In which we learn why Post Malone has "Stay Away" inked on his face...

April 25, 2020 10:54 AM

In what might be *the* pop culture moment of social distancing, Post Malone (yes, that Post Malone) and friends completely channeled Nirvana in a set live streamed from Malone's Salt Lake City rec room for COVID19 charity. This is great fun and his performance is uncanny. Krist and Courtney approved.
posted by Slarty Bartfast (41 comments total)

Mr. Malone was born one year after Kurt Cobain died.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:59 AM on April 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

Gen Xer here. Big cynic. Don't entirely understand who Post Malone is. Greatly enjoyed snickering at Puddle of Mudd's terrible "About a Girl" cover, so much so that it made me feel really guilty. Turned this on expecting it to be garbage and... it is not. It's pretty fun.

They start with "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle." That's a legit fan pick, not a moron singing the songs he knows from the radio. Travis Barker's drums are on. point. PM does not try to sound like Cobain, not in phrasing, not in tonality. But he's ragged and he sings from a hole in the lining of his stomach. And it sounds good.

I'm not going to say this is the height of tribute music. (For that, go check out Mavis Staples singing "Purple Rain" from the Grammys Tribute to Prince.) But this is musicians having a blast playting songs they clearly love that I love too. So hey: this was fun.

I was not a likely candidate to be making this argument, but here we are.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:21 PM on April 25, 2020 [41 favorites]

Watching them do Frances Farmer now, and yeah... this is good.
posted by good in a vacuum at 12:34 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Yeah this is fantastic set, lots of passion! Give it a watch! Respect to Travis Barker and Malone.
posted by LansLeFleur at 12:36 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Never heard of Post Malone but this shit rocks....
posted by Pendragon at 12:36 PM on April 25, 2020

I'm at "Lounge Act" (one of my personal favorites), and I'm impressed. They're pretty good!
posted by droplet at 12:44 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

This is awesome. I, too, miss the comfort in being sad.
posted by kaibutsu at 12:44 PM on April 25, 2020 [6 favorites]

Obviously the only person whose opinion matters on this subject is Dave Grohl. Quick someone ask him.
posted by badbobbycase at 12:47 PM on April 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

Another Xer who knew who Post Malone is, but never really sought out his material.

This is an excellent performance. The hour fifteen went by very quickly. Lots of college flashbacks in here, really took me back.

I'm currently recommending this to friends, and can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with even a remote interest in Nirvana. As said above, he's not trying to imitate Cobain at all, just singing from the soul. The support is fantastic as well, Travis Barker is a brilliant drummer and he stands out here.
posted by Sphinx at 12:54 PM on April 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

Pretty good!

I'm a little worried for the longevity of Post's career if he keeps singing like that, though. My dude needs a voice teacher or he's gonna blow his shit out.
posted by lazaruslong at 1:06 PM on April 25, 2020

METAFILTER: I was not a likely candidate to be making this argument, but
posted by philip-random at 1:08 PM on April 25, 2020 [14 favorites]

This was really, really fun. And I learned that his face tattoo that says, "Stay Away" is because of the Nirvana song. He also has Kurt Cobain tattooed on a knuckle. Legit fan of Nirvana and it shows in how he treated the music.
posted by ryoshu at 1:30 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

Pfft. I remember when he was Pre Malone.
posted by Grangousier at 1:43 PM on April 25, 2020 [25 favorites]

I really like Post's music, ever since I heard White Iverson. He's very talented. Here he is covering Dylan.
posted by dobbs at 1:53 PM on April 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

Xer with teenaged children and a soft spot for dirtbags so I was always going to know who Post Malone is one way or another.

I loved this. The flowery house dresses were the perfect touch.
posted by padraigin at 2:18 PM on April 25, 2020 [4 favorites]

This is fantastic!
posted by photoslob at 2:48 PM on April 25, 2020

I'm an ass-end Gen X hesher who liked Nirvana in middle school and remembers people crying in school the day after the news of Cobain's suicide broke. (I still like Nirvana, by the way.) What little of Post Malone's stuff I've heard hasn't interested me, but goddamn, this is awesome.
posted by heteronym at 3:07 PM on April 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

I'm calling it now: this Pogue Mahone kid is going to go far.
posted by The Tensor at 3:44 PM on April 25, 2020 [18 favorites]

Post Malone makes me sad. I think he has more talent than most people realize and that he'll be dead before he sees 30. This was a banger and I really want him to do and be well.
posted by Ruki at 4:54 PM on April 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

Wow, i never got into his music, but that was great. Granny dresses and everything!
posted by lkc at 4:59 PM on April 25, 2020

Post Malone makes me sad. I think he has more talent than most people realize and that he'll be dead before he sees 30.

He does seem to carry that aura doesn’t, he? It’s not even intentional. Too talented to really be understood by the commercial radio audience, too young and self destructive to be aware of his potential. I hope this is wrong.

I did *not* expect this performance out of him. His recordings have a certain vulnerability and tentative nature to them. This adds multiple dimensions to my understanding of him.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 6:28 PM on April 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

Damn, that kid brought it.

