I Found My Friends (23 page)

 

12.0

New Blood

October to December 1990

Unfortunately for Dan Peters,
there had been a change of plan. On August 3, Cobain and Novoselic saw Dave Grohl play with Scream. Grohl was invited to audition and accordingly flew to Seattle on September 21. The next night he was in the audience and on September 25 Cobain announced on KAOS Radio that Nirvana had a new drummer. Seven weeks from first glimpse to closure. This was a band that knew to snatch at the hand of chance, and the choice met with approval among the Northwest's musical cognoscenti.

RYAN LOISELLE:
[I] saw Scream and I was like, Oh my God! That drummer is incredible! That guy's crazy! And we used to hang out with Krist Novoselic when he lived in Tacoma; we'd go to his house and hang out with him and his wife before they were popular. I remember Krist coming to me super-excited, “Dude, we got a new drummer, the guy from Scream!” I didn't even know his name I was just like,
Yes!

PAUL KIMBALL:
I do remember meeting Dave Grohl the first time at a bar downtown called King Solomon's, and Kurt seemed as animated as I'd ever seen him when he introduced us. Scream had played in Olympia not too long before then, and after that show Dave was somebody a lot of people had noted for his awesomeness on drums. I'm guessing Kurt felt like he'd scored pretty big.

BEN MUNAT:
I remember being somewhat incensed: How could they get rid of Chad?! Then I met Dave and found out that he was one of the nicest, coolest musicians I'd ever met. I still felt sorry for Chad, but Dave was awesome.

DUANE LANCE BODENHEIMER:
Dave Grohl, never had a problem with him … I think he had sex with my girlfriend, but I dunno and I don't hold a grudge. I loved Scream; the guy was a great drummer.

Photogenic, personable, just twenty-one but already a powerful drummer, Grohl made a real difference to Nirvana's live persona.

SLIM MOON:
I would not characterize them as “professionals” until
Nevermind
came out. They were just a good solid underground band. The main leap forward was the addition of Dave Grohl, but also Kurt's songwriting evolved, and they did become more practiced with their theatricality and consistency over time.

Though Channing had already played half of what would become Nirvana's great triumph, Grohl perhaps freed Cobain to finally embrace his pop urges wholly.

STEVE MORIARTY:
Chad, quite a good drummer I thought—for what they were doing. He was really solid; that
Bleach
record was a slow dirgy psychedelic style—he was perfect. He plays a little behind the beat, while Grohl plays in the pocket but just a tad faster, just above the beat: that's what created that pop sensibility for the masses—the drums. It went from being sort of a very dark sound to having something that was driving and more Killing Joke, less Black Sabbath.

Nirvana's pressing priority was that arrangements were under way for them to tour the UK. With four weeks to get the lineup prepared they wedged in practice runs at a surf club and on friendly turf at the Evergreen State College, where Grohl's presence was immediately felt.

SLIM MOON:
It was a leap forward. After their initial shows with Dale Crover as drummer, the drumming was always a disappointment in Nirvana until Dave showed up.

MARK ROBINSON:
Unrest was on tour with the DUSTdevils and we were holed up in Olympia in between shows … Calvin Johnson's K Records is there, and it was a friendly place. We were staying at the Martin Apartment Building downtown, which was essentially a dorm for indie rockers … We performed in a small common living room in a dormitory complex. Just fourteen by fourteen feet. Maybe smaller … There was a vocal PA, and that's it. Just amps and a microphone in a very small room. No sound checks, this was a party. No stage, just play in the corner of the room … Dave Grohl had just recently joined Nirvana … He's a pro, and from what I remember, they didn't seem shaky or like they hadn't played together before. This show was the first and last time I saw Nirvana perform … I don't think I even watched their entire set. Only a small amount of people could fit into that room along with the band performing. Probably not more than fifteen or twenty … At some point during our stay there we met them at the Martin. I don't remember much about it and I don't think they said much, but I do remember Kurt Cobain had eyeliner on. At any rate, we were asked to play the show and we did. It was just a normal American college keg party. I'm pretty sure we didn't get paid, nor did we expect to, as there was no admission price.

