Turnstile made their SNL debut, the first hardcore band on the show since Fear in 1981

Turnstile have played Saturday Night Live, and it is a bigger deal than one more band on a late-night stage. The Baltimore group were the musical guests on the 3 October 2026 episode hosted by Dakota Johnson, which makes them the first hardcore act on the show since Fear's chaotic appearance in 1981.

What they played

Turnstile opened with "Birds", the song that won them the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in February. It began with a drum solo from Daniel Fang before the band locked in, with vocalist Brendan Yates throwing high kicks and spins across the stage.

The second performance was a medley that stitched together two more tracks from their record Never Enough. The staging did the talking: a wall of rotary telephones behind the band, and a single red phone blinking in the dark as Yates sang about waiting on a call in the night.

The rest of the episode

Taylor Swift made a surprise cameo in Johnson's monologue, joking about dating and friendship. She returned during the closing credits carrying a cake, which seemed to catch guitarist Pat McCrory off guard. Swift did not perform, since Turnstile were the announced musical guest.

Why it matters

Never Enough arrived in June 2025 as the band's fourth album and later won the Grammy for Best Rock Album as well. Turnstile have grown from a hardcore-scene favourite into a headline act without sanding down the sound, and a national late-night slot is a marker of that.

The SNL appearance came a night after the band played Austin City Limits. They are in the middle of their Never Enough Tour Pt. 2 across North America, which runs to a final date in Santa Ana, California on 18 October, with a different lineup of guests in each city, including Clipse, Thundercat, Vince Staples and Slayyyter. The band have also put out Never Enough: Versions, a set of reworked songs with collaborators.

If you are meeting Turnstile for the first time, start with "Birds" and work back through the record. Related reading on ADMC: Dave Grohl joined AC/DC for "Highway to Hell" and more from the week in rock, plus the Turnstile artist page.