Duff McKagan, Krist Novoselic And More Pay Tribute To 'Nevermind'; Video

[FunkyMonkey]

Krist Novoselic, Duff McKagan and More Pay Tribute to 'Nevermind'

Plus: Watch video of the entire concert, which was a fundraiser for ex-Nirvana publicist Susie Tennant

SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 3:30 PM ET

In late September of 1991, Geffen Records publicist Susie Tennant put together the record release party for Nirvana?s Nevermind. The celebration took place at a small, downtown Seattle venue called the Rebar ? but was cut unceremoniously short when Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl collectively instigated a food fight that got them ejected from the bar. The soon-to-be iconic trio retreated to Tennant?s apartment, something they had done many times before.

"We?d go there, drink too much, and trash her apartment. She was always really nice about it," a wryly amused Novoselic recalled to Rolling Stone last night, standing by the soundboard at Seattle?s Experience Music Project, watching veteran peers and young emulators interpret Nirvana?s songs in honor of that landmark anniversary. (Watch video of the entire concert below.) "Bravo!" he hooted, clapping loudly as former Flop frontman Rusty Willoughby climbs the stage to perform "Pennyroyal Tea."

The event was more than a nostalgic nod to that album?s culture-quaking success; it was a fundraising effort for Tennant, who has been battling ovarian cancer. EMP Programs Producer and Presidents of the U.S.A. guitarist Andrew McKeag and other music community leaders were just putting the show together when Tennant was diagnosed. "She?s such a vital part of this music community," McKeag said that morning. "And when one of the mighty is stricken, we always feel this compulsion to do something." Seattle responded in kind; the event had been sold out for weeks ahead of time.

The evening commenced with recently reunited pop-grunge vets the Fastbacks ripping through Nevermind opener "Smells Like Teen Spirit" with impressively youthful aplomb. "Twenty years later, who wouldn?t want to play this song?" crowed guitarist Kurt Bloch, dressed in a sharp white suit, beaming at the audience and cameras capturing the all-star tribute show to stream online for an international audience.

The rest of the multi-platinum album was addressed sequentially ? and with varying degrees of success ? by a diverse cast of Northwest musicians, including rising new artists such as rambunctious hip-hop outfit Champagne Champagne, who nervously flubbed lyrics, and pastoral pop act Campfire O.K., whose bucolic, banjo-inflected rendition of "Polly" was executed with eerie charm.

After Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan led his band Loaded through a robust version of "Lithium" and induced the evening?s first incident of joyful pogo dancing from the audience, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl appeared via video feed: "I?m sure you all love Susie as much as I do," he said.

Video of the entire show here: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/krist-novoselic-duff-mckagan-and-more-pay-tribute-to-nevermind-20110921

Duff McKagan's Loaded--Lithium--Live @ Nevermind 20 years-Seattle 2011-09-20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skiE_Ph6Low

[Trist805]

Not feeling it.   By the way, I thought Velvet Revolver's 2004 cover of "Negative Creep" was better than the Nirvana version...and waaaay better than the cover that was played by some other band at that concert.   Needed Scotty Weiland

[D]

yeah not very good

[FunkyMonkey]

Not feeling it.   By the way, I thought Velvet Revolver's 2004 cover of "Negative Creep" was better than the Nirvana version

Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVDYurVGtQ4

[Falcon]

Duff McKagan's Loaded--Lithium--Live @ Nevermind 20 years-Seattle 2011-09-20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skiE_Ph6Low

Ouch, that was brutal.

Wasn't a fan of VR doing Negative Creep either, seemed like a reach....

[FunkyMonkey]

Some photos here: http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2011/09/21/photos-nirvana-nevermind-tribute-show-at-emp/

And a few words from Krist Novoselic:

Krist Novoselic & Presidents of the United States: On a Plain (Nirvana Cover) @ EMP, Seattle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knMHpM61wcU

[Top-Hatted One]

Loaded sounded fine to me when I watched the live feed. This audience shot is terrible quality.

[FunkyMonkey]

Another video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-sJQEVdcKU

[Falcon]

I've been listening to "Nevermind Radio" (20th anniversary commemoration of the release of the album) on Sirius/XM Lithium channel non stop in the car, great stuff.