This time in the UK, Nirvana was the undeniable star and played the UK's great cities like … Er … Norwich.

SAM MARSH,
Jacob's Mouse:
We very nearly didn't play it on the night—our shit heap of a van broke down on the way and we literally made it to the venue in time to set up and perform! Bloody typical! However, with all the adrenaline of running late we went for it once we got onstage and released all that pent-up energy!! Nirvana's performance that night was storming—it was a reasonably small venue and Kurt spent half the time in the audience. No after-party stuff, everyone did seem tired, but Nirvana were really friendly and gave us lots of praise!

JEBB BOOTHBY,
Jacob's Mouse:
I remember that we almost didn't play the gig because Hugo had an A-level re-sit the next day. Both Hugo and I still lived with our parents and although they were massively supportive of the band and our music they had got a bit pissed off that the band was distracting us from our studies leading to some pretty poor exam results in the summer. In the end we played the gig, but Hugo had to drive home early. Rock 'n' roll! Nirvana all seemed pretty tired, as you would be after a long European tour in a Transit van. Maybe Kurt was a little more aloof than the other guys, but they were all really welcoming. Like all the bands we played with at the time, you just talk about music and I guess because our van had broken down that was a good icebreaker … There did seem to be a bit of an end-of-term feel to the tour party. I think they were heading home after the Norwich gig. I got the feeling it had been a bit chaotic. I think the tour manager had jumped ship and the booking agent, Russell Warby (who later took us on), had taken over for the last few dates … While we were playing I saw two guys sitting down in the front of stage really getting into it, sort of head-banging and rocking out. When we came off stage these two guys came up to us and it was Krist and Dave from Nirvana. They were really enthusing about the gig, which blew us away. I remember Krist wanted a record. We had just released our first EP,
The Dot
, and had a box with us to sell. But he explained, “Being the end of the tour, I don't have any money!” I think I swapped one for a T-shirt. I still have the T-shirt. I wonder if he still has the record! I remember them playing songs from
Bleach
and “Sliver” (I think they were over to belatedly promote “Sliver”). I also remember them playing a load of more melodic songs that I didn't know but more in the style of “Sliver” than
Bleach
. I guess these were the songs they were about to record for
Nevermind
.

HUGO BOOTHBY,
Jacob's Mouse:
Kurt came onstage afterwards when I was packing my stuff away to say hello. He shook my hand and said he enjoyed the show and that we were one of his favorite support bands from that tour. We had a viola player at the time and I can imagine that this reminded him a bit of the Raincoats. We met both Krist and Dave briefly. They were nice, down-to-earth people, and I was very excited to meet this band that already seemed very famous and exotic to me, although this was pre-
Nevermind
. A year later we joined Nirvana's booking agent and he told us that Kurt remembered the show and was glad that we were with the same booking agency as them. Some years later a friend of ours was wearing a Jacob's Mouse T-shirt in Seattle and Courtney came over to say that Kurt liked the band.

After a week on the road Nirvana couldn't even spare enough cash for a twelve-inch single. However, their increasing sway did mean they were able to request support acts.

NAOKO YAMANO,
Shonen Knife:
We made a contract with a management office in Tokyo in 1990. The office got an offer from Nirvana about touring with us … I didn't know Nirvana when we got an offer to tour with them. I saw their photo and they looked wild. I was a little scared about them, but they were real gentlemen.

