Dave Grohl

The Foo Fighters frontman on face tattoos, the end of the classic-rock era, and the genius of Meg White.

- Brian Hiatt

Dave Grohl had a day off in Memphis yesterday, so he paid a visit to Graceland, which got him thinking about how Elvis Presley was once just another kid with a guitar trying to deal with “the effect that young stardom can have.” But unlike Presley and certain other tortured souls, Grohl seems somehow built for the long haul, in part because he simply enjoys the journey so much. He’s currently on a world tour with Foo Fighters, who released the strong, Greg Kurstin-produced Concrete and Gold in September. Twenty-three years into the band’s career, Grohl talks about the shows like he’s just getting started. “It’s probably uncool to say,” he says, “but honestly, I’m just scanning the audience all night trying to get each and every one of them out of their seats. And if I get a whole audience standing for three hours, then I walk offstage like, ‘That was a good show. We had them fucking jamming.’ ”

So how much coffee have you had today?

Maybe six cups. A reasonable amount to get my day started.

You were having caffeine-induced chest pains. Any plans to cut back?

You realize you’re talking to someone that’s never done cocaine in his life. You can only imagine what would happen if I got my face in a pile of that shit. We wouldn’t be on the phone right now. But after I got my diagnosis that I should decaffeinate, I tried decaf for, like, a week, and I came to the conclusion that decaf blows.