They're doing a "Nirvana Town Hall" discussion tonight - John Stewart hosting with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and producer Butch Vig guesting.

[metallex78]

I thought Loaded sound pretty good one their cover. You either like Duff's voice or you don't, but I don't think it was bad at all.

[D]

I like Duff's voice a lot on Loaded and GNR etc

but not on that

I think he embellishes his Kurt plane ride story a bit much also.

[Bodhi]

I like Duff's voice a lot on Loaded and GNR etc

but not on that

I think he embellishes his Kurt plane ride story a bit much also.

how do you think he embellishes it.  He said the bullshitted a little on the plane ride home, and Kurt seemed down.  It's not like he had a bunch of crazy secret Cobain stories that no one ever heard before.

[FunkyMonkey]

From Duff...

Seattle: It's High Time We Chilled Out

By Duff McKagan Sep. 22 2011

Back in the day, Seattle was a place that bands loved to play. Bands that made it all the way up to our isolated corner of the country in the '70s and '80s were met with unbridled crowds that didn't give a hoot what anyone else thought about what they were doing. Seattle had yet to receive the memo that you were supposed to try and be cool at concerts. We were physically so far removed from the rest of the country that we just developed our own thing. This is the sensibility and sentiment that our now-beloved rock bands Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Tad, the Melvins, Pearl Jam/Mother Love Bone, the Fastbacks, P.U.S.A., and Nirvana all were born and bred from.

Along the way, though, and after many of these bands went on to stardom, Seattle audiences and artists--and I belong to both groups--lost their way. WE believed the hype, and WE started to look around to see what the other guy was wearing, thinking, saying. We stopped thinking for ourselves. We became precious.

When the Experience Music Project's Andrew McKeag called me in early August to see if my band, Loaded, would play a song off of Nirvana's Nevermind for their 20th-anniversary shindig featuring a whole swath of local talent, my reaction wasn't positive. I didn't want to fail and soil the weight of what the record has become. But I relented, and we agreed to play the hit "Lithium."

As the show approached, I heard rumblings from some of the other artists wondering insecurely, "What would Kurt say?" I admit I bought into the anxiety a bit, and let some of this pressure sit squarely on my back.

In the early '90s, Nirvana--perhaps kicking and screaming--became the poster kids for change, and not just musical. In fact, a recent Rolling Stone article stated that Nevermind changed the world in an economic and political way. When we talk about Nevermind, we're rarely talking about rock and roll anymore.

Don't get me wrong. Nevermind, from beginning to end, is one of those great records that should be remembered always and forever. But when we start talking about a music's legacy as a lever for things like political and social change, too often writers like myself begin to interject our will into the experience. We forget that we're talking about rock and roll, something that's always been meant to get us out of our everyday head space, and a lever to have a good time.

There was a tension at EMP on Tuesday. A tension caused by what I believe to be a collective fear of "Is this the right thing to do?" I could see it in the artists' faces backstage. I could see it in the audience's faces when I came out sidestage. I saw it in my own face when I looked in the mirror. The only guy who seemed totally at ease, and full of grace and calm, was Krist Novoselic, Nirvana's stalwart bassist and a special guest on the night's bill.

I literally forgot the words to "Lithium" right as my band went onstage. Yes. I was freaked out. But I saw Krist sending a big smile from the side of the stage. It gave me the confidence to ask the crowd to help me sing. They did. I think that is all that was needed, too. The audience sang the whole damn song, and thankfully, very loudly. Suddenly, it seemed like old-school Seattle again.

Later in the evening, Krist joined the Presidents for "On a Plain" and "Sliver," and it was completely evident that our collective anxieties were misplaced. The night was meant to be, and it WAS OK to celebrate Nevermind without fuss, naysayers be damned.

Maybe now Seattle can get back to being weird and different and fun again. That'd be really cool.

P.S. I'd be remiss not to note that our man John Roderick added some serious elegance to the night with The Long Winters' version of "Something in the Way." Nice work, John.

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2011/09/seattle_its_high_time_we_chill.php