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I Saw Nirvana Play to Two Hundred People, in 2014 By Fred Pessaro
First of all, I'm pretty hammered, which is only semi-acceptable in the real world. But that's not where I came from. The place that I just left was total fantasy, where an all-star cast of musicians gathered around to help eulogize and celebrate a great band that disappeared a little too soon. With booze. And lots of it. Oh yeah, they played a shit ton of songs too. And it has been a long, long, long time.
Directly after their induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, and Krist Novoselic trucked it on over to Saint Vitus, a 230 cap room in Brooklyn to play an intimate, invite only show of all Nirvana songs at the venue. I heard about the set at around 9PM that night, and confirmed with several sources before leaving the Godflesh show I was attending (yes, one legendary band for another) to head over. I was lucky and made it in. Most did not.
After setting up tons upon tons of gear, more than I have ever seen in the popular Brooklyn venue, Grohl, Smear, and Novoselic took the stage with Joan Jett and kicked it off the right way with "Smells like Teen Spirit." The room full of jaded invite-only attendees went fucking apeshit, understandably. Jett gave tribute to the fallen Kurt Cobain on stage, as did all of the guest stars throughout the night: Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Annie Clark (St. Vincent), John Mccauley (Deer Tick), and Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth). The 15+ song set spanned the entirety of Nirvana's career, with breaks to swap out vocalists/guitarists and for quick, whispered lessons on how the songs went. Maccauley and Grohl seemed the most prepared, but to be fair maybe the pint glass of Makers Mark was Novoselic's handicap.
"That's the middle part of completely different song," Dave Grohl quipped to Novoselic, smiling before breaking into another track.
Everyone was seemingly zonked out of their minds at the venue, including a teetering Annie Clark and a giggly crowd pogoing along to the Seattle band's classic output. I joined, and tried my best not to slam into Mascis, Carrie Brownstein, Butch Vig, Jack Endino, and countless others as I maneuvered around the venue. I did OK, but was too knee deep in whiskey to really take score.
Hands down the best moments go to mega-ripper J Mascis, who tore through "School" and "Penny Royal Tea," solos and all. What a fucking guitar god. Kim's vocal only performance of "Aneurysm" was similiarly badass and inspired.
In all, an insane evening that I never thought I would ever see in my lifetime—the members of Nirvana reforming to play their old favorites. It was all a big, whiskey-soaked dream. Shit this cool doesn't happen in real life, does it?
SETLIST 4/10/2014
Smells Like Teen Spirit (with Joan Jett) Breed (with Joan Jett) In Bloom (with Joan Jett) Territorial Pissings (with Joan Jett) Drain You (with J. Mascis) Penny Royal Tea (with J. Mascis) School (with J. Mascis) Lithium (with Annie Clark) About A Girl (with Annie Clark) Heart Shaped Box (with Annie Clark) Serve the Servantsm (with John Mccaluey) Scentless Apprentice (with John Mccaluey) Tourette's (with John Mccaluey) Aneurysm (with Kim Gordon) Negative Creep (with Kim Gordon) Moist Vagina (with Kim Gordon)
Jesus. Anyone who wants to tell me that Incesticide is some kind of minor entry into the Nirvana cannon and/or Rock Music legacy can suck a fucking solid shit brick. Fucking great record and an eternal example of Kurt Cobain as stellar songwriter.
Post subject: Re: I Feel Stupid And Contagious / A Nirvana Thread
Posted: Sat April 12, 2014 3:05 am
AnalLog
Joined: Wed December 18, 2013 5:27 am Posts: 1009
Great performance from the band, but Kim Gordon is doing nothing for me on that song. Grohl is such a phenomenal drummer -- definitely the (somewhat) unsung hero of the Nirvana sound.
Glad I got to catch the real thing in concert on the In Utero tour. Funny thing is that it was a 3000 seater and was not sold out. I knew people who walked up to the gate and bought tickets the night of the show. Its revisionist history that Nirvana was at the peak of its popularity when Kurt died. They couldn't even sell out a 3000 seater.