TIM SOLYAN:
All the shows were crammed to the rafters with people!… When we got to the UK, we were told by our booking agent that when we get to Leeds, we will be playing at the Leeds Polytechnic College with Nirvana … better off getting on the gig with Nirvana than try to compete with it the same night. So it was arranged that our support band, Arm, would play first; L7, who were on the current tour with Nirvana, would play second; Victim's Family would fill the support slot … we were informed that Nirvana and L7 were not happy with the lineup arrangement … We arrived at the gig and loaded in and Nirvana were just finished with their sound check and Krist was still onstage and saw us and gave a big “Hello!” and talked with us and told us where he found good cheap pizza just outside the venue.… We set up to do sound check and I saw Kurt come toward the stage. He leaned right up against it and looked right at me with a blank expression. I said, “Hey Kurt! What up, man?!” He blankly nodded at me and turned and walked away. I figured he was upset his support band was not in the support slot. Oh well. He wasn't ever really too friendly with us, as I don't think he liked our music in the least bit.

MARCUS GRAPMAYER,
Arm:
We had no personal contact during the whole thing. To us they were just long-haired rock stars with no interest in their environment and the people around. Why I remember is 'cause it was the only time in my life I played on a hundred-square-meter stage with no PA, no engineer, and our showtime right at the opening of the doors.

TIM SOLYAN:
I watched Nirvana's set that night, which was the first time I saw them with Dave on drums, and quite frankly I thought his perfect drumming was a bit too slick compared to Chad's fumbling coolness. I am not saying I disliked it; it just was a whole different band.

Another new factor in the band's future experience was also arising.

SLIM MOON:
I saw the depression. I didn't know about the heroin use, but one time he helped me move house, and while driving across town he opened the door to his car and vomited. So now in retrospect I've always wondered if he was having withdrawals.

While being interviewed for this book, numerous individuals were open about their history with drugs. I admire those who have come through fire and can look back with honesty.

DUANE LANCE BODENHEIMER:
It was kind of a secret—just between us junkies, but everybody knew. Not proud of it. No glamour. It definitely came through in my lyrics, something I wrote about openly. I was the only one in my band that did that—I want to make that clear. But we had a lot of issues. It was sort of social in the beginning but in the end I was doing it alone, definitely an isolation drug. There were all kinds of drugs around … I first met Kurt at the Hollywood Underground, I never really got personally involved with those guys—Kurt and I shared a lot of the same … er … y'know … We had the same dealers.

BLAG DAHLIA:
Kurt and most of us were part of a drug subculture. If he didn't do dope before 1990, I'd be very surprised. Downers and booze are closely related to dope as well. Courtney's love of dope is well documented, and Kurt lied about that all the time … I know lots of folks who shot up with them. If I would have been a dope fan, I'm sure I would have shot up with them too. Believable, but unverified, reports of ODs were numerous, but again, I wasn't in the room. I did see Kurt, eyes pinned, having a siesta on the roof of the Terminal Building around 1990. Nothing conclusive there, but where there's smoke …

DANIEL RIDDLE:
Kurt had lots of dark eyeliner on because he was a musician and didn't give a fuck what people thought!… But really those of us with blue eyes knew that was more about hiding your eyes with pinned-out pupils when you're doing dope.

Still, Cobain was just dabbling; he was fine and if he was in a good mood all knew about it.

SAM MARSH:
Kurt was amazingly friendly and approachable on the night. You meet so many bands who are right prima donnas, but I always found everyone on the alternative music scene is generally friendly—all the bands were friendly that night … The band looked tired, as is often the way when you've been touring for ages—I wouldn't have got any impression he was a heroin user by his appearance and demeanor.

Nirvana was nearing triumph; their next show at the Off Ramp in central Seattle was a victory dance.

JOSEPH ARONSTAMN,
Holy Rollers:
That period of time was special because the “Seattle sound” was breaking nationwide … A lot was going on in Olympia, so there was a lot of crossover and intra-town support. Basically, a convergence of time, place, and great bands and other musicians (in the audience) that form the backbone of a “scene” … While you live it, you don't realize that you are actually part of a historic and memorable social moment that is greater than the sum of its parts and outlasts what we were all there in the first place for. For us, to play and hang with a friend [Dave] and his very cool band mates, while also knowing there would be people there. For the audience members, it was a homecoming of sorts and a chance to support the cross-pollination between DC's Dischord bands and Seattle and Olympia musicians … a lifetime highlight!