Monday, 4 February 2008
Music Preview: Local bands to capture raw spirit of Nirvana
Thursday, January 31, 2008By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Normally, there's a strong scent of pierogies and sausage at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern, but on Saturday night it's going to smell like teen spirit.A handful of local bands are assembling there for a tribute to Nirvana that will blitz through the ragged wonders of the Kurt Cobain repertoire, from the raw "Bleach" to the transcendent "MTV Unplugged" session.
It was organized by John Huffman, a big Nirvana fan and a former member of The Flash Darlings now playing bass for the new band Bowhunter.
"Nirvana was one of my biggest influences growing up in the 1990s," Huffman says. "I was 12 years old when 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' hit big all over MTV in 1992. Nirvana, Beck, The Violent Femmes and Juliana Hatfield all hit me at about the same time that year and I can credit them all for influencing me to pick up the guitar and the bass that year. Nirvana was at the forefront of the group I listed as far as intensity and anger, so they quickly became my favorite."
Cobain, who would have been 41 next month, took his life in violent and dramatic fashion on April 5, 1994, at the height of the Seattle band's popularity. His suicide note quoted, and took too much to heart, the enigmatic Neil Young lyric, "It's better to burn out than to fade away."
If he's looking down now, Cobain knows that Nirvana has hardly faded away. Radio stations still spin its songs, countless bands still try to imitate its sound and posthumous releases keep the fan base engaged. The latest project was "About a Son," a documentary about Cobain told in his words, based on conversations with journalist Michael Azerrad. It debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006, and finally arrives on DVD Feb. 19.
This Pittsburgh tribute jumps in before the anniversaries of his birth and death with Nirvana covers by the Weird Paul Rock Band, the Maxi-Pads, Bowhunter, My Prodi, Devin Russian and the Flu Fighters (get it?), bands and musicians who are passionate about the cause.
"The first CD I think I ever got," says Jason Dignon of My Prodi, "was the 'Beavis and Butt-head' soundtrack with Nirvana's 'I Hate Myself and I Want To Die' on it, and I was totally freaked out. I started saving for drums immediately. Nirvana is my original inspiration."
Source: www.post-gazette.com
Labels: NIRVANA NEWS IN 2008
posted by kanx1976 at
05:41
![Come as You Are [SINGLE] [EP] (CD)](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/ComeAsYouAre.jpg)
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