We know they weren't the only ones, it was all happenin simultaneously in Washington's big burg, Tad, Mother Lovebone, Soundgarden et al, but it was these guys who got it all together with the follow up to 'Bleach' . . . . just one of those rare moments in rock+roll when all the right ingredients fall into the bowl at the same time, the band with new drummer Grohl, the producer, the studio and the fucking songs, it all went into the oven and out came the grunge cake that killed the L.A centric cock rock, hair bear fandango in the neck . . . . it was the second coming of the punk ethos done up in flannelette and Vans and splattered with the blood spewing forth from Kid Cobain's tortured vocal chords !!!!
I was lucky enough to catch them when they toured Australia with Violent Femmes just as the world went spastic over the just released 'Nevermind', they had been doing a rotation thing where one night the Femmes would play last, the next would be Nirvana . . . . by the time they hit Fisherman's Wharf on the Goldy it was Gano and the boys due to headline . . . . late arvo in front of about, I dunno, a shitload of punters, Kurt, Krist and Dave come on stage, the crowd is amped, they plug in, feedback everywhere, first two songs suck serious levels of arse, mix is fucked, they look lost . . . . this is so easy to do as a three piece . . . . then . . . . then the sound guy gets his shit together, the band find the connection and the whole motherfucker explodes in a nuclear sound bomb, sixty odd minutes of sheer rock and roll perfection, tight, pounding, grinding, uplifting, primordially perfect musical ecstacy.
It was spellbinding, utterly mesmerizing, my mind was so fully blown that I left immediately after they finished, even though I'm a huge Femmes fan, so I wouldn't dilute the sound still ricocheting between my ears . . . .
I don't know how many excellent bands I've seen in thirty plus years, possibly thousands, but to this day, those three blokes from Seattle remain the single most significant rock performance I've ever had the pleasure to witness, it was something so special, so intense that you knew you'd just been part of history being made, real, serious and enduring history . . . . we all attained a smidge of Nirvana that afternoon and everybody who was there knew it.
I was lucky enough to catch them when they toured Australia with Violent Femmes just as the world went spastic over the just released 'Nevermind', they had been doing a rotation thing where one night the Femmes would play last, the next would be Nirvana . . . . by the time they hit Fisherman's Wharf on the Goldy it was Gano and the boys due to headline . . . . late arvo in front of about, I dunno, a shitload of punters, Kurt, Krist and Dave come on stage, the crowd is amped, they plug in, feedback everywhere, first two songs suck serious levels of arse, mix is fucked, they look lost . . . . this is so easy to do as a three piece . . . . then . . . . then the sound guy gets his shit together, the band find the connection and the whole motherfucker explodes in a nuclear sound bomb, sixty odd minutes of sheer rock and roll perfection, tight, pounding, grinding, uplifting, primordially perfect musical ecstacy.
It was spellbinding, utterly mesmerizing, my mind was so fully blown that I left immediately after they finished, even though I'm a huge Femmes fan, so I wouldn't dilute the sound still ricocheting between my ears . . . .
I don't know how many excellent bands I've seen in thirty plus years, possibly thousands, but to this day, those three blokes from Seattle remain the single most significant rock performance I've ever had the pleasure to witness, it was something so special, so intense that you knew you'd just been part of history being made, real, serious and enduring history . . . . we all attained a smidge of Nirvana that afternoon and everybody who was there knew it.
No comments:
Post a Comment