Former Nirvana band members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl have confirmed they will be joining Nevermind producer Butch Vig for a Q&A session hosted by Jon Stewart in New York.
Yes, it’s certainly a far cry from Nirvana’s magical Unplugged gig back in 1993 with Kurt, but well, I’ll take what I can get.
The Q&A session – slated to be broadcast by SiriusXM – will air live on Lithium (channel 34), on Saturday, September 24 at 8:00 pm ET.
SiriusXM head honcho Scott Greenstein says the reunion is the station’s way of honoring the artists who, with the release of Nevermind, “influenced a generation and marked a change in the course of music history no generation will ever forget.”
Damn straight. Now I don’t think anyone from Generation X, whether they loved or hated Nirvana, will ever forget the ultimate grunge band.
At the risk of sounding clichéd, and yes, I know I do, Nirvana was the voice of a generation. While Cobain, Grohl and Novoselic were practically worshipped in the 90s, I’m uncertain if the trio is properly remembered these days.
Even in Seattle (of all places) Nirvana isn’t exactly a name you hear on the street anymore. Try mentioning the band in a venue like Crocodile and see how far that gets you. No, Seattleites just want to move on and listen to new music, which is understandable, I guess, at least to a certain extent, although it doesn’t hurt to remember the past.
“If you want Nirvana, go to the Experience Music Project museum,” they’ll tell you with a look of disgust.
Which I gladly did the last time I paid homage to Pike’s Place, the Moore and Le Pichet.
But wow, did I feel old, because I remember Nirvana and the Seattle sound like it was yesterday. So seeing Kurt’s hastily scribbled lyrics on crumpled paper, along with assorted pictures and grunge paraphernalia, was, well, just weird.
I also couldn’t help but wonder what Kurt would have thought about his stuff ending up in a frakkin’ museum, although he probably would have been amused (like Andy Warhol) that people were interested in voyeuristically peering at a bunch of mundane crap.
Frankly, I prefer to think about Nirvana as I’ll always remember them from the 90’s: a kick-ass band that played good music and changed Gen-X forever.
So to paraphrase Kurt Cobain and William S. Burroughs, these new rock’n’roll kids should just throw away their guitars and listen to something with real soul, like Leadbelly, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mad Season
Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Offspring.
