Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic detailed including Kurt Cobain by paying tribute to him during Nirvana’s reunion set at the Cal Jam 2018 festival in a new Kerrang interview.
“It’s bittersweet, because somebody was missing up there. That’s why during the set- during most of which I was standing very close to Dave like some sort of security blanket – I walked up to the mic and said, ‘Let’s have a cheer for Kurt Cobain!’ I felt we had to say something about the situation.”
The interviewer called the Kurt Cobain inclusion by Novoselic ‘moving.’
Novoselic responded, “Thanks. I wondered what the audience were thinking. We could have left it to them to say something, but I felt it had to come from us, so that’s why I did it.”
After Foo Fighters’ Cal Jam festival two weeks ago in San Bernardino, CA, Nirvana reunited as the surprise Cal Jam headliner to perform their material for only the second time since Kurt Cobain’s death in April 1994.
The only other time Nirvana performed their material was in April 2014 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Barclays Center in New York, and then for another gig later that night at Saint Vitus. Nirvana were joined by two performers from their 2014 New York performances, Joan Jett and Deer Tick’s John McCauley. You can view videos and photos from the performance below.
Grohl, Novoselic, and Smear have performed together many times in recent years, including with Paul McCartney in 2012 and 2013 to perform their original song “Cut Me Some Slack,” which they later won a Grammy for. They also covered David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” at a Grammys party with Beck in early 2016, and performed “Molly’s Lips” this past summer at Safeco Field in Seattle.
Nirvana filmed their April 2014 Saint Vitus performance professionally, but it has yet to be officially released, though Foo Fighters did upload clips to tease the Nirvana reunion performance.
Nirvana 2018 Reunion Setlist:
Serve The Servants (with John McCauley)
Scentless Apprentice (with John McCauley)
In Bloom (with John McCauley)
Breed (with Joan Jett)
Smells Like Teen Spirit (with Joan Jett)
All Apologies (with Joan Jett and Brody Dalle)
