The only problem is: how do you turn one’s private nostalgia into a communal, 3D experience? Well, a solution comes in the form of The Australian Nirvana Tribute show, which is happening this Saturday night at The Espy. And just in case Nirvana isn’t enough, Funky Monks (aka Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Paranoid (aka Black Sabbath) are on board to support.
“We’ve all played in cover bands before and you get sick of playing the same songs,” says event organiser and Krist Novoselic stand-in, Clint Timothy. “But these ones, these are just cool songs, that sound great live and they’re fun to play.”
Timothy and his three bandmates have been staging Nirvana tribute shows since late 2011. By now they’ve established a comprehensive repertoire of songs, which stretches beyond Nirvana’s most obvious hits.
“We do a lot of the favourites, so the majority of Nevermind,” he says, “but we also play some of the rarer stuff. Nirvana have got a lot of stuff that didn’t appear on albums, things like Molly’s Lips and Sliver and Aneurysm. So we play the favourites, but we also do Floyd The Barber or Negative Creep and D7. Songs, that aren’t known by everyone.”
Presenting a tribute show is always a risky venture, namely because of the cherished relationship that many people have with the original songs. While it’s always interesting to see a multi-faceted portrayal of the musicians being honoured, authentic and accurate cover versions are the most crucial element.
“I think the music’s the main thing,” Timothy agrees. “I mean, you see some tribute bands that have the wigs and everything, but if they don’t back it up with the music it makes it hard.”
Nonetheless, now that Timothy and Co. have worked the tunes up to a satisfactory level of resemblance, they do make an effort to replicate the image and on stage demeanour of the Seattle masters.
“Dean, our frontman, wears a wig and we dress up in flannies and cardigans and ‘90s regalia. It brings out the Nirvana stage-moves a bit more as well. Getting into character, I guess, is what’s called. Particularly our frontman finds that – once he put the wig on, he’s found it a lot easier to get into character.”
Nirvana are most widely recognised for their second album, 1991’s Nevermind, and its slew of timeless tracks, such as Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, and Lithium. However, the fact that the Seattle legends only released three official studio albums during their lifetime has inspired plenty of fans to dig through bootlegs and live recordings in order to broaden the Nirvana experience. As a result, Timothy reveals that many of the deeper cuts encourage a rapturous response.
“You always find if you play rarities there’ll be someone going off to it at the show, which is cool. Obviously Teen Spirit goes off. Breed, Aneurysm – we find those sort of songs go really well. But we do Floyd The Barber and School and they’ll go off as well.”
So basically, it’s all going to go off. Speaking of going off, given that Timothy and his three henchmen know the band’s tunes inside and out, perhaps it’s sucked some of the joy out of the listening experience. In fact, the contrary is true.
“I reckon I’m probably more into it actually,” he says. “On the way to work I was cranking Nevermind today and I just thought, ‘Geez, good songs.’ I can’t wait to play them on Saturday night again.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
