
Mon 5 January 2026 18:00, UK
In the mid-1970s, rock fans pulled off what many consider to be the darkest night in the genre’s history.
Disco Demolition Night was an organised event of pyrotechnic fury, designed to let narrow-minded rock fans unleash hell onto a genre they considered overly decadent and creatively baseless, and approximately 55,000 descended upon Comiskey Park in Chicago to throw a pile of disco records into a fiery blaze, under the stewardship of radio DJ Steve Dahl.
History has rightly shown how misguided this entire evening was, as well as proving disco’s well-earned place in the pantheon of culture. Not only did it push the boundaries of studio recording by moulding contemporary ideas of dance music into something fresh and innovative, but it also provided liberation and community for otherwise marginalised cultural groups.
With every year that passes, more egg cascades onto Dahl’s face, as well as his foolish group of disciples who joined him that night, primarily because of how disco becomes increasingly appreciated within rock and roll circles, labelled as a pioneering genre by some of rock’s most beloved gods who funnel their love through the genre, through one band in particular.
In fact, the rockstar who has historically been known as the most difficult to please, Noel Gallagher, has boldly declared his love for The Bee Gees. He explained, “I just remember this music being on, and I’m like ‘Who’s this?’. It actually blew my mind. Those early records sounded like the early Beatles records. It had the classic 1960s guitar-pop sound, but it had another thing going on.”
The Bee Gees performing on The Midnight Special,1973. (Credits: Far Out / NBC Television)
Adding, “When you got brothers singing, it’s like an instrument that no one else can buy. You can’t go buy that sound in a shop. You can’t sing like The Bee Gees because when you got family members singing together, it’s unique.”
Sure, Dave Grohl might be several notches higher up than Gallagher on the enthusiasm scale, but he’s a bona fide rocker nonetheless. Perennially dressed in black and never found without a long hair do and scruffy beard to match, he looks almost like a caricature of the Comiskey Park rock fans who sent disco into a burning fury that fateful night.
But as a true musician, he sees through the stereotypes, understanding the artistic importance of disco and joins Gallagher in The Bee Gees fan club.
He excitedly claimed, “Look, if you put Saturday Night Fever on, it’s going to feel like Saturday night, but it could be a Monday morning.” He continued to say that The Bee Gees facilitate a good time, claiming, “I like myself a little party now and then. I do like to dance.”
What Gallagher and Grohl tap into, that Dahl and co failed to in the 1970s, is that there’s no one way to have fun in music. Sure, losing your inhibitions to the heady mix of a hard rock track is one way, but grooving to the ever-changing rhythm of a disco track is another, and despite the desperate attempts for tribalism, we’ve all rightly realised that they can both be treated with a shared respect.
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