Member-only story
Octane Thrust
Rock was dead and that was interesting. For something named after something that never dies, the ironically inevitable somehow happened. Grunge rode its wave and bled into offshoots — which all bled out in the 2000s death rattle of Rock N’ Roll.
Dirk Geiger felt he had missed his moment. Born with the gifts of Jagger, Page, and Cobain, but born to the wrong era, he was hellbent on reviving it. He formed a band, Octane Thrust, and began building an audience in Austin — mixing blues, country and folk before boiling the frog with the riffs of Zeppelin, Skynyrd, and Danzig. They experimented in the new but only found success in the old. Success in the power chords and the shredding of fret boards. That’s where they knew they belonged. For Rock N’ Roll wasn’t dead, it was merely comatose — the audience was craving it, and Dirk Geiger knew he would spring this bear from hibernation.
Octane Thrust hit the road in May and rocked along the county fair circuit. They led off with the classics, Immigrant Song, Gimme Two Steps, Iron Man, and the sugar-stuffed crowds buzzed electric. By June they were sneaking their own riffs during solos, flowing off the cuff, but not going so deeply jam band that they’d get pelted with mustardized hot dogs.
Where there’s a will there’s a way and Dirk Geiger willed his way until his fingers bled over the fretboard. No booze, no women, just a bunch…