Post subject: Re: I Feel Stupid And Contagious / A Nirvana Thread
Posted: Sat April 12, 2014 4:03 am
AnalLog
Joined: Wed December 18, 2013 5:27 am Posts: 1009
mastaflatch wrote:
artistically, culturally and historically, many, many things are more important than selling out a 3000 seater.
Of course. In part it's funny because I know about 10,000 people who claim to have been at that concert. In part it's funny because Nirvana was not considered artistically, culturally, or historically important until after Cobain died. Yeah, I know they were the face of grunge, but that ship sailed after Nevermind faded from the public eye. Incesticide was barely noticed and In Utero got great reviews but was hardly a smash. In the U.S. it sold 180,000 copies the week it was released. Compare that to 950,000 copies of Vs. in just five days, released one month later. Again, I'm not equating sales with importance. My point is that Nirvana was not considered truly "important" until Cobain died. He was deemed retroactively important by the press and the fans, including the hordes who could have attended the In Utero tour but skipped it because Nirvana was no longer cool in late 1993/early 1994.
Post subject: Re: I Feel Stupid And Contagious / A Nirvana Thread
Posted: Sat April 12, 2014 4:30 am
AnalLog
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 7:12 am Posts: 1642 Location: The Jungle
PryTo wrote:
mastaflatch wrote:
artistically, culturally and historically, many, many things are more important than selling out a 3000 seater.
Of course. In part it's funny because I know about 10,000 people who claim to have been at that concert. In part it's funny because Nirvana was not considered artistically, culturally, or historically important until after Cobain died. Yeah, I know they were the face of grunge, but that ship sailed after Nevermind faded from the public eye. Incesticide was barely noticed and In Utero got great reviews but was hardly a smash. In the U.S. it sold 180,000 copies the week it was released. Compare that to 950,000 copies of Vs. in just five days, released one month later. Again, I'm not equating sales with importance. My point is that Nirvana was not considered truly "important" until Cobain died. He was deemed retroactively important by the press and the fans, including the hordes who could have attended the In Utero tour but skipped it because Nirvana was no longer cool in late 1993/early 1994.
Im gonna totally agree with that. Cobain and Morrison are both in that boat... their bands were just starting to decline in popularity and didnt really have a direction? (Dave was already starting to write/record songs that ended up with the Foos) if either of them live (Cobain/Morrison) who knows what happens, but by they both died, and became legends, bigger than they ever were.
Post subject: Re: I Feel Stupid And Contagious / A Nirvana Thread
Posted: Sat April 12, 2014 4:42 am
AnalLog
Joined: Fri January 04, 2013 1:05 am Posts: 1179
MadTIGERmaN wrote:
PryTo wrote:
mastaflatch wrote:
artistically, culturally and historically, many, many things are more important than selling out a 3000 seater.
Of course. In part it's funny because I know about 10,000 people who claim to have been at that concert. In part it's funny because Nirvana was not considered artistically, culturally, or historically important until after Cobain died. Yeah, I know they were the face of grunge, but that ship sailed after Nevermind faded from the public eye. Incesticide was barely noticed and In Utero got great reviews but was hardly a smash. In the U.S. it sold 180,000 copies the week it was released. Compare that to 950,000 copies of Vs. in just five days, released one month later. Again, I'm not equating sales with importance. My point is that Nirvana was not considered truly "important" until Cobain died. He was deemed retroactively important by the press and the fans, including the hordes who could have attended the In Utero tour but skipped it because Nirvana was no longer cool in late 1993/early 1994.
Im gonna totally agree with that. Cobain and Morrison are both in that boat... their bands were just starting to decline in popularity and didnt really have a direction? (Dave was already starting to write/record songs that ended up with the Foos) if either of them live (Cobain/Morrison) who knows what happens, but by they both died, and became legends, bigger than they ever were.
that is far from being a situation in which bands' creativity fails everytime. ask The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Pearl Jam...
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Just Fukking WOW!
