And she nailed it, of course
October 10, 2018 11:40 AM Subscribe
The surviving members of Nirvana played a short set at CalJam 18, with guest performers including Joan Jett taking Kurt Cobain's role for "Breed", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and "All Apologies".
Thanks for linking this - I read about it and meant to see if there was a video available.
I feel like Nirvana is so very overplayed on my local radio stations, but hearing it live was so refreshing.
posted by mogget at 12:50 PM on October 10, 2018
I feel like Nirvana is so very overplayed on my local radio stations, but hearing it live was so refreshing.
posted by mogget at 12:50 PM on October 10, 2018
This is so great! is there a version with better sound?
posted by Dr. Twist at 12:58 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Dr. Twist at 12:58 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
One of the few Nirvana covers (versions?) that doesn't feel like they failed to copy Kurt's vocals or they meaningfully stripped it down and added a harp. I know Joan Jett doesn't really have the pipes anymore but her intention feels great in the song. St. Vincent did a great job with the band at the HoF ceremony, too.
It certainly seems like Kurt's will that the best Nirvana covers all seem to be from female vocalists. Most people forget or never knew how much Nirvana pushed for feminism and female empowerment at a time when it was completely non-existent in the pop music scene.
posted by lubujackson at 1:09 PM on October 10, 2018 [7 favorites]
It certainly seems like Kurt's will that the best Nirvana covers all seem to be from female vocalists. Most people forget or never knew how much Nirvana pushed for feminism and female empowerment at a time when it was completely non-existent in the pop music scene.
posted by lubujackson at 1:09 PM on October 10, 2018 [7 favorites]
"We need someone a lead singer who can credibly fill the role left by Kurt Cobain. Is Shannon Hoon Layne Staley Scott Weiland Chris Cornell Joan Jett available?"
Commercially viablegrunge early-90s rock music was the music that shaped my adolescence but a couple of years ago I started doing an inventory of my relationship to media and how that media related to toxic masculinity and I found myself doing some hard thinking about how it might explain why so many of the music's poster boys were dead. It has made enjoying the music of my youth a lot harder.
Anyway, I love Joan Jett and I fully endorse her taking over lead singer duties for any band that needs someone to put on a Hell of a performance.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:06 PM on October 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
Commercially viable
Anyway, I love Joan Jett and I fully endorse her taking over lead singer duties for any band that needs someone to put on a Hell of a performance.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:06 PM on October 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
Hell yeah!
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:30 PM on October 10, 2018
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:30 PM on October 10, 2018
This is great, and the video is nice and clear but the poor microphones weren't made for something that loud.
A Nirvana cover I've had the luck to see live a few times: The Mammals - Come as You Are
posted by vibratory manner of working at 3:48 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
A Nirvana cover I've had the luck to see live a few times: The Mammals - Come as You Are
posted by vibratory manner of working at 3:48 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Kim Gordon and Nirvana play "Aneurysm" at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Punk as Fuck.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:16 PM on October 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:16 PM on October 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
I have to be honest, I thought this would be so great but it was just by-the-numbers energy and technically not very well played. Rock music feels different when it's played by middle-aged people, maybe? I'm also surprised that Jett needed to watch her guitar playing rather than sing into her mic or engage with the audience. It just sounded like it could have been any decent Nirvana cover band.
posted by LooseFilter at 4:38 PM on October 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by LooseFilter at 4:38 PM on October 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Most people forget or never knew how much Nirvana pushed for feminism and female empowerment at a time when it was completely non-existent in the pop music scene.
Eh, what? That was the heyday of RiotGirls, folk pop songstresses and Lilith Fair. There is no way female empowerment was "non-existent" in the music scene back then. Quite the opposite, most female artists even wore pants to perform.
posted by fshgrl at 5:15 PM on October 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Eh, what? That was the heyday of RiotGirls, folk pop songstresses and Lilith Fair. There is no way female empowerment was "non-existent" in the music scene back then. Quite the opposite, most female artists even wore pants to perform.
posted by fshgrl at 5:15 PM on October 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
I don't think any of those were in the pop music scene though?
