Nirvana Reunion Criticized By Los Angeles Times: ‘Kurt Would Have Cringed’

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Nirvana reunited on Saturday to headline the Cal Jam festival in San Bernardino, CA, and while fans raved over how great the show was, the Los Angeles Times had some criticism for the Grunge legends.

And yet it was easy to feel squeamish about the circumstances. “In Utero” was basically Cobain’s howl of misery from his unwanted position in the rock-star vortex, and here they’d become high-five fodder at an event built around the conviction that rock will never die.

Ditto “In Bloom,” the third tune McCauley sang (and sang well), in which the narrator looks askance at those singing along to “all our pretty songs.”

Artists don’t get to choose their audiences, or their legacies. But Cobain would almost certainly have cringed had he been able to envision a scene even as well-meaning as this one.

The Los Angeles Times did say they managed to really capture the sound of the original incarnation of the band, but that there were ‘suspicions’ from Kurt Cobain’s grave.

The music was warm and enveloping — a peaceful finish to a night full of happy memories. But the words carried Cobain’s suspicions from the grave as they rang out over Cal Jam.

“I wish I was like you,” Jett sang. “Easily amused.”

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Brett Buchanan
Brett previously hosted the BWR wrestling and MMA podcast, interviewing pro wrestling and MMA stars like Kurt Angle, Seth Rollins, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Bruce Buffer, AJ Styles, Rob Van Dam, Jeff Hardy, Edge, and DDP. After ending BWR, Brett opened GrungeReport.net in May 2009. The site changed its name to AlternativeNation.net in June 2013.  Brett ran Scott Weiland's social media accounts for his final 'Master Blaster' tour in fall 2015 and continued to run the accounts after Weiland's death until July 2016. On Alternative Nation, Brett controls all aspects of the website and reports the day to day news.  He has interviewed members of Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Imagine Dragons, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Stone Temple Pilots, and The Smiths. Brett has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal and on the Reelz Channel. You can reach Brett at contact @alternativenation.net