I think if my math is right, Post Malone is the same age now as Kurt was when Nevermind was released.
posted by gwint at 7:08 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

I liked this. I saw Malone at Lollapalooza Chile '19, and he sucked, so this makes me recover some respect for him.
posted by signal at 7:15 PM on April 25, 2020

Too talented to really be understood by the commercial radio audience, too young and self destructive to be aware of his potential.

Yes! Exactly this! I really really really want to see him grow and mature as an artist. I think he has that rare gift to transcend genre and create something really bold and original but right now he’s just so... just so Post Malone.

He triggers something maternal in me, the same way Amy Winehouse did, even though she was only four years younger than me. That might just be the recovering alcoholic in me though.
posted by Ruki at 8:37 PM on April 25, 2020 [2 favorites]

listened through it all again with headphones this time and must add: the sound engineer that mixed this and the quality put through YT these days is nuts. I've been watching the nightly Questlove dj sets and while he streams on many platforms, he's always saying to go to either Twitch or YouTube to watch because the sound is superior. They sound crazy good.
posted by lazaruslong at 9:48 PM on April 25, 2020 [3 favorites]

Post Ma-wha? Dudes face is all all tattooed ... and it looks dumb, in fact he was probably one of those kids I caught trampling my... oooooooo, this is solid. Respect.
posted by From Bklyn at 9:51 PM on April 25, 2020 [4 favorites]

Post Malone makes me sad. I think he has more talent than most people realize and that he'll be dead before he sees 30. This was a banger and I really want him to do and be well.

You know I never really got that from him (not that I follow him that closely) despite all the posturing about getting fucked up. Not compared to some other people from this generation of druggie rappers, anyway. But apparently he has had a few incidents where he wasn't looking so good in public recently?

There are a few things about the guy and his relationship to existing musical cultures that have rubbed me the wrong way but he does seem to have some talent and a certain scuzzy charisma.
posted by atoxyl at 10:17 PM on April 25, 2020

And yeah this is a much more respectful tribute than the Puddle of Mudd guy's goony attempt to convey intensity.
posted by atoxyl at 10:22 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

I still haven't figured out how these guys are set up physically. Are they in separate rooms in the same location? Corners of a big-ass room?
posted by atoxyl at 10:29 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

This one thing has pretty much rehabilitated Post Malone in my mind.

All I know about him is his Twitter diss of BTS and "sushi from Japaaaaan" in a song called Jackie Chan, both of which have prompted me to vaguely dislike him. But this is awesome.
posted by suetanvil at 10:48 PM on April 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

I thought I hated post Malone bc any pic I saw of him made me think dumbass. But then I found out that Better Now was a song of his and I was like oh hmm ok.

But I never really sought any of his other stuff out tho.

I wasn’t prepared for this video to be that good. About half way through his voice changed a bit and he then he was really nailing it.

Nirvana and the Seattle grunge scene were the music of my solid teenage years. I still have the Sassy with Kurt and Courtney on the front. I was in high school the weekend he completed suicide and it was weird bc another student at school had also done so the day before Kurt and it was a really quiet Monday.

And that was a great song to open with. A whole new generation of Nirvana fans was probably just born.
posted by affectionateborg at 12:34 AM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]

Also this made me tear up a bit to be completely honest. I think I kind of understand the Amy Winehouse comparison someone made above.
posted by affectionateborg at 12:38 AM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]

I've read his wikipedia article now. Yeah, he seems like one of those talented self destructive people who will implode if people around him let him. He's young and creative, got fame and money quickly, and i don't wish modern social media on anyone coming into the public eye at a young age.

i hope he's able to mature and grow out of the idiotic drunk artist phase.

also this raised $3 MILLION that is amazing.
posted by affectionateborg at 3:50 AM on April 26, 2020 [2 favorites]

Huge Nirvana fan; didn't think I'd like this. But it rocked.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 4:48 AM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]

Mr. Malone was born one year after Kurt Cobain died.

And two years after the series finale of Cheers, which makes him... Post Malone.
posted by condour75 at 6:50 AM on April 26, 2020 [26 favorites]

Comment of the year, condour75. Comment of the year.
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:10 AM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

I saw him at the Beale Street festival a few years ago. I was pleasantly surprised. When I started the video yesterday my first reaction was " wow, that drummer is trying really to look like Travis Barker."
posted by nestor_makhno at 8:51 AM on April 26, 2020 [3 favorites]

I quite dislike his original output. This performance and the Dylan cover make me wonder how he could be the same person. Then there’s the three mill. A lot to this. Props.
posted by 3.2.3 at 9:09 AM on April 26, 2020 [5 favorites]

I still haven't figured out how these guys are set up physically. Are they in separate rooms in the same location? Corners of a big-ass room?

I think they're all in either one big room, or in adjoining rooms but still within eyesight of each other. Post Malone himself seems to be talking directly to the other musicians by turning to face them. He also he offers them beer more than once, suggesting they're all together and not playing remotely. And there appear to be at least one or two additional people in the room off-camera, watching.
posted by good in a vacuum at 9:32 AM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

Another cynical Gen Xer here who raises an eyebrow at the alkaline water product placement. Maybe it was a fundraising sponsor?
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:44 AM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]

This is an amazing tribute and it rages. So cool.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 4:24 PM on April 26, 2020 [1 favorite]