I mean, neither was Nirvana, really - Nirvana was kind of the moment where the pop music scene fractured and all these other bands who had been around all along suddenly found themselves in the headlights of commercial relevance
Like, at some point someone gave Chumbawumba and The Butthole Surfers a recording contract
posted by Merus at 5:32 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
I mean, neither was Nirvana, really - Nirvana was kind of the moment where the pop music scene fractured and all these other bands who had been around all along suddenly found themselves in the headlights of commercial relevance
Like, at some point someone gave Chumbawumba and The Butthole Surfers a recording contract
posted by Merus at 5:32 PM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Pop is a pretty variable term depending on where you live. But yeah there were lots of female empowerment even in pop. Madonna put out that book "Sex" a year after Nevermind came out. Whitney Houston was huge, so was Gwen Stefani, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan was selling out stadiums and metalhead guys were buying her albums. On the hip hop side you had groups like Salt n Pepa "let's talk about sex" and TLC and a whole genre of women with powerful voices who wore pants and shirts and didn't look like sex dolls. Personally I think that aspect of pop culture has gone backwards big time.
posted by fshgrl at 9:01 PM on October 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 9:01 PM on October 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
> Eh, what? That was the heyday of RiotGirls, folk pop songstresses and Lilith Fair. There is no way female empowerment was "non-existent" in the music scene back then. Quite the opposite, most female artists even wore pants to perform.
I don't think any of those were in the pop music scene though?
I mean, neither was Nirvana, really - Nirvana was kind of the moment where the pop music scene fractured and all these other bands who had been around all along suddenly found themselves in the headlights of commercial relevance
Lilith Fair? Was not in the pop music scene? Whut?
Nevermind was #1 on the Billboard charts and displaced Michael Jackson, for pete's sake. It went Platinum in like two months, despite an early shipping shortage. We can say that it's not really pop music because it was a different style than the prevailing pop music at that moment, but man, that view was commonly espoused either as a marketing ploy or to be rocksnobby. The fact is that it was wildly popular with all kinds of people who didn't usually agree on music. (I was a college freshman in 1991 and it was trippy to hear Nevermind coming out of the windows of every single dorm from every imaginable social group.)
posted by desuetude at 10:49 PM on October 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
I don't think any of those were in the pop music scene though?
I mean, neither was Nirvana, really - Nirvana was kind of the moment where the pop music scene fractured and all these other bands who had been around all along suddenly found themselves in the headlights of commercial relevance
Lilith Fair? Was not in the pop music scene? Whut?
Nevermind was #1 on the Billboard charts and displaced Michael Jackson, for pete's sake. It went Platinum in like two months, despite an early shipping shortage. We can say that it's not really pop music because it was a different style than the prevailing pop music at that moment, but man, that view was commonly espoused either as a marketing ploy or to be rocksnobby. The fact is that it was wildly popular with all kinds of people who didn't usually agree on music. (I was a college freshman in 1991 and it was trippy to hear Nevermind coming out of the windows of every single dorm from every imaginable social group.)
posted by desuetude at 10:49 PM on October 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Nirvana pushed for feminism and female empowerment
And gay rights and against toxic masculinity. I still think about them coming out and saying you couldn't be a fan of them and Guns N Roses, because GNR were homo-phobes and misogynists. Personally, I think they had a lot to do with the changing attitudes towards gays and women.
posted by xammerboy at 11:15 PM on October 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
And gay rights and against toxic masculinity. I still think about them coming out and saying you couldn't be a fan of them and Guns N Roses, because GNR were homo-phobes and misogynists. Personally, I think they had a lot to do with the changing attitudes towards gays and women.
posted by xammerboy at 11:15 PM on October 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
Punk as Fuck.
Kim Gordon was 61 when that was recorded. Seeing her on stage, punk as fuck, skater dress, was the thing that made me realize that my 50th birthday did not mean I'd have to turn into an old lady.
posted by anastasiav at 11:05 AM on October 11, 2018 [5 favorites]
Kim Gordon was 61 when that was recorded. Seeing her on stage, punk as fuck, skater dress, was the thing that made me realize that my 50th birthday did not mean I'd have to turn into an old lady.
posted by anastasiav at 11:05 AM on October 11, 2018 [5 favorites]
Holy, hell, she can lay down a lick! She's known for her vocals, but this should solidify her status as a guitar-god. Her blown-out pipes completely made the song, too. Kurt's vocals weren't the most lovely, but they were intense. Justice was done. I. Love. Rock and Roll!
And really, no-one can copy on Krist's bass. It's more of a presence and essential to the Grunge sound than Kurt's guitar line. Lots of bands try, but no, unless they give up and go their own way.
posted by Slap*Happy at 1:45 AM on October 13, 2018 [2 favorites]
And really, no-one can copy on Krist's bass. It's more of a presence and essential to the Grunge sound than Kurt's guitar line. Lots of bands try, but no, unless they give up and go their own way.
posted by Slap*Happy at 1:45 AM on October 13, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by anastasiav at 11:46 AM on October 10, 2018 [1 favorite]