In 2014, you can still hear songs like ‘Lithium’ on ‘rock ‘ radio stations around the world, easily buy an iconic smiley tee on Northumberland Street , and even see teenagers picking up the remastered version of ‘Nevermind’ in HMV for the first time. It really doesn’t feel like it was 20 years to the date of writing (5/4) that songwriter Kurt Cobain decided to take his life at his home at Lake Washington.
Some of you reading this may not realise that the godfathers of Grunge played their first gig outside of the state of Washington (USA, not the town I live in) was in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. They supported Tad ion their UK tour, including a date at the Riverside on October 23rd, 1989. I wouldn’t have even been a year old at the time so I can’t give you an eye witness. Luckily I have found a few people who have.
The only results found for this on search engines appear to be archive style Nirvana fan sites and a Facebook post from last October marking 23 years since the gig took place. The comments hold warm memories of their youth, but sadly not praising Nirvana. An interesting post reads:
“Went to this with my then girlfiend,Chris started talking to her pre-gig and invited us backstage.Kurt was quiet,Chris talked about the Bosnian war,Chad talked about an Austin Atlantic he’d bought to try and restore.”
Believe me I really tried to get a hold of this person. Sounds like they had a brilliant time! I decided to put up a post to find out more about this long forgotten UK debut. Didn’t get a huge response but a few replied. Tony Maddison, who was a 28-year-old miner at the time remembers the gig clearly:
” I found out about the gig by voraciously reading the music press, and I loved Riverside..I had to hear this noise that the press were promoting! Id never heard of Nirvana, I went along for Tad. And unexpectedly I DID expect Nirvana to be successful when I heard their first album Bleach.”
Tony was a bit of a fan of the band but not a huge follower, but he still listens to their music, Tony said “I still listen to Bleach but can’t listen to Nevermind or anything else, they deteriorated in output. I always rated Mudhoney and Tad above Nirvana.” This wasn’t even the last time Nirvana played Newcastle. They also played a gig at the legendary Mayfair in 1991 described as ‘disappointing’ by Tony.
There’s even an interview with Kurt and the lads from Nirvana and Tad you can read in full at:
http://www.livenirvana.com/interviews/8910jm/index.html
There’s quite a profound quote from Kurt in there:
“It’s really not our goal to bean a major label, you know, I mean if we got signed to one, I’d just be so amused, I’d just start laughing. Sub Pop is really the label for us”
Kurt never wanted to be famous, but wanted his music to be heard. This is what got on top of him in 1994.
Kurt Cobain is on the cover of Kerrang! Magazine this week to mark the anniversary. If you are a Nirvana fan it is a good read. A lot of Kurt’s peers and fans shows their respects on social networks today such as Billie Joe Armstrong, Beck and Neil Young. Most touching came from his band mate and best friend Krist Novoselic, bass player in Nirvana:
Nirvana are also being inducted in to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame this year. A fitting tribute? It’s great Kurt’s music is being recognised but ‘fame’ is definitely not what he wanted.
As recent as last month the case of Cobain being ‘murdered’ was re-opened and then shortly closed. As the album title says…’Nevermind’. The teaser for next week’s Kerrang! is entitled ‘Who killed Kurt Cobain?’ which I find really bad taste. People have accused his widow Courtney Love, which is a theory I cannot subscribe to at all despite her being a bit…well..bonkers! Courtney Love is playing a venue called ‘Riverside’ in Newcastle in May, hopefully she will let his soul rest and not cover any of her late husband’s songs (as she owns the rights).
I hope future generations discover Nirvana and related bands such as Foo Fighters. If high street stores want to make money out of Nirvana, their choice. I just hope those who wear it look out the name on the shirt.
“I’d rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.”-Kurt Cobain
Neale McGeever: Scatter Brain 
I remember queing to see Guns N Roses play in Dublin in 2006 – and there was this girl there at the time, no more than 14 or 15, talking to me for hours (while we queued) about how great Nirvana were and all these things she was learning about at the time. It made me laugh because even then I think she couldn’t have been more than an infant when Cobain died and now – in 2014 – there are kids the same age talking about learning all this new information on Kurt Cobain and Nirvana. And that girl is probably in her early 20’s now and was just going through some phase at the time.
I definately think there are two types of Nirvana fans – those who love the bands work and those who just love the bands image, or more specifically Kurt’s false image portrayed by the media that attaches itself to their own teenage angst,
I think those kind of fans – even 20 years removed from his death – will continue to come and go and you could apply the same logic to John Lennon fans who attached themselves to his music after he was murdered.
I’ve never been a Nirvana fan, admittedly, but hopefully from now on though we can have a more positive outlook to Nirvana’s music, input and imagery and we can see Kurt Cobain as more than just a poster boy for suicide, depression and drug abuse – of which, if reports are to be believed, he was determined not to be remembered for at all.